Most popular southern Thai food dishes

Southern Thailand is surrounded by the sea this is why most of the dishes you see will include seafood. And heat is a lovely flavour of southern Thai food.

You will find a lot of nature around where most people live. Such as lemongrass, varieties of basil,Turmeric, Galangal, Chilli, Spearmint, lime, kaffir lime leaves, even fresh coconut for cooking and a lot more. Sometimes, if you walk to the end of the vegetable patch, you might find a pond where they keep fish. Its all about having fresh ingredients to hand at any time.

1. Goong phad kruang gaeng sataw (prawn red curry with green beans)

Sataw is a popular seasonal vegetable of southern Thailand. Sataw basically translates to “stink green bean”, and it certainly lives up its name.

Most people like to eat it raw just like other vegetables, myself I prefer it cooked. I find it more delicious and reduces the strong smell.

Sataw beans can be stir fried in curry with a variety of meats or you can boil them in plain water till cooked through. My dad loves to make brine Sataw, he’ll soak them in salt water for several days and then eat them as a snack or a side dish.

And the most delicious dish I suggest is Goong Phad Sataw (Prawn red curry with green beans) – trust me, you will love it. Just make sure you brush your teeth very clean before you start to talk to anyone otherwise people will know what you have just eaten.

2. Gaeng som pla (Fish yellow curry)

Gaeng som is a clear soup curry with a delicious taste of lime, turmeric and chilli. The ingredients make come out a beautiful yellowish-orange colour. Once you eat just be careful because if you are not a spicy person then it might burn your mouth. The ingredients to make this curry is just chilli, turmeric, garlic and salt. In the south we love our spiciness.

Gaeng som is commonly cooked with brine bamboo shoots, young green papaya, slices pineapple or any green vegetable will do.

Fish or prawn in the curry will make a more yummy taste, then serve with white rice and maybe fried fish would be lovely for a dinner.

3. Kua kling moo sab / nua (dry red curry with mince pork or beef)

There are a lot of herbs involved in cooking this dish. Such as finely chopped  kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and sometimes green pepper corns.

The fragrant smell really stands out. Even if you are outside the house, if someone’s cooking, then you definitely know what is on a table today.

We love to eat with lot of fresh raw vegetable like cucumber to reduce the fire in your mouth.

4. Gaeng tai pla

Every time I go home I will have to ask my mum to make Gaeng tai pla because it is not easy to find the ingredients here in UK. However my mum is the best of anything so I prefer to eat her cooking.

Gaeng tai pla is a thick fish soup, dark brown colour more like stew fish. Main ingredients are tai pla paste, grilled fish (only use the meat), shrimp paste, eggplant, pumpkin, sataw beans and any vegetable that you like to eat.

Again, Thai people eat rice 3 meals a day so definitely this dish also serve with a warm cooked rice. More likely for dinner and some people even eat with laksa noodles (rice noodle) in the morning.

5. Nam prik goong siap (dried shrimp chilli paste)

This dish is basically a bit like a dipping sauce. You will want to find as many different types of vegetables as you can to dip in. Then to make it, its quite simple, just chilli, lime, shrimp paste, shallots and dried shrimps. Dip the crunchy vegetables and enjoy. When eating this, southern people will say “Roy jung hoo“, which means “So delicious”.