“Thai food is not about spiciness.”
-Hong Thaimee, famous Thai chef
Myth: Real Thai food is spicy hot food. And that’s how Thais like it.
“Real Thai food is spicy hot. And that’s how Thais like it!” Wrong and wrong again.
Most Thai food is not mouth-ravaging spicy hot, and most Thais don’t want their food prepared at the upper reaches of the Scoville Scale.
In fact, much Thai cuisine is not prepared spicy at all.
Thai food is all about balancing flavors, and not about overloading a dish with hot chili peppers. If the hot chili peppers smother the taste of fish sauce, galangal, garlic, tamarind, kaffir leaves, or a myriad of other Thai seasonings, you’re eating bad Thai food.
Oh sure, there’s some Thai dishes that are traditionally served spicy such as pad grapao (ผัดกะเพรา), and pad kee mao (ผัดขี้เมา). And there are some curries, soups and sauces (น้ำจิ้ม) that can light you on fire. But generally, most traditional Thai food is not made to burn your mouth out, not even a farang mouth new to Thai cuisine.
A Quick Lesson In Thai Food
Sour, sweet, salty, bitter. Those are the four pillars of Thai cuisine. Spiciness is an “add on”, not a pillar!
Don’t believe me? Listen to two very accomplished Thai chefs, Pailin Chongchitnant from Hot Thai Kitchen and Hong Thaimee of New York’s Ngam Thai restaurant fame:
Pailin makes a very important point about Thai food in her written notes above: Be careful about where you get your info about Thai cuisine. There’s lots of misinformation out there and spiciness is a leading culprit.
Spiciness Is A Moving Target
The problem with talking about spiciness and Thai food is that my spiciness may be your bland and vice versa. My wife is Thai-born and raised. I’m a farang, born and raised in small-town Ohio. My Mom never used a chili pepper in her life when making dinner. But still, I like my Thai food spicier than my wife. Go figure.
Another problem is that people (often farangs) who declare only red-hot Thai food to be authentic, also tend to believe that people who prefer mild spice to know nothing about Thai food. Trust me, Thais don’t believe such nonsense.
The Thai Table
Have lunch/dinner at any Thai restaurant in the Kingdom and you’ll see a condiment tray on the table. The pillars of Thai food-sour, bitter, salty, sweet-are right in front of you.
You’ll also see a bottle of fish sauce and a shaker of red chilis or chili flakes in oil. If you want a dish spicier than served, have at it with the seasonings right in front of you.
Example: I had lunch in Chiang Mai yesterday and ordered a bowl of pork wanton soup. I tested the broth and thought it was bland. From the table’s condiment tray I added a tablespoon of vinegar seasoned with a few mild yellow chilis (the sour), a dash of ground red hot chilis, and a teaspoon of fish sauce. Perfect for me.
Personal Taste Bud Reflections
My Thai Food Curriculum Vitae:
- Married to a beautiful Thai wife, who’s also a great Thai cook, for 25+ years.
- Live in near Chiang Mai.
- I sometimes get so tired of eating Thai food, day after day, week after week, month after month that I demand we drive into Chiang Mai so I can get a cheeseburger at The Dukes.
Here’s a short list of common Thai foods you’ll encounter when you visit The Kingdom. This list will give you a feel on how spiciness relates to Thai food. I’ve eaten these foods for decades, made by my wife, or her family or at restaurants from all over northern Thailand, rural Esaan to urban Bangkok.
Pad Thai ผัดไทย: Definitely not a spicy dish. Might be served with a little kick, but not much. Want it spicier? Grab the chili flakes on the table.
Kao Pad (Thai Stirred-Fried Rice): Not usually served spicy. Kao Pad is often served with a nam jim sauce that can be spicy. If you like your kao pad spicy, use the ground chili that’s on the table.
Tom Yum Goong ต้มยำกุ้ง: Spicy Shrimp Soup. This can be spicy-a little or a lot. Depends on the chef. But don’t let the spiciness drown out the flavors of the tom yum. A good tom yum goong is never judged by its spiciness alone. That would be way too easy and an insult to Thai cuisine.
Crispy or Red Pork หมูกรอบ ข้าวหมูแดง : Never served spicy.
Kao Mun Gai ข้าวมันไก่: Also known as Hainan chicken throughout Southeast Asia. (Thais eat waaaay more kao mun gai than Pad Thai.) Not spicy. Kao mun gai is served separately with a sauce containing ginger, mild chilis, mung beans and garlic. Spoon on however much you like.
Green Curry (Gang Keo Wan) แกงเขียวหวาน: Spiciness can range from mild to hot depending on the green curry paste. I like a spicy green curry just as long as it doesn’t bully the wonderful flavors especially the fish sauce and kaffir leaves.
Mussaman Curry แกงมัสมั่น: Mild! Always!
Som Tom ส้มตำ: Green papaya salad, a specialty of Esaan. Good som tom can vary from somewhat spicy to red-hot spicy. Esaan som tom is known to be firery, so proceed with caution.
Noodle Soups (gwid-diaw) ก๋วยเตี๋ยว including Yen-Ta-Pho เย็นตาโฟ: Usually gwid-diaw is served without much heat. The condiments on the table are your friend to add to the soup to make it right for you.
Esaan Sausage ไส้กรอกอีสาน or northern Sausage ไส้อั่ว: Not spicy. Esaan sausage is often served with optional small pieces of ginger, garlic and hot green chilis.
Dipping Sauces (Nam Jim) น้ำจิ้ม: These sauces can vary from mild to searing hot. There are dozens of varieties. They are served in small dishes and you spoon on however much you want if any. The base ingredients are fish sauce and lime juice and sliced chilis. I’ve had nam jim in Esaan so hot that if you dip just a tiny bit of food into it, you’ll light yourself on fire. But whenever my wife makes me kao pad or a simple Thai omlette, she’ll also makes me a mild nam jim as a condiment.
Nam Prik Noom น้ำพริกหนุ่ม: This is northern Thai food made of mashed green chiles. I put it on chicken, pork, sausage, and of course sticky rice. It can range from mild to spicy. Good nam prik noom is never judged by its spiciness.
Bon appetit
I think we’ve put to bed the myth that Thai food has to be spicy to be good.
Eat what you like. Thai food doesn’t have to be spicy to be traditional and authentic.
Thai food is far more than a hot chili pepper.
*****
You may like some of my other myth busters about Thai life. Or like some people, you might get huffy about them after reading.
Thai Women Don’t Wear Cheongsams
Mai Ben Rai-NOT: A Lesson in Thai Culture
Thai Table Manners: Put Down the Chopsticks!
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