Thai food is renowned for its distinctive flavor combination of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors. It makes sense why more and more people have come to love Thai cuisine throughout the years. Though many are apprehensive to eat Thai cuisine due to its reputation for being ultra hot, many also speak about how spicy it is. Although it is true that Thais like spicy food, not all Thai cuisine is.
Chili is a common ingredient in almost all Thai curries, such as Massaman and green curry. You would need to ask for little to no chili in your meal since several eateries in tourist locations are also acquainted with the non-spicy curries. This implies that Thai food has something to offer everyone.
There are many different meals available in Thai cuisine, and they often include fresh herbs and aromatics like lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves. These ingredients may provide rich and tasty layers to recipes without necessarily requiring chiles. The majority of the recipes may also be seasoned to suit personal tastes.
Here are some non-spicy dishes from Thai cuisine you can enjoy:
Appetizers & Salads
1. Fresh Spring Rolls
Thai fresh spring rolls are served with a side of peanut dipping sauce and are filled with bright vegetables, chewy rice noodles, and seasoned tofu. This simple dish makes the ideal light, refreshing appetizer.
2. Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)
You can hear the sellers pounding away at clay mortars with wooden pestles as you go down any busy street in Thailand, preparing several versions of som tam, a pounded salad served with a sour dressing. Som tam Thai, a shredded green papaya salad popular in central Thailand, is by far the most well-known example of this kind of dish.
Related Article: 10 Best Vegan Thai Dishes
3. Chicken Satay
It’s a meat marinated in a peanut sauce is skewered and cooked over an open flame in this Southeast Asian dish called satay. While satay is said to have originated in Indonesia, it is now found in almost every Asian cuisine, albeit with somewhat different seasonings and preparations.
Thai satay has gained international renown because of the proliferation of Thai restaurants, yet its country of origin is sometimes misidentified as somewhere other than Thailand. “Sate kai” is the Thai word for satay chicken.
Noodles & Rice
4. Pad Thai
This usually has noodles, eggs, and veggies stir-fried with peanuts. Although other meats like chicken or even beef may be used, shrimp is by far the most common. The dish also has tamarind, fish sauce, garlic, palm sugar, and spring onions. Some stands additionally put in red pepper (although it’s not spicy at all). When the Pad Thai is done cooking, it is served with a garnish of bean sprouts, more scallions, and lime wedges for squeezing.
5. Pad See Ew
Black sweet soy sauce, garlic, and veggies are stir-fried with noodles. It works as well with beef, chicken, or shrimp. Black sweet soy sauce, garlic, and veggies are stir-fried with noodles. It works as well with beef, chicken, or shrimp. Pad See Ew is salty, tempered with a hint of sour, and has a superb, chargrilled flavor, whereas Pad Thai is sweeter and nuttier.
Curries & Stir-Fried
6. Massaman Curry
Curry includes meat or chicken, coconut milk, potatoes, and a mild curry sauce. It tastes somewhat sweet. Massaman curry is often milder than other types of curry, but may be made milder or hotter per customer preference. Massaman curry combines elements of Thai and Indian curries, including a red curry paste and dry whole spices including cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Roasted peanuts, which give the curry an added depth of flavor and texture, are another must-try to include.
7. Cashew Chicken Stir-Fried
Cashew-based stir fries are popular all-around Asia, but the Thai version is particularly tasty. The sauce in the Thai version is more concentrated, making for a drier form of stir fry. That being said, a puddle of sauce on your rice is neither necessary nor desirable. When you combine the rice with the stir fry ingredients, the rice becomes stained and flavored.
Soup
8. Tom Gha Khai
Classic Thai herbs like lemongrass, galangal, and makrut (kaffir) lime leaves are used to flavor this soothing Thai coconut chicken soup dish. It’s one of the most well-liked soups in all of Thailand, sometimes known as tom ka gai. Boiling, kha, and gai all imply chicken in Thai. So basically it’s a chicken soup with a strong galangal flavor, but the soup also contains coconut milk.
Desserts
9. Mango Sticky Rice
For ages, Thais have been enjoying desserts made with the traditional trio of coconut milk, sticky rice, and sweet, ripe mango. Glutinous rice (sometimes called “sweet rice” on the packaging) is the main component; it’s a short-grain type found in Asia that becomes chewy when cooked.<
10. Thai Coconut Ice Cream
Thais often eat coconut ice cream as a dessert. It’s the kind sold by street sellers and the one found in most grocery shops and cafes. Without the inclusion of dairy or eggs, the pure coconut taste of traditional Thai coconut ice cream shines through.<
If you’re in Thailand and you eat anything a little too spicy for your liking, don’t go running for the cool water since it won’t put out the fire. Try a ‘Cha Yen’ instead, or better yet, get one before you need it. The milk in Cha Yen—a Thai iced tea with condensed milk—is what tempers the heat of the food.
Related Article: The Health Benefits of Thai Cuisine
Featured Photo from FoodHongKong
