Keto Thai Food: Staying Low Carb in Thailand

The alchemy of sweet, salty, sour and spicy is the calling card of keto Thai food and Thai food in general. It’s the balance of these four elements along with honouring the textures of all ingredients that make the perfect Thai dish.

thai laksa dish

Although popular favourites such as Pad Thai, Khao Pad (Thai Fried Rice) and Khao Moo Grob (Crispy Pork Belly on Rice) might be off limits for those on a keto diet, there’s many alternatives available, you won’t even notice they’re missing.

With the keto lifestyle or even those on a low carb diet, ideally you would stay away from ingredients such as rice, noodles and sugars.

Luckily Thai food has more than enough choices to ensure that you actually enjoy what you’re eating.

‘Sweet’ is one of the key flavours when it comes to Thai food and there’s no escape from using sugar in Thai cooking. Having said that, there’s plenty of sugar substitutes now available for you to choose from when cooking at home.

It’s a little more difficult to avoid when you’re eating in Thailand or in a Thai restaurant locally. But we will help you with that.

Now let’s have a look at which foods fit into the category of keto Thai food and how we can make adjustments to some to make them fit.

Keto Thai Food: Thai Sauces

Sauces are the heart of Thai cuisines, this list contains some of the most common sauces used in Thai recipes.

We have also listed the ingredients in these sauces to give you some idea of what is actually in them, so that you can make better decisions that fit within the Ketogenic lifestyle. 

The amount of sugar used in most sauces is from as little as 1 tsp up to 1-2 TBSP depending on the recipe and personal preferences with exclusions of some truly sweet dipping sauces. Just keep in mind that a few sauces throughout the day can eventually add up.

Finally, although most sauces consist of similar or the same seasoning ingredients, the finished products always taste different due to the unique and natural flavour contribution from the meat, vegetables and herbs used in each recipe.

Spicy salad sauces

  • Somtam Sauce (Papaya Salad Sauce): Fish sauce, tamarind puree, lime juice, palm/coconut sugar are the main seasoning ingredients while juicy tomato wedges. Sometimes hog plum is used for its natural sweet and sour flavour.
  • Yum Sauce (Spicy Salad Sauce): Fish sauce, sugar/palm sugar/coconut sugar and lime juice.
  • Laab Sauce (Laab Spicy Salad Sauce): Fish sauce, sugar/palm sugar/coconut sugar and lime juice.

Dipping sauces

  • Sweet Chilli Sauce: Also known as Nam Jim Gai (Chicken dipping sauce). The ingredients used are garlic, crushed Bird’s eye chili, sugar and vinegar.

This is one of the most popular choices to accompany all fried food. But it’s definitely high in sugar, hence the name.

A rough example is that there can be as much as 500g of sugar used to make 300-400g concentrated sweet chilli sauce, so watch out of your intake per serve.

  • Plum Sauce: Preserved salty plum, sugar and water.

Another popular choice for fried food, it’s very delicious but high in sugar similar to sweet chilli sauce.

  • Tamarind Sauce: Tamarind puree, sugar, salt/fish sauce and water. Sweet and sour, delicious, again high in sugar so dip consciously.
  • Nam Jim Jaew (Spicy dipping sauce with dried chilli flakes for all meat dishes): Fish sauce, sugar/palm sugar/coconut sugar, lime juice, tamarind puree, toasted sticky rice powder and toasted dry chilli flakes.
  • Nam Jim Seafood (Spicy dipping sauce for Seafood): Freshly crushed garlic and Bird’s eye chili, very little to no sugar, salt and vinegar.
  • Prik Naam Plah (Spicy seasoned fish sauce): Finely sliced fresh Bird’s eye chili, garlic, shallot, very little to no sugar, fish sauce and lime juice.

There has been a debate for years if it should be called Naam Plah Prik or Prik Naam Plah! One thing for sure that this sauce is guaranteed to be sitting on every table in Thai restaurants.

A good comparison is when you think of Chinese or Japanese food, you think of soy sauce. For Thai food you should think of the spicy seasoned fish sauce. Most Thai people simply can’t live without the spicy seasoned fish sauce.

Stir-Fry seasoning sauces

The dream team of soy sauce, oyster sauce, seasoning sauce, white/brown/palm/coconut sugar and chicken stock powder. A little bit of everything makes the best stir-fry sauce that is deliciously salty and sweet. 

Curry seasoning

Many herbs and other ingredients are used in curry paste and curry soup. Surprisingly the main seasoning ingredients for Thai curries are simply white/palm/coconut sugar and fish sauce.

Keto Thai Food: Grilled Food

Grilled meat can be found just about everywhere in Thailand. Thai people eat grilled meat and meat balls as breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and supper.

The flavours are from the delicious marinated meat cooked over charcoal grill, as well as the dipping sauce, never forget the dipping sauce.

If you’re looking for keto Thai food, then look no further than the local grill. Just bear in mind, you need to go easy on the dipping sauces!

Grilled pork (Moo Yaang)

grilled pork on skewers arranged on banana leaf

One of the most popular breakfast on-the-go for Thai people, especially kids before heading to school.

The full name of this dish is actually grilled pork and sticky rice (Khao Niaw Moo Yaang) because they’re always sold together, just like patties with burger buns.

The pork is marinated sometimes in fresh milk or coconut milk, crushed garlic, coriander roots, black pepper, seasoning sauce and coconut or palm sugar. It is a little bit on the sweet side, so you might need to go easy.

Remember that you can ask for no rice to keep things low carb, just be prepared for some odd looks.

Grilled pork collar (Koh Moo Yaang)

grilled pork collar on a plate along with dipping sauce

Best buddies with the papaya salad (Som Tam) from the Spicy Salads menu. This grilled pork collar or pork shoulder is grilled to perfection, thinly sliced and served with spicy dried chilli flakes dipping sauce.

Most people will order grilled pork collar along side papaya salad or other spicy salads at restaurants.

Grilled meats are a great tool to help ease the tongue-burning from a spicy salad instead of drinking gallons of water.

Grilled whole chicken (Gai Yaang) / chicken wings (Peek Gai Yaang)

grilled chicken with sweet chilli sauce

Same as the grilled pork, just about every part of the chicken are there for you to choose from right next to the grilled pork. You will often find grilled chicken thigh pieces, wings, liver, hearts, skin and even giblets.

There’s many different grilled chicken marinades available, such as: Red grilled chicken, Cumin grilled chicken, Honey grilled chicken, Thai herbs grilled chicken, Butterfly grilled chicken and the list goes on.

All are juicy and tender with the unmissable and mouth-watering charcoal smell. 

Grilled chicken is an easy keto Thai food to find in Thailand and It’s also simple to make at home.

Grilled seafood (Talay Pao)

grilled crab

A perfect meal by the beach with unlimited choice of seafood such as whole crab, whole fish, prawns, squid, scallops, mussels, sea snail and lobster.

Seafood in Thailand is grilled simply, they let the freshness speak for itself and use sauces to add some flair.

One sauce frequently used is the spicy seafood dipping sauce (Nam Jim Seafood). Making this an excellent keto Thai food.

Grilled Satay Chicken (gai) / beef (nuea) / pork (moo)

keto thai food satay chicken

One of the most popular choices on the grilled meat menu is satay.

Satay in Thailand is usually served with pieces of toast, peanut sauce and vinaigrette dipping sauce called Aah Jaad.

The vinaigrette dipping sauce is made of white vinegar, sugar, cucumber cubes, peppers and shallots.

There is sugar in the Aah Jaad, you can avoid it if you’re on strict keto and just eat the meat.

If making Aah Jaad at home, you can substitute with artificial sweetener.

Keto Thai Food: Shallow and Deep Fried Food

Nothing beats fried foods and you can always trust that a Thai fried food menu has exactly what you need for those fried food urges.

Most things get marinated in not-so-secret but definitely tasty marination and not everything is battered or coated in flour.

Thai aromatic herbs such as garlic, shallots, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and basil are used frequently in some deep fried dishes to add extra scent and flavours.

Garlic and pepper pork ribs (See-Khroang Moo Tod Gra-Tium Prik-Thai)

garlic and pepper pork ribs

Pork ribs marinated in crushed garlic, coriander roots, black pepper and seasoning sauces. Deep fried until golden and topped with fried garlic before serving.

These are finger-licking good! and not to mention they’re great for keto goers. 

Deep-fried pork spareribs (Moo Saam Chun Tod Naam Plah)

pork spareribs

You won’t believe how fantastic this dish is. Just a simple dish of pork spareribs rubbed with fish sauce and then deep fry until golden brown.

Crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. You can never have enough of it.

Keep an eye on the sweet chilli sauce that’s frequently served with these, as it’s high in sugar.

Deep-fried sun-dried (pork (moo) / beef (nuea) / chicken (gai) Dad Diaw Tod)

Pork, beef or chicken slices marinated in crushed garlic, coriander roots, whole coriander seeds, black pepper, coconut / palm sugar and seasoning sauces then left to dry in the sun for around 8 hours. 

The term ‘Dad-Diaw’ means one sunlight. The dehydrated meat then gets fried or grilled before serving and is accompanied with spicy dipping sauce.

Recipes vary from vendor to vendor and with the addition of palm sugar to the marinate, make sure you eat in moderation.

Deep-fried whole fish (Plah Tod)

keto thai food meal of deep-fried whole fish with salad

Fresh fish is descaled, gutted, cleaned and pat-dried. They are deep-scored on both sides then rubbed with salt or fish sauce before frying.

Alternatively the whole fish gets butterflied and fried until golden and crispy and served with spicy dipping sauce. 

Fish isn’t deboned before frying, so some of you may feel intimidated but the fish used in deep fry dishes have large bones and are easy to spot.

Typical fish for deep frying are Short mackerel, Tilapia, Red Snapper, Burramandi, Black-banded Trevally or Pomfret.

Not a bad choice when looking for keto Thai food. Just be mindful of the dipping sauce.

Deep-fried red curry fish cakes (Tod Mun Plah)

keto thai food snack red curry fish cakes

Along with their bouncy texture, fish cakes are packed full of flavour. Featherback fish flesh is traditionally used for this particular recipe for it’s sticky texture.

The flesh is mixed with red curry paste, egg, coconut/palm sugar and fish sauce until thick and very well combined, finally finely sliced kaffir lime leaf and green snake beans are added for the last stir before frying.

Served with fried basil leaf and sweet chilli sauce.

Deep-fried prawn cakes (Tod Mun Goong)

keto thai food snack deep fried prawn cakes

Very different when compared to the fish cakes.

Prawn cakes are made of prawn mince, pork mince, crushed garlic, coriander roots, black pepper, egg and seasoning sauces.

The mixture is thoroughly combined, moulded into patties and coated in Panko breadcrumbs before frying. Served with plum or sweet chilli sauce.

These are super tasty and great with beers on a hot day but if you want it to fit in with your healthy eating habits, try with soy sauce and without the beers!

Deep-fried chicken wings (peek gai) / drumsticks (nong gai tod)

keto thai food snack of crispy deep fried chicken wings

There are two different versions for these fried chicken wings and drumsticks, with or without flour coating. But the Thai style marination is just delish!

You can find these pretty much everywhere in Thailand and they make a great keto snack.

Keto Thai Food: Stir-Fries

Quick, easy, and tasty. If salty and sweet are your flavours then look no further. Thai stir-fry dishes are made-to-order fast food. You can expect to enjoy it within 10 minutes after ordering! 

They’re easy to find, easy to order and almost everywhere in Thailand.

The main ingredients used for stir-fry are crushed garlic and bird-eye chilli (for hot and spicy menu).

The seasoning sauces are fish sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, seasoning sauce, chicken stock powder and around at least 1 teaspoon or up to 1-2 tablespoon of sugar depending on recipes. 

It is definitely not hard to try and cook it yourself at home as long as you have a hot wok ready.

Preparation is key to making at home, ensure to cut up all of the meat and vegetables and mix the seasoning sauces ready for action.

Spicy basil stir-fry with pork (Pad Grah-Prao Moo)

spicy basil stir-fry

Spicy basil stir-fry can come with beef / chicken / prawns / squid or in Thai: (pad grah-prao / nuea / gai / goong / plah mueg).

This dish is another best seller on the hot and spicy Thai fast food menu.

Thais will say to order ‘Pad Gra-Prao’ when you can’t think of anything else. 

The pork, chicken or beef used in this basil stir-fry is minced meat most of the time and if with seafood, the seafood cut up in bite size pieces. 

The meat is then stir-fried vigorously over high heat with crushed garlic and birdeye chilli then seasoning sauces and Thai holy basil at the end.

Some restaurants will add onion, mushrooms, peppers or chopped green snake beans.

Finally Pad Grah Prao is not complete without a crispy fried egg with runny yolk on top.

To keep this one a keto Thai food, just ask for no rice.

Mixed vegetables stir-fry (Pad Pak Ruam Mit)

a keto thai food mixed vegetables

The term ‘Ruam Mit’ in Thai food means ‘mixing different ingredient together’ and Mixed Vegetables Stir-Fry is always ranked up high on the popularity chart. 

Broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, baby corn and cauliflower are what you will normally see in the dish.

Although this dish is often the chosen one for vegetarians, meat such as pork slices or prawns can be added upon request.

The vegetables such as broccoli, carrots and cauliflower are blanched first because with stir-fry, things are cooked very quickly, so blanching the hard vegetables helps keep the textures together for the right veggie crunch.

Everything gets stir-fried over high heat with crushed garlic and seasoned with seasoning sauces.

Prawns stir-fry with garlic and black pepper (Goong Tod Gra-tium Prik-Thai)

keto thai food garlic prawn stir-fry served with tails on

Also available with either pork / beef / squid (Moo / Nuea / Pra Mueg)

This garlic and black pepper dish can be deep fried or stir-fried and a suitable keto Thai food.

When deep-fried the meat is crispy with a crispy garlic topping. When stir-fried you get to enjoy tender meat with a little delicious sauce in the plate. Salty, sweet, garlicky and peppery, it’s fantastic.

 

Chinese broccoli (Kailaan) stir-fry with crispy fried pork belly (Pad Kah-Nah Moo Grob)

keto thai food crispy pork belly with chinese broccoli

Who doesn’t love crispy fried pork belly? Once again this is another popular dishe on the made-to-order fast food menu.

The stir-fry flavour is well balanced between salty and sweet, the crispy pork belly is still crunchy and the Chinese broccoli or Kailaan is sweet and also crunchy in its own way. Everything just works so well together, don’t miss out!

A great low carb option.

Keto Thai Food: Curries

Thai curry is amongst some of the best curries in the world.

Famous for their distinctive Thai aromatic fresh herbs and delightful flavours. Thai curries are a finely tuned combination of spicy, salty and sweet or sour, sweet and salty flavours. 

There’s a long list of Thai herbs used in Thai curry such as galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, zest of kaffir lime fruit, fresh green or red Bird’s eye chili, dried chilli, coriander seeds, coriander root, white peppercorn, caraway seeds, fresh turmeric and star anise and nutmeg for some specific curry such as Massaman.

Herbs are mashed together to form curry paste and this is what makes Thai curry what we all know and love. 

The curry paste is cooked in rich coconut cream before meat such as chicken, pork, beef or seafood is added. Followed up with vegetables such as bamboo shoot, Thai aubergine, water spinach, pumpkin, snake beans or Turkey berry.

Thai basil or Thai holy basil (for some recipes) and thinly sliced red or green peppers are added at the end as garnish as well as the final herby touch.

Chicken / Beef Massaman curry (Gaeng Massaman Gai / Nuea)

massaman curry

Massaman curry is believed to have originated from South of Thailand. Being a fusion between Malay, Indian and Thai.

People say that the Massaman from down south tastes different to those made in central Thailand.

Generally, Massaman is a rich curry, salty, sweet with a hint of sourness from tamarind and also nutty from the crushed peanuts but not spicy. 

The curry paste contains the usual as well as some Indian spices such as Cardamom, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and cloves.

Chicken thighs are the most obvious choice followed by beef. Potato is the only vegetable put in this Massaman curry.

You can see why it is a big hit but strict Keto eaters must consume with due care or avoid altogether.

Laksa (Naam Yaa Ga-Ti)

keto thai food laksa curry served on a bed of bean sprouts

There are many different versions of Laksa curry but we will focus on the most popular one. Traditionally Laksa curry is poured over fresh rice vermicelli and have a variety of fresh and poached vegetables.

For those who eat low carb or keto, you can easily have the Laksa curry soup without the rice noodles and not lose too much of the true Laksa flavour. 

Some restaurants now offer Konjac noodles or Shirataki noodles referred to as Sen Gaew or Sen Book in Thai, so you can have noodles guilt-free.

The Laksa curry soup uses red curry paste with additional finger root added. Cooked fish flesh is blended into the curry paste to make a thick fish curry soup base.

The fish balls are added into the Laksa soup base later. Vegetables used as condiments are: fresh bean sprouts, finely sliced fresh cabbage, snake beans, cucumber, pickled green mustard leaf, lemon basil and poached water spinach. 

Boiled egg can be added upon request. A very tasty curry soup overall.

The fish flesh used in this recipe is usually Tilapia and Snakehead traditionally but, can also be Red Snapper, Burramandi, Tuna or Salmon.

Fish / seafood sweet and sour red curry (Gaeng Som)

keto thai food sweet and sour red curry

Spicy, sour and sweet. Gaeng Som is a fish base clear curry soup. Clear curry because coconut milk or coconut cream is not required for this dish. The red curry paste used in this recipe is different than the generic red curry paste.

The Gaeng Som red curry paste has less ingredients and the cooked fish flesh is mashed into the curry paste just like the Laksa with the same species of fish.

Mussels red curry with pineapple (Gaeng Sup-pa-rod Sai Hoi Malaeng Poo)

red curry with mussels

If you love mussels, certainly give this dish a go. The mussels get steamed and stripped off the shells before being added into the red curry soup base, no vegetables but pineapple chunks are used.

Thai herbs such as Thai basil and kaffir lime leaf are still the essential herbs used as final touch. If you love sweet and sour, then this curry soup is for you.

Keto Thai Food: Braises and Stews

There is a strong Chinese influence in Thai stews. Key ingredients such as five spice, light and dark soy sauce, seasoning sauce and oyster sauce which are normally used in Chinese soups and stews are also widely used in many Thai stew recipes as well. 

The stews are salty and sweet and will be served on rice, boiled eggs, Asian greens such as Pak Choy, Choy Sum and Chinese Broccoli (Kailaan), fresh spicy chilli, pickled green mustard leaf and sweet, sour and spicy dipping sauce.

Don’t forget you can either make these yourself without rice or ask for them without it.

Five spice ham hock stew (Kah Moo)

keto thai food ham hock stew

Ham hock is deep-fried then cooked low and slow in five spice soup base before getting sliced and served on rice with the sides of boiled eggs, poached Pak Choy, Choy Sum and Chinese Broccoli (Kailaan), fresh spicy chilli, pickled green mustard leaf and sweet, sour and spicy dipping sauce. 

Gravy beef stew (Nuea Toon)

gravy beef stew

Stews can always turn a cheap cut of meat into an amazing dish, and this Thai beef stew has that gelatinous goodness that many of us love as well as the awesome flavour.

The beef leg, gravy steaks or blade steaks gets cooked low and slow in five spice soup base and herbs, it can be served in both thin soup form or thick gravy.

For the thick gravy version, the soup base gets thickened by corn or tapioca flour and other seasoning sauces. This dish can be had as is (for the carb conscious), or with rice or with noodles of choice.

Pork belly stew (Moo Saam Chaan Toon)

Very delicious, rich and fatty dish. The salty and sweet, melt in your mouth pieces of pork belly will keep you coming back for more.

Pork belly strips are slow cooked in five spice soup base for hours until the soup is cooked down and thickened and the flavours intensify.

Often topped with hard boiled eggs, this is packed with protein and an excellent keto Thai food.

Keto Thai Food: Soups

Soups have always been a big part of Thai cuisine, Thais love their soup year round, no matter the weather.

Always served freshly made and hot, with and without noodles full of meat and vegetables, both spicy and mild.

Thai style soups are packed full of flavour even when called plain or mild soup as there’s a lot of effort that goes into the soup base to add as much flavour as possible.

Some of key ingredients are: chicken, pork bone, daikon radish, coriander root, celery and onion.

Mild soup is then seasoned with salt, pepper, chicken stock powder, soy sauce, seasoning sauce, white/brown sugar. 

Thai spicy soups use aromatic Thai herbs such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, shallot and galangal as soup base.

The spicy soup gets seasoned with salt, chicken stock powder, fish sauce, freshly squeezed lime juice, some white/brown sugar, tamarind puree, freshly crushed Bird’s eye chili or toasted dried chilli – whole and flakes. 

Sugars used in Thai soups are usually white and brown but not a lot of sugar is needed to be added in, it can be as little as 1 tsp and up to 1-2 TBSP depending on the leading flavour of the recipe.

Hot, spicy and sour soup with seafood (Tom Yum Talay)

tom yum talay

Everyone has to know the Thai Tom Yum soup! Very aromatic hot, spicy and sour soup that you can’t stop sipping. 

There are two types of the Tom Yum soup broth; clear broth (Naam Sai) and thickened broth (Naam Khon).

The clear broth is an original soup base whereas the thickened version is a delicious combination of the original soup base, chilli jam and some evaporated milk that gets added at the end of cooking right before serving. 

The most popular Tom Yum soup is the Tom Yum Goong (prawns) but of course the choice of protein is never limited to just prawns.

There’s also Chicken (gai), fish (plah), and even hot pot fish head Tom Yum soup which is also one of the popular ones in Thailand.

Pork mince balls and egg tofu in mild soup (Tom Jued Tao-Hoo Moo Sub)

plain soup with pork mince balls

Almost an everyday soup for many families because it’s just so simple and delightful. A mild soup that is full of flavour. Some of the main ingredients are marinated pork mince balls, egg tofu, Chinese cabbage (Wom Bok), carrot, exotic mushrooms, coriander, spring onion and celery. Other vegetables such as bottle gourd, spinach, young ivy gourd tips and seaweed. 

Mild seasoning ingredients used in this soup are salt, pepper, chicken stock powder, soy sauce and maybe seasoning sauce for some.

Glass noodles (mung bean noodles)are often added at the end, just ask if they can leave them out if you prefer.

When being made at home replace with Konjac / Shirataki noodles if you really need them.

Chicken wings / drumstick in mild soup (Tom Jued Peek Gai, Nong Gai)

drumstick in a mild soup

Almost the same recipe and taste to the pork mince balls and egg tofu mild soup but this recipe calls for chicken wings and drumsticks. The most popular vegetables used are carrot, bottle gourd, Shiitake mushrooms and some tomatoes.  Another lovely bowl of soup especially for the chicken wings and drumstick fans.

Keto friendly Thai Spicy Salads

Thai spicy salads are light dishes yet they’re full of strong flavours that will have your tastebuds buzzing.

Thais enjoy a spicy salad nearly every day for brunch, lunch or dinner mostly as one of the main dishes along side grilled or fried meat,  plain rice noodles, cooked rice or steamed sticky rice (glutinous rice) and fresh or poached vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber, cabbage and snake beans. 

The spicy salad is of course spicy with a combination of sour, sweet and salty. Obviously you won’t need the rice or noodles to be Keto friendly but beware that around 1-2 tablespoons of coconut sugar, palm sugar or white sugar may be used in the spicy salad sauce.

Also you can ask the cook to tone down on the volume of the birdeye chilli, just be prepare for some serious water intake as it will still probably be spicy.

Papaya salad (Som Tam)

papaya salad

Fresh and crispy green papaya strips, fresh tomato wedges, snake beans, fresh and dried birdeye chilli, garlic, dried shrimp, toasted peanuts along with spicy salad sauce. 

Papaya salad is usually consumed along side meat dishes such as grilled chicken, pork collar or beef steak. Although not strictly keto, the amount of papaya when served as a side dish probably won’t kick you out of ketosis.

Fruit salad (Som Tam Pon-la-mai)

Fruits may not be totally considered as Keto Thai food, but spicy fruit salad is another popular dish that you can try.

Normally it’s served as a small side dish accompanying a main, so it’s small enough to at least have a taste.

It is basically another type of papaya salad without the green papaya strips and instead with seasonal fruits.

Fruit such as green apple, kiwi fruit, pineapple, grapes, carrots, corn, green guava and strawberries  are often found in fruit salad.

Cucumber salad (Tam Taeng)

cucumber salad

Another type of Som Tam, just without the green papaya but with fresh cucumber strips. Just another delicious Thai spicy salad dish for you to try. 

Seafood salad (Yum Talay)

This ‘Yum’ salad is a mixture of freshest seafood, fresh onion, tomatoes wedges and celery.

Ta-lay in Thai food means a mixture of seafood such as prawns, squid, mussels and fish. You can be specific on what type of seafood you want in your Yum, it can be a prawn salad (Yum Goong) or squid salad (Yum Plah Mueg).

Protein: prawn, squid, mussel, fish

Laab salad

keto thai food laab salad

Unlike other spicy salads, this pork mince salad uses dried chilli flakes instead of fresh birdeye chilli, shallots instead of brown onion and is topped with Kaffir lime leaf and fresh mint leaf.

A key ingredient in Laab compared to other Yum salads is toasted sticky rice powder, with at least 1-2 teaspoons. It’s not a lot but please be aware.

Frequent protein choices: pork mince, duck, chicken, catfish, pig’s liver.

Naam Tok salad

naam tok salad

Basically a Laab salad but with grilled pork or beef strips instead of mince meat. Deliciously tender, the beef is usually grilled or sautéed in a little water.

If you’re planning on taking a trip to Thailand, check out our Checklist for a Thailand Holiday.

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