Excerpt: If you are looking for vegetarian food in Thailand, you are in the right place. Read this article to know about the best vegetarian foods in a meat-oriented country like Thailand.
Similar to India, Thailand is a paradise for travellers and especially those who are hard-core food lovers. While visiting Thailand, you can’t just miss out the taste and aroma of the street foods. Just the temptation of Thai food is enough to captivate you while wandering around the streets of Thailand. However, as there are a large number of street food stalls in Thailand, you would not want to waste your time and money over some ordinary meal while being in Thailand. Hence, it is very important for you to come across the best street foods in Thailand. And, if you are a vegetarian, the search for good vegetarian food in Thailand becomes even more difficult.
Apart from focusing on the best vegetarian street food in Thailand, you must emphasis on what is safe to eat while having a trip to Thailand. The reason being is that the appetite and digestive system of the Indians and Thai people are different. Hence, you would not your upset stomach to become an obstacle while having the best trip of your life. There is another problem in searching for pure vegetarian food in Thailand. Vegetarian food does not only mean that it should not have meat or seafood. Being a vegetarian, you would not want either fish sauce or shrimp paste included in your food. Therefore, here in this article, we will let you know about the best vegetarian food in Thailand that you can eat either on the go or while dining in Thailand.
Vegetarian Food In Thailand
Bangkok is one such city that almost every traveller includes in their itineraries while travelling to Thailand. Apart from having some amazing places to visit in Bangkok, the city has some of the most delicious street foods in the world. While a large proportion of food items in Bangkok are meat-oriented, there are many other dishes that are 100% vegetarian in the food markets in Bangkok. To find the best vegetarian food in Bangkok, you just need to know what exactly you are looking for. So, we will help you find the best vegetarian foods in Thailand, especially in Bangkok.
Khai Jiao
Khai Jiao is one of the most popular vegetarian dishes in Thailand. It is kind of a soft and crispy omelette, which is cooked with rice, tofu and vegetables. The chefs and street food vendors deep fry the omelette and make it fluffy. You will be served with steaming hot Khai Jiao with rice that is cooked in from of your eyes. You can instruct the vendors’ cook not to include the shrimp or any other meat-oriented sauce or paste in it.
Som Tum – Green Papaya Salad
Som Tum is another vegetarian food in Thailand, which is quite popular across the country. It is made with shredded unripe papaya, yardlong beans, sliced tomatoes, garlic and peanuts. The vendors’ cook also put some sweet, salty and spicy sauces to add more flavours to your Som Tum dish. Som Tum is one of the best vegetarian foods in Thailand that you must taste at least once while being in Thailand.
Stuffed Roti
There is another pure vegetarian dish that is quite popular in Thailand i.e. Stuffed Roti. It is a pan-fried bread snack, which is stuffed with banana, sugar, chocolate, peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk. Some of the other fillings which this Roti is stuffed with include the cheese, corn and eggs. You may, of course, ask the vendors’ cook to include or exclude specific fillings as per your taste.
Pad Thai
Pad Thai is another vegetarian Thai dish that you would not want to miss out while being in Bangkok. If you are in Bangkok, you will see Pad Thai being served in almost every street across the city. The street vendors and even famous Thai food palaces serve Pad Thai cooked with their local recipe. The chefs and vendors take a handful of dry rice noodles in a pan and soak it in the oil and sauce. Then, they add some beans, tofu, eggs, leeks and sprouts in it. Another thing that makes Pad Thai of Thailand different from what is served in the Western countries is its charcoal roasted flavour. The chefs and cooks in Thailand add some other ingredients in Pad Thai such as chilli flakes, limes, peanuts and cilantro etc.
Vegan Thai Tofu Satay
Thai Tofu Satay is a vegan dish, which is cooked with only a few ingredients such as red curry paste, peanut butter and tofu, of course. The chefs freeze the tofu and let it softens. Some of the other ingredients used to make Thai Tofu Satay are red bell pepper, onions, sesame seeds, minced lemongrass, red chillies, ginger, turmeric, ground coriander, soy sauce, vegetable oil and brown sugar.
Thai-Style Spring Rolls
Thai-Style Spring Rolls are easy to cook vegetarian Thai food, which is cooked with vegetables and noodles. Some of the vegetables that Thai street food vendors’ cook and chefs include in Thai-Style Spring Rolls are green onions, bean sprouts, chopped cabbage. You can also ask the cooks to add lime juice and soy sauce.
Some other delicious vegetarian foods in Thailand that you should not miss out while being in Thailand include:
Thai Green Mango Salad
Thai Green Mango Salad is made with unripe fresh mangoes, cherry tomatoes, lime juice, brown sugar and Thai chilli sauce. It is quite a popular dish in Thailand.
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice
The mouth-watering Thai Pineapple Fried Rice is made with golden grains of rice, pieces of juicy pineapple, cashews, soy sauce, dried crushed chilli flakes, vegetable stock, carrots and frozen peas.
Vegan Stir-Fried Eggplant
The Stir-Fried Eggplant is made with eggplant, of course, along with fresh garlic, soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, brown sugar, red chillies, fresh basil, onions, chopped peanuts or cashews and corn-starch.
Thai Yellow Rice
Thai Yellow Rice is made with basmati rice, turmeric, onions, vegetable oil, minced clove garlic, chilli flakes, lime juice, soy sauce, frozen peas and a handful of basil for garnishing. While searching for the vegetarian food in Thailand, you must ensure that the food you are ordering is either cooked in front of your eyes or is being made using the vegetarian ingredients only. The reason being is that the fish sauce and shrimp paste are used in Thailand like we use salt in Thailand. A large number of people, especially locals love meat-oriented foods. Though Thailand is the hub for delicious meat and seafood, the growing Buddhism in the country has promoted vegetarian food quite a lot in recent times. To ensure that your food is being cooked with vegetarian ingredients only, you can tell your vendors’ cook or chefs that you are “gin jae” and it will solve the problem!