Pad Thai is Boring! Try These 10 Vegan Thai Dishes Instead!
There are so many better dishes in Thailand that you should try.
Every time I come across a travel blog or vlog about Thailand that goes on and on about pad thai, I cringe so hard.
Pad thai is fine but it’s bland compared to other Thai dishes. Mai arroi, it’s not delicious.
It’s annoying that it’s the most popular Thai dish when there are so many better ones out there. It would be like a Thai person going to the U.S. and raving about baked beans. Are you excited about baked beans? I hope not!
Thai people don’t even eat pad thai. Maybe they will if they have no other options, but I’ve never seen a Thai person order it and I have lived here for over 14 years!
Pad thai is not even really Thai. It’s Chinese in origin and is a relatively new dish since it was created in the 1930s.
There’s a good reason why pad thai is so popular though. It became the national dish during the early stages of WW2 when there was a rice shortage.
Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram wanted to encourage people to eat more noodles. To promote more noodle consumption, pad thai was created and became the national dish despite its Chinese origins. It was sold at food carts and restaurants throughout the Kingdom.
But pad thai wasn’t created just to get people to eat more noodles and not starve, it was also invented as a part of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s campaign to create a strong, Thai identity.
It was also a means to modernize Thailand and make it more Westernized. This was also around the time that the official name of the country changed from Siam to Thailand. Huge rebranding.
Thailand is a very nationalist country that never lost its identity and has never been colonized. The Kingdom was briefly invaded by the Japanese after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but both countries were able to work out an alliance, so Thailand remained intact. Perhaps the dish worked!
Despite the interesting history and effective marketing of making pad thai the national dish, Thai people prefer strong flavors and only like food that tastes arroi (delicious.) They stopped eating pad thai as soon as other, better dishes became available again.
Most Thai restaurants will have it available on the menu, but Thai people rarely eat it. The only places that sell pad thai prominently are touristy areas because the locals know it’s the only dish that tourists can name.
It makes sense that pad thai caught on in other countries. It’s a simple noodle dish. The flavors are uncomplicated and very bland, which works well for people who aren’t used to spiciness or eating food with proper seasoning. Shudder!
Even before I moved to Thailand, I rarely ate pad thai and would mainly order vegan yellow curry at Thai restaurants in Los Angeles. L.A. has the largest population of Thai people outside of Thailand and is packed with amazing, Thai restaurants.
I don’t hate pad thai but I’ve never been excited about it in my life. It’s just there.
I only eat it when I run out of rice and money since I can cook a giant pan of it for $4 and it lasts 3 days. It is a very cheap and easy dish to make when you’re in a pinch. I can see why it did so well here during WW2 but not after that.
When you look at what Thai people actually eat on the daily, you’ll never order pad thai again! (hopefully)
Since I’m vegan, I’ll be discussing the je (vegan) versions of these dishes which can be easily found in Thailand. The Land of Smiles is very vegan-friendly because of Buddhism and even has a 10-day je festival every year around October.
I’m including links to authentic, Thai cooking videos which show you how to make each dish properly. There are so many farang (foreign) chefs, vloggers, and bloggers who create dishes that they say are Thai, but are total bastardizations and an insult to Thai cuisine.
Case in point, this video of Rachel Ray cooking some soggy noodle chicken monstrosity and calling it “pad thai.”
No abominations like that here. I’m keeping it authentic!
It’s also important to note, that the names of the dishes are spelled phonetically. Thai has its own characters, so the English spelling of Thai words can vary.
The next time you visit Thailand or go to a Thai restaurant, try ordering these 10 arroi dishes instead:
1) Khao Soi — Curry Noodle Soup from Northern Thailand
Khao soi might be the most popular dish among expats and cultured tourists, but of course, Thai people love it too. If you want a dish to replace pad thai as your go-to Thai dish, this is the one!
This incredible, culinary delight comes from Northern Thailand and is also popular in Laos. The best place to try this amazing curry soup is in Chiang Mai, a mountain city in the north that has a huge expat community and a very chill atmosphere.
The downside to Chiang Mai is that there is horrible air pollution for a few months at the beginning of every year.
Khao soi is a spicy and fragrant curry soup with coconut milk that normally has chewy egg noodles but can be made with rice noodles instead. The type of noodles used in this dish is very specific and needs to be a certain thickness and chewiness to work. You can’t just use any rice noodles.
The curry paste used in this dish is complicated, which is why I haven’t made it yet, but it has many of the aromatic spices that make Thai food amazing: fresh turmeric, fresh ginger, black cardamom, coriander seeds, and red Thai chilies.
The soup is the perfect blend of spicy, sweet, sour, and salty with a mix of different textures. There’s the soft chewiness of the noodles and either mushrooms or tofu and the crunchiness of the fried noodles on top.
Khao soy is like tasting heaven. It’s very comforting without being too heavy. I’m always craving it.
2) Pad Krapao — Stir Fried Holy Basil
This is Thailand’s REAL national dish. Thai people pretty much eat this every day since it’s cheap, filling, and delicious.
It’s so beloved by Thai people that some of the survivors of the Tham Luang cave rescue requested this as their very first meal after being trapped in a cave for 17 days! It’s a total comfort food for Thai people.
Pad krapao was also heavily promoted, along with pad thai, during WW2, but Thai people still love it. This goes to show you that pad thai is just meh.
You’re going to see the word “pad” a lot in Thai dish names because “pad” means “stir fry” in Thai. “Krapao” means “holy basil” which has a very distinct, sweet smell that kind of reminds me of lemon. It tends to be difficult to find outside of SE Asia. If you can’t find it, you can just use Thai or Italian basil, but the flavor is very different.
Pad Krapao can be made with either crumbled tofu, mushrooms, or TVP (textured vegetable protein.) It also includes spicy and mild Thai chilies, garlic, mushroom sauce, and sugar.
It’s very spicy, so if you’re not a spice person, you might want to skip this dish. The chili flavor is very important, so omitting the chilies or not putting enough will make it too bland.
It’s served over jasmine rice and is very filling and flavorful. It’s also super cheap at just $1-$2 a plate.
3) Somtam — Papaya Salad
Walk down any Thai neighborhood and you’ll see an older Thai woman selling somtam at a food stall. This might be the second real national dish of Thailand.
Anyone who thinks salad is boring needs to try Thai salad. Thai people know how to pack their salad with flavor and make it exciting to eat.
Somtam is a spicy papaya salad made with fresh, green papaya, chopped long beans, carrots, cherry tomatoes, garlic, fresh lime juice, sugar, tamarind paste, soy sauce, and, of course, lots of Thai chilies. It’s served with sticky rice and is usually eaten with your hands.
4) Tom Yum Mushroom Soup
Tom Yum is the perfect soup to eat when you’re sick. The aromatic herbs and spices really clean out your system.
Tom Yum is spicy and sour and has a very strong umami flavor. The vegan version is made using either oyster, button, or shiitake mushrooms. To get that distinct Tom Yum flavor, you need to use lemongrass, Keffir lime leaves, shallots, dried chili powder, galangal garlic, lime juice, sugar, and soy sauce.
You can eat it with either rice or rice noodles, which helps balance the flavors out, adds a soft texture, and makes it more filling.
It doesn’t have that many ingredients when you compare it to typical soup recipes, but you have to have the right balance of ingredients for it to taste right.
I’ve tried making it many times but it doesn’t taste nearly as good as when a Thai person makes it. It’s just one of those dishes.
Tom Yum flavor is not just for soup. There was a restaurant in Bangkok that sold the most incredible vegan Tom Yum mac n’ cheese but they sadly closed down due to the pandemic.
There are also Tom Yum-flavored Lay’s potato chips and seaweed snacks that are not vegan but are examples of how it’s used to flavor other types of food here. It’s a great flavor and I really miss Tom Yum mac n’ cheese!
5) Kaeng Lueang — Yellow Curry
There are dozens of curry dishes in Thailand, but yellow curry is still my favorite. It’s also super cheap and easy to make.
This is a predominantly sour and spicy dish but it still has the typical blend of sweet and salty flavors as well. Thai curry paste is made with green Thai chilies, fresh ginger, and fresh garlic mashed with a mortar and pestle. The fragrant turmeric is what gives it that distinct, yellow color.
Green chillies are not spicy so this is a good dish for kids and people who don’t like spicy food. I always add red chilies to it to make it spicy.
It’s better to make curry paste from scratch, but I’m too lazy and like to just buy a premade pack for 30 baht (.85 USD) or 60 baht if I want to get the really fancy stuff.
You can use any protein for yellow curry, I like using king oyster mushrooms but most restaurants add firm tofu. It should always have onions and potatoes. I like to add carrots and green long beans too.
For some reason, farangs love coconut milk, so when Thai chefs are cooking for foreigners, they’ll add extra coconut milk to their curry dish. I love it that way too.
6) Pad Pak Bung — Stir Fried Morning Glory
My favorite Thai dish is quite simple yet packed with vitamins and flavor. Fresh morning glory is super cheap here and for some reason, my Siamese cat, Cersei, loves it.
You can buy a big bundle of morning glory that can make up to 8 servings for only 20 baht, which is about .56 USD.
All you need to do is finely chop some Thai red chilies and garlic, toss that in a pan with oil, add in some fresh morning glory, and top with light soy sauce, mushroom sauce, soybean paste, and vegan sugar. Thai people put sugar in everything, they’re obsessed with it.
Once that morning glory is cooked, place it over a steaming serving of rice and you have a spicy and healthy dish that isn’t too heavy.
7) Kanom Jeen — Rice Noodles With Curry Sauce
I discovered this dish during the je festival which is an annual festival with Taoist origins where many Thai people will eat vegan for 10 days to purify themselves and make merit in Buddhism.
Kanom jeen is a noodle dish with thin, fermented rice Vermicelli noodles and yellow curry sauce over it. You can choose different toppings to put on it like pickled mustard greens, shredded cabbage, Thai basil, sprouts, and fresh long beans.
It comes from Southern Thailand but you can find it at many Thai vegan restaurants throughout the country. It’s not spicy at all, but so flavorful! This is my second favorite Thai dish.
8) Yum Hua Plee — Banana Blossom Salad
Bananas are the most popular fruit in the world, but did you know you could eat the flowers too? Banana blossoms are quite versatile. You can even make fried chicken with it. It doesn’t taste like bananas and is more similar to an artichoke. It’s a little bitter.
Yum hua plee is a sweet and crunchy salad with different powerful flavors mixed together in perfect harmony.
It has roasted coconut and peanuts which give it a crunchy texture but the sauce is the most important part. The sauce is a blend of coconut cream, lime juice, chili paste, and sugar.
The bitterness of the banana blossom balances out the sweetness of the coconut and sugar. The flavors are complex yet refreshing and perfect for a hot, humid day in Thailand.
9) Miang Kham — Leaf Wrap Bites
Every time I order this appetizer, I feel very luxurious since the presentation is always gorgeous and looks expensive even though it’s not.
Miang kham is an assortment of different, chopped ingredients that you wrap in fresh piper sarmentosum leaves. People often think the leaves are betel leaves but those are a different species of plant.
You can stuff your leaves with roasted coconut, chopped peanuts or cashew nuts, shallots, ginger, garlic, chopped limes with the peels included, fresh Thai chilies, and fried tofu or mushrooms.
Before you wrap your stuffed leaf, you top it with a sweet and spicy sauce made with lemongrass, ginger, galangal, sugar, and mushroom sauce.
Instead of ordering boring spring rolls, try this exciting appetizer instead.
10) Laab/Larb — Spicy Protein Salad
This delicious salad is originally from Laos but is now a popular dish throughout Thailand. The Northern Thai version is a little different than the Laos version.
Laab is also frequently spelled “larb.” In Thai, the sound is like a mix between an “r” and “a” sound. Yeah, it’s confusing.
Thai laab contains dried spices like cinnamon, star anise, cloves, long pepper, prickly ash seeds, and cumin when cooking the the protein and is then mixed with fresh shallots, mint leaves, cilantro, green onions, chili flakes, and lots of lime juice.
For a vegan version, you can either use tofu, TVP, or mushrooms.
You eat it with jasmine rice and fresh veggies like cucumbers, Thai sweet basil, cabbage, and long beans which balance out the spiciness.
Because it’s a protein dish with spices and herbs added, this hearty salad is packed with umami goodness and very filling.
Give this a try and never complain about salad being boring again!
Thailand has some incredible food that is very unique and flavorful. Thai people love mixing spicy, sweet, sour, and salty flavors together and it totally works, especially in this hot climate.
So stop looking like a tourist and order these better dishes instead! They’re arroi mak mak! Very very delicious!
(This article was originally published on Medium.)