Phuket’s cuisine

Posted by admin on May 4th, 2009 filed in Dining, Tourist tips

For many visiting tourists Thai cuisine may be one of the principal attractions or even their journey’s highlight. Renowned for its delicious seafood dishes, Phuket represents a wide range of other Thai food as well. 

The flavours’ harmony is one of Thai food’s most distinctive things. Many meals will contain a combination of sour, sweet, salty and spicy flavours. Another great thing about Thai cooking is the abundant use of freshly harvested herbs. 

Rice is the basic ingredient and practically every Thai meal contains it. The Thais are lovers of (very) spicy food, and if their dish isn’t really intended to be hot, they’ll usually add chilli powder or fresh chillies to make it spicy enough. To make sure that your dish will not be too spicy you can say: “mai aow prik”, (I don’t want chillies).

In general, most restaurants in Phuket know that foreigners aren’t used to eat very spicy and they’ll adjust the food to a more western style. If you’re a die-hard chilli lover and disappointed by the, not spicy enough, served food, say: “aow pet maak”. (I want it very spicy). Not recommended for most tourists!

Thais can’t have enough of these!

The authentic way of eating a Thai meal is to have a portion of white rice and share several different dishes with the other guests. This allows adventurous visitors to sample many differently prepared dishes. A decent Thai meal should consist of a bowl of soup, vegetables, a curry dish and a dip with accompanying meat or fish. The ultimate Thai food guide

Thai food is consumed with a fork and spoon. You’ll never need to use a knife in Phuket’s restaurants as the meat is already cut into small chunks. Especially at the noodle eateries chopsticks are often used together with a soup spoon but no worries as it should always be possible getting hold of a fork.