Thailand is known for their culinary cuisine. for example, Thailand has 362 entries for 2022 in the Michelin Guide of which 6 are two-star restaurants and 26 are one-star restaurants. The 2022 edition of the The Michelin Guide has Thailand more entries in the BIB gourmand in the street food category.
Thailand is the place to be when it comes to good food. From street food to star restaurants and from local Thai restaurants to hip beach bars, quality is the name of the game. But what are the dishes you must have eaten when you are in Thailand?
11 Thai dishes recommended by Idyllic Samui Resort
#1 Green Curry
A popular Thai dish made from a mixture of spices such as garlic, green peppers, shallot combined with shrimps or chicken and vegetables.
How spicy depends on the chef but a green curry is less spicy than a red curry. A curry is available everywhere and several street food stalls specialise in it.
#2 Kai Med Mua Muang
This stir-fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts is found throughout Thailand and is often eaten with white rice. The chicken is stir-fried with spring onion, dried chilli and cashew nuts. Depending on the chef, this dish has variations, but the basis of the stir-fry dish is chicken and cashew nuts. Thai eat this dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner
#3 Khoa Soi
Khoa Soi is a curry soup with noodles from Chang Mai, northern Thailand. Also available in many restaurants on Koh Samui. Those who love soup love Khoa Soi.
Khoa Soi is made with chicken, noodles, curry paste, coconut milk and several other ingredients. This dish is often available at street food stalls in Chang Mai for less than 50 bath.
#4 Massaman Curry
Curry made from sweet potato and carrots. In terms of spiciness, this curry is known as a very mild curry with a sweet spicy taste. The curry is often accompanied by shrimp or chicken and sometimes lamb and eaten with rice.
#5 Pad Kra Paw
A dish made of chicken or pork and is quite spicy. Of course, you can ask for it to be milder when you order the dish. The dish is served with rice (ask for a fried egg on the rice).
Sometimes the dish is served in half an aubergine.
#6 Pad See Ew
stir fried soy sauce noodles is probably one of the most popular street food dishes and can also be found outside of Thailand in China, Malaysia and Singapore. The dish has many variations depending on the region and chef. It is simple but very tasty. Once you have tasted it, you will certainly order this dish more often.
#7 Pad Thai
A Noodle dish. Probably even the most famous dish from Thailand. Pad Thai are noodles with a sweet sauce, vegetables, meat or fish. The dish is often sprinkled with peanuts. Especially for vegans, there is a variant with tofu.
#8 Tom Kha Kai
The most famous Thai soup is Tom Kha Kai. A chicken soup made in coconut milk.
The soup has the typical oriental flavours of coconut, lime grass and red pepper.
For those who stay on Koh Samui. Try the Tom Kha Kai at PUI Relax Restaurant. This restaurant is 10 minutes by taxi from Idyllic Samui Resort and has 4.5 stars on TripAdvisor
#9 Pla Pao
For fish lovers, this is a must have. It is a lesser-known dish but people who have eaten it want to eat it more often. Pla Pao is fish in a crust of sea salt. This sea salt is mixed with all kinds of herbs which gives the fish a delicious taste. On Koh Samui, Pla Pao is on the menu of several (fish) restaurants.
#10 Som Tum
For Vegans, Thailand is a country par excellence. Many variations of well-known dishes are also available without meat or fish. In addition, Thailand has an extensive kitchen with vegan dishes. One of these is Som Tum. A papaya salad in which sour, salty, sweet and spicy flavours embrace each other. This is also an absolute must for non vegans.
#11 Pad Thai Vegan
The vegan version of Thailand's most popular street food dish. This Pad Thai features Tofu instead of meat or fish.
Eat these dishes outside Thailand.
Many cities in the world have Thai restaurants where one can enjoy these dishes. Copenhagen, Berlin, London, New York, Sanfransico are some of the cities where one can eat in a Thai Michelin star restaurant outside Thailand. But even without a star, most Thai restaurants are of very high quality where the chefs only go for the best.
Take Thai cuisine home
If you are staying in Thailand and want to take the knowledge of Thai cuisine home with you, it is interesting to take cooking classes. Here you will learn all about the ingredients and how to prepare them. If you want to take cooking lessons during your stay in our resort, please contact the reception for cooking lessons in the vicinity of the resort.