Perfect Balance: A Thai Street Food Primer

For the converted, the experience of sitting down for a street feast in Bangkok’s Chinatown or eating fried chicken at midnight in Chiang Mai can be listed alongside Thailand’s nightlife or its beaches as being among the countries most potent charms.

Street food in Thailand varies by region and relies heavily on fresh ingredients. It’s also bursting with flavors – sweet, salty, sour – and is heavy on the spicy side. In other words, it’s got a kick.

Read on to learn more about the flavors, geographic influences and dishes that are not to be missed when eating on Thailand’s streets.

Balance

Thai food is spicy. Sweet. Sour. Fresh. And it goes really well with ice cold beer. But if Thai food was to be summed up in a word, it would be balance.

“Thai food is famous for being balanced, and it shows in the cooking and the flavors,” Mark Wiens, a Bangkok-based food writer for Migrationology.com, told The Diplomat. “When something is salty, they tame it with something sour, or too sour, and balance it with something sweet. The combination of all tastes on your tongue is one reason why Thai food is so appealing.”

This balance is a major reason that Thai food is such a crowd pleaser. And when it is eaten while sitting on plastic stools around metal folding tables on the balmy streets of Bangkok or Chiang Mai, it becomes an experience that is uniquely Thai.

Reflecting on the complex palate of Thai cuisine, Thanis Lim, a food journalist and chef, said: “If you are from a Western developed society, you will be hit with an explosion of flavors. Thai food hits your senses more with it’s spicy tang, while being more towards the sweeter side as well.”

Culinary Crossroads

When it comes to culinary influence, Thailand is blessed by geography. It is essentially in the center of Southeast Asia, with India and Myanmar to its west, China to its north, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to its south, and Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to its east.

Compared to street food in Vietnam, Wiens said, “I’m a huge fan of Vietnamese food as well. But I think Thailand has a more diverse spectrum of flavors, largely due to geography.”

“When eating on the streets of Thailand, you’ll find such a huge diversity of regional Thai dishes available from around the country,” Wiens added. As one example, he added that “the use of coconut milk in Thai savory curries was introduced by South Indians.” 

Wiens is not alone in his assessment. Chawadee Nualkhair, who writes at her blog Bangkok Glutton and is the author of Thailand’s Best Street Food, said, “Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have great street food, but I truly believe Thailand has them beaten on variety.”

She added: “The range of different street foods available – and the ease with which current food trends like sushi are incorporated into street food – can be mind-boggling.”

Alongside keeping up with food trends, street food also varies by region in Thailand. In the north, offerings tend to be heavier, with lots of meat, herbs and chili dips. The food of Isaan, the country’s vast rural northeast, shows heavy influence from Laos. This includes methods like grilling and boiling, the tendency to shun sugar, and the liberal use of fermented Thai anchovy (pla rah). Meals are also often served with a bowl of sticky rice.

Food in the center of the country tends to be sweet, often with a coconut milk base, and sometimes bears the marks of Chinese influence. And spice is the preferred flavor down south, where curries dominate. Seafood and shrimp paste are other common ingredients.

Hitting the Streets

For newbies, venturing into the streets of Bangkok or Chiang Mai for a street food experience has all the right elements of a manageable adventure. But it can be a bit daunting. Where to begin?

“With a little bit of an adventurous attitude, and being open to try whatever you get, you’ll find that vendors are quite friendly, and with a little pointing and smiling you can get by and order a meal,” Wiens said.

“I’m a huge fan of a type of restaurant that serves khao gaeng, which translates to rice and curry,” he added. “At these types of restaurants or street food stalls, you’ll see anywhere from 10-50 dishes lined up, and you can pick and choose whatever dishes you like.”

“Anything fried and/or Chinese-influenced would be good,” Nualkhair said. “Noodle dishes, congee, fried spring rolls and bits of taro and tofu -- these are good dishes that aren’t too spicy and are less likely to make you sick.”

This raises an important point. Food safety is always a concern when dishes are being prepared outside in the tropics. Even more so when food is being stored in the open.

Lim added: “Street food can be risky for tourists who are not used to the hygiene standards in Thailand. Be sure to observe how they clean the utensils and the ice they are using.”

Also pick a stall that only serves dishes that are piping hot and fresh.

But the best “rule of thumb is to see how popular” a given stall is, Lim said. “You can be sure the turnover of freshly cooked food is higher.”

Digging In

Here are some recommended street food spots in Thailand’s two biggest hubs, Bangkok and Chiang Mai:

Bangkok

Wiens: Go to Kuay Jab Uan Pochana for an amazing bowl of Chinese Thai noodle rolls in a pepper pork soup.

Khao Gaeng Ruttana at Nang Loeng Market serves a fantastic curry and rice.

Tom Yum Goong Banglamphu makes an amazing tom yum goong soup.

Lim: Bangrak is one of my favorite places. But you’ll be surprised to hear me recommending MBK food court as a good place for tourists to get quality Thai food.

Pratunam (near a platinum shopping complex) is pretty good, while Phetchaburi Soi 5 area as mentioned in my blog is another favorite food street.

Nualkhair: Try Somsong Pochana in the Old Town for Sukhothai noodles, Guaythiew Pik Gai Sainampung for yen ta fo, and Jay Fai for any fried noodle dish.

Chiang Mai

Wiens: Go to the stall of Khao Kha Moo Chang Phueak, the famous lady in the cowboy hat who serves braised pork leg.

Go to Khao Soi Islam for an amazing plate of Thai goat biryani.

Nualkhair: Try Midnight Fried Chicken, which opens a little bit before midnight. Also check out Khao Soy Lamduan Faham and Samerjai.