Thai food is a wonderful blend of fresh and spicy. It tends to be light on fats, meats and sauces and relies more on vegetables, noodles and rice. It’s no mystery why it has become so popular.
Tips:
- Aim for the lighter, stir-fried dishes and the fresh spring rolls.
- Steer clear of heavy sauces and deep-fried entrees.
- Ask that your meal be cooked with vegetable oil rather than coconut oil or lard.
- Choose chicken over duck, but limit meat, poultry and seafood portions.
- Limit dishes with coconut milk, which is high in saturated fat.
- Avoid soy and other sauces if you are watching your sodium intake, and ask that MSG be left out.
- Share portions.
Fried spring rolls
Fresh spring rolls (rolls filled with vegetables and served with sweet and sour sauce)
Dishes with coconut milk
Stir-fried dishes
Tom ka gai (chicken in coconut milk soup with mushrooms and lime juice)
Tom yam goong (hot and sour shrimp soup)
Gaeng keow wan gai (curry chicken with eggplant)
Nuea pad prik (pepper steak)
Gaeng ped gai (red curry chicken)
Pad Thai (noodles stir-fried with ground peanuts, bean sprouts, egg, tofu and scallions, topped with shrimp)
Fried rice
Steamed rice
Gluay kaeg (banana slices dipped in coconut batter and fried)
Khao newo kaew (sweet sticky rice)
Coconut ice cream
Fruit ice