Thai Food for Teachers: How Meals Work in a Thai Town
Say Mai Phet. Spoon in the Right Hand.
Busy Stall Beats Pretty Tray
Lunch at our office in Ban Lum is noodles from the stall across the road, eaten with a spoon and a fork like everyone else. New teachers only need three things: say "mai phet" until your stomach settles, keep the spoon in your right hand, and pick the busy stall with the hot wok over the pretty tray of pre-cooked food.
Six Dishes: What Teachers Eat
From the school canteen to the night market. For a longer list, see the most popular Thai dishes.
1. Pad Thai (ผัดไทย)
Flat rice noodles stir-fried with tamarind, palm sugar, fish sauce, egg, tofu and dried shrimp or prawns, served with bean sprouts, Chinese chives, crushed peanuts and lime. Mild and tangy: an easy first dish.
2. Tom Yum Goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง)
Hot and sour prawn soup with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, chilli and lime juice. It comes clear (nam sai, น้ำใส) or creamy (nam khon, น้ำข้น). It can be very spicy, so say "mai phet" or "phet nit noi".
3. Green Curry (แกงเขียวหวาน)
Kaeng khiao wan: green chilli paste simmered in coconut milk with chicken or beef, Thai aubergine, bamboo shoots and sweet basil. Eat it with steamed jasmine rice or soft rice noodles (khanom jeen).
4. Som Tam (ส้มตำ)
Shredded green papaya pounded with garlic, chilli, long beans, tomatoes, lime and palm sugar. Som tam Thai adds peanuts and dried shrimp and is sweeter; Isan-style versions often use fermented fish sauce (pla ra, ปลาร้า). Night-market som tam can be fiery; the canteen version is usually milder.
5. Khao Soi (ข้าวซอย)
A Northern dish, best known in Chiang Mai: egg noodles in a coconut curry broth with chicken or beef, topped with crispy noodles and served with pickled mustard greens, shallots and lime. Usually rich rather than very hot.
6. Mango Sticky Rice (ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง)
Khao niao mamuang: sticky rice cooked with coconut milk, sugar and salt, served with ripe mango, coconut cream and crispy mung beans. A good treat after a long school day.
Ordering: Mai Phet, Khrap and Kha
Start mild while your stomach gets used to chilli.
| English | Say It | Thai | When to Use It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not spicy | mai phet | ไม่เผ็ด | Your first weeks. Ask the cook to leave out the fresh chilli. |
| A little spicy | phet nit noi | เผ็ดนิดหน่อย | Once your stomach has settled. "A little" can still be quite hot. |
| Vegetarian | mangsawirat | มังสวิรัติ | No meat, though fish sauce or oyster sauce may still go in. |
| Je (often written jay) | kin je | กินเจ / อาหารเจ | Stricter: no animal products and usually no garlic or onion. Look for yellow flags with red lettering, and ask if you need to be sure. |
| No sugar | mai sai nam tan | ไม่ใส่น้ำตาล | Handy for fruit shakes, Thai iced tea and iced coffee. |
| The bill, please | chek bin khrap / kha | เช็คบิลครับ / ค่ะ | Men end with khrap, women with kha. |
At the Table: Fork Pushes, Spoon Eats
How to eat like everyone else in the school canteen.
Spoon in the Right Hand
The spoon is the main utensil and the one that goes into your mouth. Use its edge to cut soft food. Eating straight off a fork looks a little odd to many Thai people.
Fork Pushes
The fork goes in your left hand and pushes rice, meat and vegetables onto the spoon.
Chopsticks Mainly for Noodle Soup
Don't expect chopsticks with rice or curry. They come with noodle soup, boat noodles and Chinese-style dishes. Sharing food is normal, and if a colleague brings you snacks, a smile and "khop khun khrap/kha" goes a long way; see the Thai wai.
Street Food: Busy Stall, High Heat
Street food is cheap and part of everyday life. No food is risk-free, and a busy hot wok with a queue is not a health certificate. Still, a busy stall cooking your food to order over high heat is a better bet than trays that have sat out all afternoon. Drink bottled or filtered water; see our drinking water guide. And if you're missing home cooking in your first months, that's normal: see homesickness in Thailand.
Pad Thai at Home: Five Steps, One Wok
Simple enough for a one-ring apartment kitchen.
How to Cook Pad Thai at Home
Five steps:
- Soak the Rice Noodles: Soak flat rice noodles in warm water for about 20 to 30 minutes, until they bend easily but are still firm.
- Mix the Tamarind Sauce: Stir fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind paste and a splash of warm water in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Cook the Tofu, Shrimp and Egg: Heat oil in a wok on high heat, fry tofu cubes and shrimp, then push them aside and scramble an egg.
- Toss the Noodles in the Sauce: Add the drained noodles and the sauce to the wok and keep tossing over high heat until the liquid is absorbed.
- Finish With Sprouts and Peanuts: Turn off the heat, fold in bean sprouts, Chinese chives and crushed roasted peanuts, and serve with a lime wedge.
