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The worst travel advice I ever received? “Don’t eat the street food“. Before visiting Thailand of all places. Thailand may not have invented street food but they perfected it. Gobbling down these 28 Thailand street foods you cannot miss changed my life. & changed everything I’ve ever believed about what constitutes “good” food.
This is the first, in a series of blog posts I’ll be writing, about the beauty of street food & what local specialties you absolutely cannot miss. It’s only natural we begin in Thailand.
Before we delve into the 28 Thailand street foods you cannot miss–here’s why you should become a patron of Thailand’s fleet of mobile woks.
More Bang for your Buck
Budget travel & street food go hand-in-hand, but travelers of ALL budgets should patronize the local carts. This kind of cooking is the heart of Asia. The heat from the woks & mobile flattops warm the sidewalk & waft delicious smells through Thailand’s crowded streets. Families pass recipes through the generations and many have been in business for decades.
Aside from the obvious reasons to choose street meat– convenience & overall tastiness, street food is cheap. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anything on this list over $2.50.
Going to Thailand & not eating street food is a cardinal sin. & as punishment may you be doomed to eat bland peanuty Pad Thai your entire life.
Join a Street Food Tour!
This blog post covers what to eat in Thailand but in most cases…it doesn’t cover where. For that, you’ll have to join one of the 6 Thailand food tours offered by A Chef’s Tour. This way you are guaranteed to learn a little bit about Thai culture and really dive head-first into the true local cuisine.
28 Thailand Street Foods You Cannot Miss
Savory Snacks
Steamed or Fried Thai Dumplings (Pun Sip Neung)
I ate at least a plate of dumplings per day. Packed with herbs & chicken or pork these little guys are perfect even for breakfast.
Heaping Pile of Quail Eggs (Khanom Krok Khai Nok Krata)
Exactly as it sounds. Served in plates of 5-7 typically these little teeny eggs are healthy & packed with flavor. They make a perfect snack or addition to plate of noodles.
Khao Soi
The staple dish of Northern Thailand. A warm red curry broth filled with egg noddles, coconut milk, a bone-in chicken leg, cilantro, red onion, lime & topped with crispy fried wonton noodles.
Stir-Fried Basil (Pat Ka Phrao)
A mixture of Thai basil, chicken or pork, garlic, chillies, onions, & small sliced green beans. This is the most common lunch of locals & always sold by vendors on long train journeys.
Aromatic Sausage Wheels (Sai Ua)
Coiled into massive pinwheels these sausages thick & meaty. They are cured with red curry paste & other aromatic herbs and spices to give them a lovely warmth in flavor.
In Chiang Mai, you’ll find small (3-inch) thin sausage links being sold at night markets. These are my favorite. Filled with dried herbs and absolutely packed with lemongrass flavor I could live off these tasty sausage links.
Pad Thai
You’ll never be able to eat Pad Thai in the U.S. again. Tamarind paste, chili, daikon radish, egg, piles of tofu, palm sugar, & topped with full prawns. It puts our peanut, egg, & beanspout stir fry we call Pad Thai to shame.
Bonus: Try the Pad Thai Omelette. Instead of adding an egg to the stir fry, they wrap the entire pile of noodles in a thin sheet of egg creating a neat little Pad Thai pocket.
Pad See Ew
Fat noodles drenched in dark sweet soy sauce. It’s like a cousin to the typical Pad Thai. Cabbage, broccoli & vinegar shine through the slight overall sweetness.
Thai-style Omelette (Kai Jeow)
Ever had a deep fried omellete? These simple soft & fluffy eggs sit atop of bed of plain white rice and are somehow the most flavorful eggs I’ve ever put in my mouth.
Stewed Pork Leg (Khao Kha Moo)
One Khao Kha Moo dominates all the rest. Chiang Mai Cowboy Hat Lady. After 5 PM at the night market near the North Gate of Chiang Mai’s old city, she’s serving up the most tender, flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth dish I had in Thailand. Bourdain visited her during his Parts Unknown Thailand episode & boosted her to stardom. So get there early, her plastic seats fill up.
Be sure to visit an Ethical Elephant sanctuary during your visit to Chiang Mai as well.
Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mau)
Blindingly spicy, this rice noodles dish is packed with oyster sauce, holy basil, & fish sauce. You probably won’t be able to taste anything other than the fire inside your mouth.
Spicy Thai Seafood Soup (Tom Yum Goong)
Thai comfort food. This seafood soup is flavored with mushrooms, lemongrass, galangal, chilies, kaffir lime leaves, onions & comes in both clear thin broth or a thicker coconut creamy broth. Both options are delicious.
Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
Unripe strings of green papaya, sugar, lime juice, peanuts, a drizzle of fish sauce & packed full of chilis this is the ubiquitous salad of Thailand. Warning for the wimps: It’s served very spicy. Don’t try to be bold & ask for a “spicy” version. You’ll have many regrets.
Salt Grilled Fish (Pla Pao)
A whole fish coated in coarse white salt grilled over the open flame of a BBQ. You don’t eat the skin but instead the salt helps to keep the fish moist & delicious during the cooking process.
Thai Green Curry (Gang Kiew Wan Gai)
Vegetables, sweet coconut milk, lemongrass, Kafir lime leaves, & Thai basil all mixed into a spicy green chili broth that is sure to make you sweat. This is one of my favorite dishes in Thailand.
To Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth
Sweet Potato Balls (Kanom Kai Nok Krata)
In both golden brown & purple Taro varieties, these sweet round fluffy balls of happiness make the perfect snack. & sweet potato is healthy right?
Pa Thong Ko w/ Pandan & Coconut Creme
Traditional crispy oddly shaped chinese doughnuts can be found all over Thailand but the best ones can be found in Bangkok’s Chinatown. It’s a michellin starred food cart & their dipping sauce is worth waiting in the long ass line.
Banana Roti
A late night snack for many, this thin crispy pancake like dough is folded over warm sliced bananas & drizzled with condensed milk. Stabbed with chopsticks & carefully manuevered into your mouth. You can also add egg & cheese.
Coconut Ice Cream
Fresh coconut ice cream topped with chunks of coconut flesh & red beans. This is the most refreshing treat on a hot day.
Crispy Pancake (Kanom Bueang)
Wafer thin crispy rice flour pancakes topped with coconut & egg yolk creams. Somewhere between sweet & savory.
Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Mamuang)
The mother of all Thai desserts. Thick creamy coconut sticky rice topped with condensed milk & slices of fresh yellow mangoes. Sometimes you’ll find the rice dyed blue with the natural pigment of butterfly pea flowers.
Pandan Cake (Kanom Krok Bai Toey)
Bright green fried delicious dough balls. A faint coconut & of course pandan leaf flavor keeps them nice & light.
Coconut Griddle Cakes (Khanom Krok)
Very similar to the pandan cakes above, these round coconut circles are softer, gooey, & less chewy than their green counterparts.
Drink Up
Thai Tea
Sickeningly sweet but in the best way. Bold star anise & vanilla flavored black tea is mixed with sweetened condensed milk (a favorite in all of Asia) to create the bright orange caffienated concoction sold everywhere.
Gac Fruit Juice
This sweet boldly red fruit is packed with vitamins and boasts a huge list of health benefits. The juice is undeniably tasty.
Passionfruit Mango Smoothie
Fresh fruit smoothie stands are everywhere in Thailand. & no list of Thailand street foods you cannot miss would be complete without this sweet & tart mixture. Just fruit & a dash of palm sugar water to sweeten it up.
Sugar Cane Juice
Pale green to yellow in color this faintly sweet yet earthy juice is pressed from fresh stalks of sugar cane right before your eyes. It’s beyond refreshing & the sugars are good for you if you’ve been in the sun all day.
Let’s Talk Beer
The most popular street food beverage. A nice large bottle of light asian beer. Thailand brews in order of best to worst are Leo, Chang, Tiger, & Singha. You can browse the markets & drink freely in Thailand.
Special Mentions
Durian…If you Dare
If you’ve ever wondered what rotting flesh or a pile of hot garbage tastes like give durian a try!! It’s the massive spiny beloved fruit of Asia & it is absolutely vile. You’ll smell it far before you see it.
The 7/11 Toastie
Now hear me out. A simple little sandwich, reminiscent of your childhood lunchtime favorite– white bread grilled with some gooey American cheese. Whether you’re getting on an exceptionally long bus journey or coming home from Khao San a little tipsy, the cheese & ham toasty is the perfect comfort food. Cheese, ham & potato is the best.
I once ate a toasty after dropping it on the street in Bangkok. So yes. They are that good.
Street Food Tips
Not all street food is created equal. You’re really just one bad decision away from spending the entire evening with your head inside a questionably cleaned Thai toilet bowl. Here’s how to best avoid the Bangkok Belly.
- Find crowded street vendors. Customers are a good sign. Even better if they are locals.
- Eat at mealtimes. Obviously they stock up for the rush of mealtimes. Don’t go looking for a fresh lunch at 3 pm.
- Choose stalls that are cooking food fresh to order.
- Avoid street food that’s a foreign cuisine. Eat local. They do it well.
& if the odds were not in your favor…
- Take grapefruit seed extract pills. These things work miracles at the first sign of something going wrong.
- Stay Hydrated. Food poisoning is rarely serious. Dehydration caused by fluid loss is much more deadly. Drink lots of water & electrolyte fluid if you can.
- Thailand has a magic pill. Go to any pharmacy & tell them you have food poisoning. You’ll be sent away with a single magic pill & feel 100% within 24 hours. I have no idea what it is but it truly works wonders.
The biggest street food tip I can offer you is to be adventurous!! This list of 28 Thailand street foods you cannot miss is a great starter guide to tasting the best of Thailand but there are hundreds of delicacies not on this list you’ll see lining the streets. You’ll often be pleasantly surprised by what you end up liking.
More Tips for Travel In Thailand
- Your Complete Guide to Falling in Love with Bangkok
- The Very Best of Thailand: Why I’ll Keep Coming Back to Siam
- Koh Lipe: The Last Island of Paradise
- How to Avoid Getting Scammed in South-East Asia
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