Thailand

Pad Thai vs Lo Mein_difference

Pad Thai vs Lo Mein: difference, origin, taste and more

Categories Thailand,

Are you a fan of dry or stir-fried noodles like us? You can find many delicious stir-fried noodles all across Asia whether it is Pad Thai, Lo Mein, chow mein, yakisoba, japchae or even ram-den (from the famous parasite movie). Having lived in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore, we will be drilling into the difference between Pad Thai vs Lo Mein. Previously we have other noodle posts as well: Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao and also Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew: similarities and differences. So tag along and know more about your favourite noodles.

Difference between Pad Thai and Lo Mein origin

As the name suggest, Pad Thai is a stir-fried noodle dish from Thailand (Pad means stir-fry in Thai). Pad Thai is a common dish you would find in Thai restaurant around the world. In Thailand, Pad Thai are commonly sold by street side vendors as an affordable staple food. However, at the same time, you may also find fancier Pad Thai in restaurants like those served with large river prawns or Pad Thai nicely wrapped in egg.

Lo Mein, on the other hand, is a dry noodle dish from the Chinese cuisine. The word Lo means toss or mix while mein (or mien) generally refers to noodles in Chinese. Interestingly, Lo Mein may or may not be stir-fried. For example, one way to make Lo Mein is to boil all the ingredients before tossing them together with sauces. You can also boil the noodles and stir-fry them with ingredients together with the sauces.

Pad Thai vs Lo Mein: taste and texture

pad thai calories_sauces

The most striking difference between Pad Thai vs Lo Mein is the taste and texture.

Pad Thai is a stir fried dish with a complex taste made up of sweet and savoury tastes, a bit of creaminess/nutty-taste from egg and peanut. The dish has your usual stir-fried noodles texture. However, you will feel a lot of texture variations from other ingredients like peanuts and fresh/raw vegetables like beansprout, raw-green mangoes or even banana blossom.

Lo Mein, on the other hand, has a nice but simpler flavour mostly consisting of salty, savoury taste derived from soy sauce. There are many variations of Lo Mein. Some versions of Lo Mein also draw fragrance from sesame oil, while some other use scallions / scallion oil.

Pad Thai vs Lo Mein: ingredients

Pad Thai vs Lo Mein_ingredients

Both Pad Thai and Lo Mein have a good degree of flexibility in recipes. So there are many variations of both dishes. However, key differences in common ingredients include:

  1. Noodle

Pad Thai make use of “chan” noodles, a special noodle originated from Chantaburi province in Thailand which is made from rice flour. Meanwhile, Lo Mein use wheat flour. Many noodles used to make Lo Mein also contain egg, hence they are slightly yellow in color.

2. Sauce/seasoning

Pad Thai makes use of palm sugar, tamarind, fish sauce and peanut to give that sweet and savoury flavour. On the other hand, Lo Mein primarily use soy sauce/dark soy sauce, while some variation also add in oyster sauce, sesame or scallion oil.

3. Protein

Most Pad Thai will have tofu and eggs as ingredients, and the most classic version will come with shrimp. There are Pad Thai with chicken or pork as well but they are a lot less common. Based on what we have seen, Lo Mein has a lot more flexibility when it comes to the protein source.

4. Raw vegetables

Pad Thai is usually served with raw vegetables on the side. Common vegetables include bean sprout, chives, raw mango and banana blossom. Lo Mein are usually not accompanied by raw vegetables.

Which noodle should you try?

If you have not try both, try all! They are quite different in taste and texture, so decide which one is your favorite after you eat both. Try Pad Thai when you are in Thailand, whereas Lo Mein is more or less the same in any Chinese restaurant in or outside Thailand.

Personally we prefer Lo Mein to Pad Thai because of the taste. Pad Thai tends to be a bit sweet, whereas Lo Mein is on the savory side. If you have sweet tooth and peanuts, most likely you will enjoy Pad Thai!

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pad thai calories_shrimp

Pad Thai Calories: how healthy is Pad Thai?

Categories Thailand,

Pad Thai is a stir-fried noodle from Thailand that is known far and wide across the world. The dish itself probably needs no further introduction. However, do you know how many calories would a serving of Pad Thai noodles have? We are talking about those authentic ones with really rich taste. Previously we touched on the topic of Pad Kee Mao calories. Now, find out more about Pad Thai calories in this article.

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Calories breakdown

pad thai calories_sauces

A serving of Pad Thai with its full ingredients and seasoning can have as high as 600 to 700 calories! That is higher than a serving of Big Mac! This might make you wonder what makes Pad Thai such a high-calorie dish? The answer lies within Pad Thai’s ingredients and seasoning which give it such a rich taste.

Pad Thai typically uses a special type of noodles called Chan noodle which has high calories count of 350 calories per 100g. This is a lot higher than other types of noodles. However, at the same time, it has a very unique chewy texture that makes it the top choice for this dish. Other ingredients calorie count breakdown is below:

  • Protein: 128 calories
  • Vegetable: 164 calories
  • Seasoning/sauces: 300 calories
  • Cooking oil: 240 calories

Noodles and other ingredients total up to ~1360 calories for 2 people’s servings. So it will be around 600-700 calories per 1 person serving.

As you can see, apart from the noodles themselves, Pad Thai is cooked with a lot of oil (for the stir-frying process). Also, its seasoning and sauce also contain high calories count due to palm sugar.

Are you a fan of strong taste and fragrant dishes? check out our comparison between Pad Thai vs. Pad Kee Mao!

If you are not a fan of oil or calories then consider other soup noodles from Thailand such as Boat noodles or Tom Yum noodles!

Can you reduce calories in Pad Thai?

The answer is Yes. But you will need to give up some components that make Pad Thai unique. Shrimp variation of Pad Thai is the most common one throughout Thailand. However, you may sometimes find other variations like Pad Thai with grilled pork, chicken, or giant river prawn. Some of these variations may have higher calorie count than normal Shrimp Pad Thai.

Changing noodles from Chan noodles to vermicelli can change the calorie count from 350 calories to 160 calories per 100g of serving. Recently, we have also seen noodle-less pad thai which adds ingredients like finely sliced green/sour mango instead of noodles. Green/unripe mango should have less than 60 calories per 100g! Pad Thai is typically served with a slice of lime for its sour taste – so green mangoes would be a good choice here.

Peanuts contribute to about 10% of Pad Thai’s total calorie count. Cutting peanuts removes some interesting taste and texture from the dish, but Pad Thai is still enjoyable without (also helpful to those who are allergic to peanuts). 

Another obvious way to reduce calories in your Pad Thai is to cut on oil and sugar. Keep in mind though, that this will impact the taste of the food directly.

In this scenario, if we swap out noodles for raw mango and cut out peanuts, a serving of Pad Thai may have as low as 300 to 400 calories without giving up on any other ingredients and seasoning!

Should you try Pad Thai given its calorie count?

Pad Thai is a world-famous dish but you will need to watch out for how much you eat it as there is a wide range of ingredients that make up for that rich and complex taste, and they do have calorie count.

If you are health conscious then consider other Thai stir-fried noodles or soup versions.

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Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao

Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao: calories + similarities/differences

Categories Thailand,

Pad Thai is a world-renowned dish, but we are more of a big fan of the spicy & fragrance Pad Kee Mao. Between Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao, what are the similarities and differences? Learn more with us and decide which one should be your favorite Thai stir fried noodles!

We have also talked about Pad Kee Mao calories in a separate article before. We have also touched on the topic of Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew. 

Table of Contents

Similarities

Both dishes names start with “Pad” which means stir-fried in Thai. As the names imply, both dishes are stir-fried Thai noodle dishes. Pad Thai and Pad Kee Mao also both contain a certain degree of flexibility when it comes to what protein can be used in the dish. However, the most common/famous one tends to be its seafood variation. The same flexibility also applies to noodle types. However, Pad Thai is dominated by “Chan” noodles while Pad Kee Mao commonly uses big noodles or Thai instant noodles. That is really about it when it comes to similarities.

Differences

Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao

The two dishes have a lot of differences. While common noodles and main protein options are covered above, there are still many differences. 

Vegetables: Pad Kee Mao tends to involve more cooked vegetables than Pad Thai. A bowl of Pad Kee Mao may have many vegetables ranging from mushrooms, carrots, baby corn, or even kale. However, Pad Thai has limited vegetables and is often limited to chives. However, Pad Thai is usually served with raw vegetables like bean sprouts, raw mango, and banana blossom.

Other protein: Pad Thai tend to have other sources of protein outside of its main protein like dried shrimp and tofu.

Herbs: Pad Thai is not known for herbs, but Pad Kee Mao is full of them. While there is no standard formula, Pad Kee Mao tends to have basil leaves, peppercorn, chili, kaffir limes and finger roots.

Seasoning and sauce: Pad Kee Mao mostly makes use of oyster sauce and light soy sauce whereas Pad Thai uses palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind sauce (+ adding lime before eating for sour taste).

Taste: Based on the above, you can already guess that the tastes of the two dishes are different in taste. Pad Kee Mao is spicy and offers an herbal fragrance whereas Pad Thai has a rich, sweet taste with a tangy, sourness provided by fresh lime at the end.

Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao calories

Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao Calories

We are using recipes from Phol Food Mania as a reference. Pad Thai has between 600 to 700 Calories while Pad Kee Mao has 460 to 700 Calories per serving by our estimate. The calories tend to vary depending on ingredients and serving size.

Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao calories sources also differ:

  1. “Chan” noodle contains higher calories count than other types of noodle
  2. Seasoning and ingredients used in Pad Thai contain more high calorie components like sugar and peanut
  3. Pad Kee Mao tends to be more protein heavy, for example Pad Kee Mao with fattier pork could contain higher calories than shrimp Pad Thai!

Fried noodle dishes like Pad Thai and Pad Kee Mao contain considerable calories. Soup noodles like Boat noodle or Tom Yum noodle might be better for lower calorie options!

Read more on Pad Thai calories! or Pad Thai vs Lo Mein: difference, origin, taste and more

Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao: who's the winner?

So Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao? Pad Kee Mao a.k.a drunken noodle is the winner for us because of its rich herbal taste and fragrance. We are also a big fan of big rice noodles, which has a very special noodle texture that we love. Many of our friends however love Pad Thai for its richness in taste and its unique texture especially when it incorporates raw vegetables (bean sprouts, raw mango, banana blossoms) that are crunchy. Peanuts that are added as a topping will also add to the texture of the food.

All in all, you should try both of these dishes if you haven’t! 

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pad kee mao calories_featured

Pad Kee Mao Calories & Nutrition

Categories Thailand,

In our previous article, we have introduced Pad Kee Mao or Thai drunken noodles as a stir-fried dish with rich flavor and fragrance. As we might have expressed our love for this dish before, Pad Kee Mao is absolutely delicious. However, the question now is do we need to watch out for its calories? If you are interested in learning more about Pad Kee Mao calories and Pad Kee Mao nutrition, this article is for you!

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Pad Kee Mao calories: the breakdown

A serving of Pad Kee Mao can have 460 to 700 calories. This might make you wonder: why is it such a wide range? That is because there many ways in making Pad Kee Mao, ranging from the type of noodles, protein options and herbs to add in. For our estimation in this article, we will be referencing to a recipe from Phol Food Mafia, this recipe is for a classic, big noodles pork Pad Kee Mao.

Thai stir fried noodles have multiple components including the noodles, protein, vegetables seasoning/sauces and other ingredients. You can check out Pad Kee Mao recipe here. We will be following this structure in our estimation as well:

  • Noodles: 704 calories
  • Protein: 430 calories
  • Vegetable: 61 calories
  • Seasoning/sauces: 150 calories
  • Oil used for stir-frying: 80 calories

The sum of the above is ~1400 calories for 2-3 servings. In conclusion, a serving of Pad Kee Mao can give as low as 460 calories but also as high as 700 calories, depending on the ingredients you choose and how much you add them.

Note that this calories calculation does not include other add-on like Thai fried egg, which also goes well with Pad Kee Mao!

Can you reduce calories in Pad Kee Mao?

Calories in pad kee mao_glass noodle

Fortunately, there are easy ways in which you can reduce calories count in Pad Kee Mao without sacrificing much or any of its taste.

The lowest hanging fruit here would be to swap the Thai big noodles with vermicelli. According to Knorr, big rice noodles have 220 calories per 100g whereas vermicelli has 150 calories per 100g. This switch will reduce the amount of calories per serving by between 75 to 100 calories.

Additionally, you can choose to switch pork to a leaner white meat like chicken breast (which also goes well with Pad Kee Mao). Pork typically has about 240 calories per 100g whereas chicken breast has 165 calories per 100g. This switch can reduce the calories count by another 40 to 60 calories per serving.

These two switches can reduce the calories count per Pad Kee Mao to as low as ~300 – 350 calories per serving without giving up the taste or fragrance of Pad Kee Mao. You might still be giving up on the soft and chewy big noodles though.

Now that you understand the power of ingredients in making Pad Kee Mao of lower calories, you will also need to watch out for the opposite. That is, a combination with high calories count. For example, Pad Kee Mao made with instant noodles!

Pad Kee Mao nutrition

Pad Kee Mao’s base ingredient is the noodle, be it big noodle, vermicelli or instant noodle. Hence, you get your carbohydrate source from that. Depending on your choice of protein source, you can have seafood, pork or chicken to go along with your noodle. Pad Kee Mao is also known to have a lot of vegetables inside the food. So you will get your fiber and some vitamins fix from the vegetables. Herbs that give Pad Kee Mao its fragrance are also full of health benefits. Basil is a prominent herb in the Pad Kee Mao dish. To understand more about basil and other Thai herbs health benefits, you can refer to another dedicated article by us on this topic.

Should you be wary of this dish calorie count?

Pad Kee Mao is a delicious stir-fried dish commonly found throughout Thailand. However, you may need to watch out for its calorie count once you have fallen in love with this dish. Luckily, as we mentioned in this article, there are some “hacks” to reduce the calorie count of this dish.

If you are health conscious then try the low calories version or opt for Thai soup noodle dishes instead. There are many other delicious Thai food that you can try!

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Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew_comparison

Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew: similarities and differences

Categories Thailand, ,

If you are a fan of Thai food, you would probably have tried Pad Thai. “Pad” means “stir fry” in the Thai language, so as you can guess there is a lot of other delicious stir-fried food apart from Pad Thai.  For stir-fried noodles alone, Thailand has many other delicious dishes like Pad Kee Mao (which translates to drunken noodles) and Pad See Ew. However, you may not know which one you will like more or which one would be to your liking. Learn more about the similarities and differences between Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew with us in this post!

Table of Contents

Similarities between Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew

Let’s start with the similarities between the two, and there are only a few of them. Like Pad Thai, both Pad Kee Mao and Pad See Ew are stir-fried noodles where the dish typically consists of noodles, vegetables, and some protein.

Both recipes of Pad Kee Mao and Pad See Ew contain a good degree of flexibility when it comes to noodle type, vegetables, and protein sources. For example, you can find both dishes with large noodles, rice noodles, vermicelli noodles, Mama instant noodles or even spaghetti. 

You can also freely choose the source of protein like pork, chicken or seafood. Seafood Pad Kee Mao however is quite common and you should give it try!

Differences between Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew

There are a few similarities between Pad Kee Mao and Pad See Ew. On the other hand, there are many differences that set the two stir-fried noodles apart.

Visual differences

Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew_drunken noodles

The first is on the visual aspect. If you put the two dishes side by side you will notice that Pad Kee Mao contains a variety of ingredients and herbs. In contrast to that, Pad See Ew appears simpler and it has a striking feature of dark-colored noodle.

The sauce

The next question might be, why Pad See Ew look darker? The answers lie with this dish’s name. In Thai, “see ew” means soy sauce. So the second difference is the sauce. And there is your answer, Pad See Ew makes use of both dark soy sauce and sweet soy sauce which turn the color of stir-fried noodles dark brown. Pad Kee Mao on the other hand does not make use of any soy sauce, instead, it uses oyster sauce. 

Key ingredients

The third difference is the key ingredients and herbs. It is established that many types of noodles and protein sources can be used in these dishes. However, there are ingredients and herbs that simply are irreplaceable. Pad Kee Mao has garlic, kaffir lime leaves, fingerroots, fresh peppercorn, fresh chili, and Thai basil leaves as the key herbs. After being exposed to hot oil, these herbs give out a strong aroma, making Pad Kee Mao a truly fragrant dish. While Pad See Ew key ingredients might be pale in comparison to Pad Kee Mao, it also makes use of garlic and another unique ingredient which is an egg.

The taste

Last but not least, the taste. Based on what you have seen so far, you can already guess that Pad Kee Mao has a stronger taste and is more fragrant. Pad See Ew on the other hand has milder taste but it can still be seasoned with chili flakes and vinegars to enhance the flavour. Otherwise Pad See Ew prominent taste is only sweet. 

Is Pad Kee Mao spicy?

Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew_is pad kee mao spicy

Yes, Pad Kee Mao tends to be spicy, especially if you order it in Thailand. Pad Kee Mao mostly draws its spiciness from fresh chili. However, if you ever chew on other herbs like kaffir lime leaves, fingerroots, or fresh peppercorn – you will also realize that these herbs are “spicy”. They are spicy in a slightly different way than fresh chili. If you are not a fan of spice, avoid chewing on these. You can also reduce spiciness level by reducing the amount chili or opt to swab fresh chili out for dried ones to reduce “hotness” of the dish.

Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew: which one should you try?

We personally prefer dishes with a stronger taste with lots of herbs and spices. Pad Kee Mao is right up our alley because of this. However, if you haven’t tried both, we will always recommend trying both. Keep in mind though, that if you really aren’t into spices, you may find Pad Kee Mao spicy so Pad See Ew might be better for you. 

One other thing to note – when you are in Thailand, the Pad Kee Mao will taste much better than what you find outside Thailand. The reason is, that Thailand is a land of spices and herbs therefore vendors can go all out when they make the dish. If you want to try your first Pad Kee Mao, do it when you visit Thailand!

Now that you know the difference between Pad Kee Mao vs Pad See Ew – take a step further and learn more about Pad Thai vs Pad Kee Mao! or Pad Thai vs Lo Mein!

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Thai-sausage_How-to-enjoy-Sai-Ua

Thai Sausage: grilled northern Isaan & Sai Ua sausages

Categories Thailand, ,

Thai sausage is one of our favorite Thai dishes. If you are a fan of western sausages then you may want to give Thai sausages a try. The taste and texture of these sausages are unique. They are traditionally home industry and there are a few special regions in Thailand famous for them. Previously we have covered our other favorite Thai dishes: Tom Yum noodles, Som Tum, and Boat Noodles. Now we will cover Northern Thai sausage in this article.

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Isaan sausage vs. Sai Ua sausage

thai sausage_issan vs sai ua

There are two types of Northern style traditional Thai grilled sausage that is famous across the country.

First, Isaan sausage aka Sai Krok Isaan is one of the most famous foods from the Isaan region (North-Eastern part of Thailand). Other than the sausage, this region also prides itself on Som Tum, sticky rice, and Jim Jum hotpot. This Thai sausage is a fermented sausage, made primarily of pork and rice. Since it undergoes fermentation, it is no surprise that it tastes a bit sour. Sai Krok Isaan sausage normally goes really well with raw cabbage, sliced raw ginger and chilli padi / bird’s eye chilli. Having said that, you can enjoy this sausage as a snack, or as a full dish with sticky rice to go with the sausage. Isaan-style sausage is popular among the Thai population and you will find this Northern style traditional Thai grilled sausage being grilled and sold along the streets all across Thailand.

On the other hand, Sai Ua sausage which is the native sausage of Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand is a more herby, richer in spices kind of sausage. It is one of the most flavourful Thai sausages out there. The pork is mixed with aromatic curry mix and then grilled. You can enjoy this Thai sausage with sticky rice, fresh vegetables, crispy pork, or chili paste. Traditionally it is homemade food, but as it grows in popularity across Thailand, it is available in shops as well.

Thai sausage recipe: Isaan style

Isaan-style sausage is made from two primary ingredients, pork, and rice. However, these are mixed with garlic, salt, and pepper before fermentation. For every 500g of pork, you will need ¾ cup of rice, 1 head of garlic, and seasonings such as pepper, salt, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. In some variations, Isaan-style sausage also has glass noodles in the mix (which then you can reduce the amount of rice).

As we mentioned previously, Isaan-style sausage is a fermented type, and the duration of fermentation determines the level of sourness. For example, if you grill the sausage immediately after they are made, there will not be any sour taste but if you leave them to ferment for a few days then you can expect your traditional Thai grilled sausage will be sour.

Thai sausage recipe: Sai Ua style

Sai Ua is a more complicated sausage when compared to Isaan sausages. While Sai Ua is made mostly from pork, making one will require many more ingredients such as kaffir lime leaves, coriander, lemongrass, shallots, spring onion, fresh turmeric, dried chili, garlic, and other seasonings such as soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce. 

While Sai Ua is popular and is preferred outside of its home region like Northern Thailand – great-tasting Sai Ua is relatively harder to find than Isaan sausage due to more complicated recipes. 

How to enjoy Thai sausages

Thai-sausage_How-to-enjoy-Sai-Ua

Both types of Northern style Thai grilled sausages such as Issan sausage and Sai Ua taste great by themselves, however, due to their strong taste – pairing them with some fresh vegetables, relish or sticky rice can help to elevate the taste.

Isaan-style sausages taste great with raw cabbage, fresh ginger, and fresh chili to add some spiciness. Sai Ua on the other hand which has a stronger spicy taste goes well with fresh green vegetables/corianders, ginger, chili, and peanuts.

Some Thais also pair Sai Ua with crispy pork and a special Northern chili paste called “nam prik num”.

Should you try Northern Thai sausages?

Yes, Northern Thai sausages are one of our favorite snacks/dishes! We generally love the spicy/herby Northern Thai food. Eating these sausages accompanied by vegetables/rice on the side seems like a simple dish, however, due to the richness in flavor and taste, it is very satisfying. We highly recommend you to try these sausages out the next time you visit Thailand!

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Thai Constellation Monstera

Thai Constellation Monstera: Price and Variant Comparison

Categories Thailand,

Home gardening has been booming since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Reuters reported a 270% jump in seed demand at the peak of the pandemic. But what we found even more intriguing is news like a pot of plant being sold for THB1.4m (~US$42,000) in Thailand. Such a staggering amount is sufficient to purchase a car or to use as a down payment for a house! We are not plant or garden experts but learn more about what makes the Thai Constellation Monstera special with us! We will also cover the its price, along with other variations for monstera.

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About This Popular Plant

Thai Constellation Monstera

The Thai Constellation Monstera is a plant from the monstera deliciosa family. It is well known for its large, green marbled leaves with cream/yellow color spread. The plant can grow both outdoors or indoors as a houseplant or natural decoration to your home. This plant can grow to 1 or several meters high under optimal conditions. Keep in mind this possibility if you are looking to keep it indoors. The feature that makes this plant unique is the cream/yellow spread across its marbled green leaves. This sets the Thai Constellation Monstera apart from its peers like Monstera Albo, Aurea, or Mint.

Thai Constellation Monstera vs. Monstera Albo

Monstera Albo draws its name from albo, which means white in latin. As the name suggests, Monstera Albo has white color contrast to the marbled green leaves. The white/green pattern can appear in half-and-half proportion or spread throughout the leaves. One key difference between the Thai Constellation Monstera and albo would be the Thai constellation’s creamy yellow color and Albo white color. The half and half patterns are also not commonly found in the former.

Thai Constellation Monstera vs. Monstera Mint

Thai Constellation Monstera vs Mint

Monstera Mint is a rare find among monstera. Its unique feature is represented as a mixture between green, yellow and white colors that result in light green color leaves. Leaf pattern and color of Monstera Mint tend to be unique, even on the same tree/plant. Due to its rarity, Monstera Mint is the most expensive monstera within our comparisons. 

Cost: Thai Constellation Monstera price

In Thailand, the starting price for this plant starts at around ~THB4,000 (US$120). This seemingly affordable starting price can scale up really quickly depending on the color and spread patterns. In comparison, the starting price for Monstera Albo is around ~THB8,000 – double of Thai Constellation Monstera. Lastly, our most expensive monstera is Monstera Mint, which is hard to find. Due to its rarity, it has a starting price at around THB500,000 (US$15,000). Some vendors will scale their price up depending on the number of leaves with unique color/pattern. In the news that we cited above, the Monstera Mint plant was sold at a staggering price of US$42,000!

Should you get one for your home or garden?

Gardening is a relaxing hobby and monstera is a gorgeous-looking plant that can decorate your home really nicely. Hopefully, now you understand better about Thai Constellation Monstera price, the comparison with Monstera Albo and Monstera Mint – in case you want to purchase one for your house.

We got to see some friends with green thumbs who have monstera in their house, and these plants are indeed a nice addition to the house decor. However, since collecting rare monstera may be expensive, you can opt to grow any monstera plant or more practical plants. Personally, at this point in our lives where we value practicality the most, we opt to grow Thai herbs like basil which also comes in handy in the kitchen. 

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Boat noodle_featured

Boat noodles: Recipes & the right way to order boat noodles

Categories Thailand, ,

We briefly mentioned boat noodles in our article about Ayutthaya restaurant scenes previously. If you’ve read that article, you should know that they are one of the most famous dishes in Ayutthaya. But there is a lot more to this noodle with dark color soup that you can find across Thailand. We previously covered another popular noodle dish in Thailand, Tom Yum noodles. So, what is a Thai boat noodle, and how to order boat noodles so that you can enjoy a boat noodle meal? Find out more in this article!

Table of Contents

What is Thai boat noodles?

Just like many other noodles, a boat noodle is a hot soup noodle that comprises noodles, broth, meat/meatball, and vegetables. However, what sets this noodle apart is their dark color soup made from herbal ingredients and pig blood. We will cover more on the soup in the following section. 

Another unique characteristic of this noodle is the way each bowl is served to you. They typically come in small bowls, some are very small that it costs THB15 but you may need to eat up to 4-6 of those to be full! 

The good thing about a small bowl format is that you can make each bowl different or adjust the number of bowls so that you do not under/over-eat! We will cover more about how to order at a boat noodle restaurant later on.

Lastly, a boat noodle meal is not complete without fresh vegetables and herbs like bean sprouts and holy basil leaves. Also, crispy pork/pork skin is an excellent topping for boat noodles. You can end your meal with some Thai coconut desserts.

Thai boat noodle

Boat noodles: Ingredients and recipes

While we have had endless bowls of boat noodles, we do not claim to be an expert in the kitchen. Therefore, we will be referring to a recipe from Wongnai for this section. This ingredient list is for boat noodles, but to be more specific, it is for “nam tok” boat noodles, which is the thick, dark soup type commonly found in boat noodle restaurants. 

Boat noodle soup is full of herbs and spices like cinnamon, star anise, cumin, coriander seeds, and pandan leaves. In fact, these herbs and spices are key to bringing out fragrance in the soup. So what makes the soup dark and slightly thick? The secret lies in remaining ingredients such as fermented garlic, fermented bean curd, and dark soy sauce. If pig blood is something that you do not wish to have, you can also request the vendor to exclude this from your soup. This should be doable as vendors normally add this ingredient after they make the main soup. 

We cannot close this section off without mentioning a special kind of vinegar that customers can opt to put into their boat noodles. This vinegar is made by combining vinegar with roasted chili giving it a nice fragrance, and spicy & sour taste. 

Original boat noodles in Thailand

Why is this type of noodle called boat noodle? Boat noodle draws its name from a traditional practice where noodle vendors travel along canals and rivers to serve their customers. This is the reason why you will find some boat noodle restaurant formats using the boat in their concept:

1) Having a symbolic boat inside the restaurant, typically in front of the kitchen area

2) Selling boat noodles in a boat inside floating markets. If you visit any floating market in Thailand, you are most likely going to see small boats sailing around selling noodles!

3) Put their boat noodle restaurant on a large boat where you can order and have your meal inside the boat itself! This restaurant format is common north of Bangkok around Rangsit area

How to order boat noodles

Boat noodle is highly customizable, you can specify what kind of ingredients you want to have based on some options available.

A few essential components that you can customize include:

  • Noodle type: thick/thin noodle, vermicelli, egg noodle, or even instant noodle
  • Meat type: fresh pork/beef, braised pork/beef, meatballs, pork liver
  • Soup vs. dry

Other customizations are also possible but not very common

  • Vegetables: you will typically find morning glory, bean sprout or kale (although uncommon), if these are not to your liking, you can ask for exclusion
  • Soup: As we mentioned previously, the thick dark soup or “nam tok” boat noodle contains pig blood, you can ask for this to be excluded

Optional add-ons in your boat noodle meal include the crispy pork skin, this is highly recommended! Another must-have toppings would be fresh holy basil leaves and bean sprouts. All of these will add interesting texture and taste to your noodles. Lastly, if dessert is your thing then finish your meal off with coconut desserts!

Should you try this dish?

Definitely! Boat noodle is a popular Thai dish. How many bowls should you have? Many! Just have as many as you need to make yourself full. Understanding how to order boat noodles will help you to customize yours according to your wishes.

You can enjoy original boat noodles in Bangkok or if you are going to Ayutthaya, you can also try boat noodles there. Ayutthaya is a place surrounded by water, so naturally, there are a lot of Thai boat noodle shops around. To try Thai boat noodles, you don’t need to go to the floating markets as there are a lot of vendors inland as well. 

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Mookata: Thai BBQ and Hotpot in restaurant/buffet/at home

Categories Thailand, ,

When you think of BBQ in Asia, you probably think about Korean BBQ or Japanese yakiniku/yakitori. What you may not know is that, Thailand also has a wide range of Thai BBQ dishes and one of the most popular ones is Mookata. This dish popularity is so widespread that it is a cuisine on its own. But what is this dish about? Previously, we have covered other Thai dishes like Thai BBQ pork and chicken and Jim Jum hotpot, now it’s time for you to learn more about Mookata with us!

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What is Mookata?

What is Mookata

“Moo” means pork in Thai and “kata” means pan. You can tell from the name “Mookata” that this dish involves grilling pork on a pan. In simple terms, Mookata is a BBQ meal where you can grill fresh meat on a hot pan just like Korean BBQ or Japanese yakiniku. However, this dish goes beyond that by also providing a section with hot soup for you to boil vegetables. The part with boiling soup is similar to what you have in a regular hotpot. 

Traditionally, the pan used for this BBQ dish would have an elevated grilling section in the middle. Then, the lower surrounding section would be filled with soup for boiling meat/vegetables. While the name Mookata might suggest that it involves grilling pork, you can grill a limitless variety of meat and seafood including pork, chicken, beef, squid, prawn, etc. The meal also often involves fresh vegetables and noodles!

Apart from the grill/boil combination, the sauce for Mookata is also unique which makes this dish truly a Thai BBQ cuisine. This dish can be enjoyed both indoors and outdoors. In fact, an outdoor Mookata meal with a great view and nice breeze would make the meal a lot more enjoyable.

Sauces to enhance the experience

Thais love sauces, and you would often find multiple types of sauce in a Mookata meal. 

“Sukiyaki” sauce

This might be a bit confusing to those who are familiar with international cuisine since Thai sukiyaki sauce has nothing to do with the Japanese one. This red sauce is often served in hotpot meals. In fact, it was popularized by Thailand’s largest hot pot chain, MK restaurant. However, Thais found out that this sauce when combined with lime, raw garlic, and chili also goes surprisingly well with grilled meat. That explains why you will find such sauce at every Mookata meal (also because boiled vegetables can be found in Mookata meals as well).

Nam Jim Jaew 

This staple North-eastern Thailand sauce adds spicy and sour taste to every meal, Mookata included. We have a dedicated article to talk about Nam Jim Jaew in case you want to learn more about this Thai seafood dipping sauce. This sauce is made from lime, fish sauce, garlic, and chili which traditionally goes well with seafood. It is a very versatile sauce and it is just as great when served in a Mookata meal. 

Thai seafood dipping sauce

This is a Thai sauce made from lime, fish sauce, garlic and chili that you will find with most seafood dishes in Thailand – however, this sauce is just as great with when served in Mookata as well.

Mookata buffet

One of the most common formats of Mookata in Thailand is the Mookata buffet. It is available in a la carte format as well, however, they tend to be on the premium side.

In such a buffet, every table will be equipped with a Mookata pan. Then diners can self-service themselves with unlimited fresh ingredients such as meat, seafood, vegetables, and noodles. You can also mix and match your own sauces, and spice them with lime, chili, or garlic to your liking.

A Mookata buffet meal in Thailand can be as cheap as THB 200-300 per head. However, it can also go up to THB600 – THB800 for more premium settings/ingredients.

Mookata delivery

When we mentioned Mookata’s popularity in Thailand, we were not joking. Thais eat out when they want to have this BBQ dish, but they can also make it at home or order delivery. There are many ways to do this

1) Many Thai households own an electric pan for Mookata (we own one as well). You can then easily make the meal at home yourself or order from a restaurant with a delivery service. 

2) You order a complete set and kit from a restaurant. In this format, a restaurant would lend you their pot/pan for the day, then come pick it up at night/the next day (along with the ingredients, sauces etc.).

Many families prefer to make their Mookata meal at home or order for delivery. This is because this way they can supplement ingredients/sauces on their own which tend to be cheaper overall!

Mookata_Mookata delivery

Is this 2-in-1 grill and boil dish worth-trying?

Mookata is a famous Thai dish, popular both in Thailand and overseas. We know for sure that Mookata is very popular in neighboring Asian countries like Singapore as well (you can find a lot in the Golden Mile complex in Singapore!). To fully immerse in Thai cuisine culture, you should definitely try this dish to understand why it’s so popular! For the most authentic experience, try it when you are in Thailand.

We love Mookata because it offers both grilling and boiling of meat and vegetables. If you are eating with a group and some love boiled food and the others love grilled food, this dish offers a perfect balance of both types!

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Nam jim jaew_featured

Nam Jim Jaew: the delicious Thai dipping sauce & recipe

Categories Thailand, ,

Nam Jim Jaew (or “Jaew”) is a spicy & sour Thai dipping sauce that you often find in Thailand or Thai restaurants. You commonly see it served with Thai BBQ, Thai Jim Jum hotpot or Som Tum meal.  We have covered these dishes in our other articles. 

Jaew sauce has a complex taste and fragrance. Learn more about this Thai dipping sauce including its application and how to make one at home here!

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Nam Jim Jaew dipping sauce: the popular local dipping sauce

“Nam Jim” simply means dipping sauce in Thai. So as the name implies, Nam Jim Jaew is a dipping sauce with spicy & sour taste which is originated from North-eastern part of Thailand (Issan region).

What can you dip into the Jaew sauce?

  • Thai BBQ: whether it is grilled pork, chicken or beef, these generally taste great with Jaew sauce (Including in Mookata meal)
  • Meat from Jim Jum or Thai hotpot: Jaew sauce is also commonly served in a Thai hotpot meal. You can dip cooked meat like pork from the hotpot into Jaew sauce before consumption

As you can see, Jaew is a very versatile sauce that can be used with a wide range of grilled and boiled dishes. The next question will be, can you make this sauce at home?

Making Jaew sauce at home: Nam Jim Jaew recipe

Here is a simple, step-by-step recipe to make Nam Jim Jaew at home. The recipe is for about 5 portions so that you can keep and use it over a few meals.

  1. Mix 10 tablespoons of tamarind or green lime sauce with about 12 tablespoons of fish sauce
  2. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar together with 3 tablespoons of warm water. Then mix well until the sugar melts
  3. Add chili flakes. While we recommend 4-5 tablespoons, you can adjust the spiciness to your liking
  4. Pan roast raw rice grains until they turn crisp & brown. Then put the rice into a grinder/mixer to make ground roasted rice powder
  5. Your Jaew sauce is about 90% ready! Do this last step right before your meal to ensure freshness of the ingredients: top up Jaew sauce with ground roasted rice powder and finely chopped coriander/green onion
nam jim jaew_recipe

Nam Jim Jaew bottle

While the sauce is not hard to make, it requires a wide range of ingredients which may not be readily available outside of Thailand. In that case, Nam Jim Jaew in a bottle is an alternative.

There are a number of brands to choose from, the renowned ones include Pure Foods and Deksomboon. While bottled sauce is an alternative, it goes without saying that the taste and fragrance will not be comparable to the original sauce. Hence, we would still recommend making your own sauce at home.

If you are overseas and left without any other choice, you can improve the bottled sauce using lime, chili, ground roasted rice powder or chopped coriander.

Or, you can always make a visit to the nearest Thai restaurant!

Jaew sauce & healthy menu

nam jim jaew_sauce healthy

You can incorporate Nam Jim Jaew into a healthy menu for health conscious consumers or those on diet. In general, Jaew also works great in adding taste and fragrance to dishes with mild taste.

Some examples are steamed fish and steamed vegetable. Both fresh water or seawater steamed fish, they would go nicely when paired with Jaew and they would taste less bland. Almost all steamed vegetables can go well with Jaew sauce. Moreover, if you want to make it even better, you can add herbs like lemongrass or Thai basil when steaming the vegetables!

Should you try the Jaew sauce?

Jaew is a versatile sauce that is easy to make and can be paired with a wide range of grilled, boiled, and steamed ingredients. It can amp up the flavor of food that does not have strong taste quite well. It is a very commonly found sauce in any Thai restaurants, so you should at least try this sauce and see if you like it.  If you need to make it at home yourself, you can try doing it as the steps are fairly easy.

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