My recent trip to Bangkok was exactly what I needed. Time spent with my favourite person, in a city I adore, eating the most delicious food.

Every time I go back to Bangkok I always do the same things. I’ve seen all the beautiful temples, markets and famous sights a dozen times, so I just love to go back and do what I know makes me happy – eat!

There’s honestly no place like Thailand for lip-smacking, full-of-flavor, blow-your-mind, I-can’t.stop.eating kind of food.

No place in the world beats Thai street food in particular. I’ve been to Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and very recently, the Philippines, and Thailand in my eyes still top them all.

My favourite dishes are the ones that really remind me of my childhood. They’re very popular and you can find them in almost any outdoor market or stall in Bangkok.

On the left is a clear broth stoup with pork balls – it’s such a simple dish but don’t let that put you off, it’s very tasty.
At the top is my all-time favourite dish – Pad See Ew – stir-fried, flat rice noodles cooked with egg, chinese broccoli, pork and dark soy sauce.
On the right is also a very simple dish but once you try it you’ll realise why it’s so popular – Kai Jeow Moo Sab – Thai-style omelette cooked with (or without) pork and of course soy sauce. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried a Thai mince pork omellete, trust me!

Thai clear-broth soup, Pad See Ew, Kai Jeow Moo Sab

Pad See Ew

A bit of a Thai food lesson before I continue:

‘Pad’ – stir-fried
‘Khao’ – rice
‘Moo’ – pork
‘Gai’ – chicken
‘Goong’ – prawn
‘Boo’ – crab
‘Sen Yai’ – large, flat noodles
‘Sen Mee’ – medium sized noodles
‘Kai’ – egg

Everyone seems to love Pad Thai. It’s probably the most well-known Thai dish worldwide.
You could easily make this at home too. It’s stir-fried noodles with egg, bean sprouts, spring onion, chilli, tofu, your choice of chicken, pork or prawn, cooked in tamarind juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, and topped with chopped peanuts, coriander and lime. Phew!

It sounds like a lot, but once the noodles and meat are cooked, you can just throw all the ingredients together in a big wok, top as desired and voila you have a pretty irresistible dish to impress your friends with!

Pad Thai

I’m a sucker for Thai spring rolls too, especially dipped in sweet chilli sauce with peanuts. It’s not exactly the healthiest dish, but they do put a big grin on my face, so it’s totally worth it.

Thai spring rolls

If I had to choose one dish to eat for the rest of my life, this would be it. It’s called Khao Pad Moo and is simply fried rice and vegetables, with minced pork and fried egg. Now it MUST have a fried egg on top, it’s all about the oozing yolk spreading its deliciousness all over your rice.

The street food cooks manage to create this dish packed full of flavour. It’s all the sauces that do it, and sadly some sugar too – fish sauce, dark soy sauce, maggi seasoning (salty, soy sauce that makes rice and eggs taste amazing).

Khao Pad Moo

I can never resist this classis Thai drink – Cha Yen. It means iced tea, made from strongly-brewed tea, spices and sweetened with condensed milk. These drink stalls are everywhere.

Cha yen

If you ever fancy dessert while in Thailand, make sure you try some sweet mango with sticky rice. They usually serve it with coconut milk drizzled on top of the rice too. The mango’s have to be perfectly soft and sweet though, so check it’s the right season for them first.

Sweet mango with sticky rice

This is an unusual savory treat – Pancakes with fried egg and maggi sauce. Why not! Watching the guy make this had me mesmerised for a while as it really is a work of art. He whips them up in no time at all, and he never lets the egg spill over the edge, ever!

Other common dishes you’ll find are Phao Neow Moo Ping (grilled pork and sticky rice) which is my go-to snack, Som Tam (papaya salad with green beans, dried shrimp, chilli and toasted peanuts), Tom Yum (Thailand’s most famous spicy, sour soup), Laarb Moo (minced pork and chilli), Rad Na Sen Yai Goong (stir-fried noodles with prawns and dark soy sauce).

Street food is incredibly cheap, only a few dollars at most. It’s genuinely a mission for me to not grow to the size of an elephant every time I’m back.

I have a lot more food photos from my trip to a huge market called Chatuchak in Bangkok. I’ll tell you all about it in the next post!