Thai Food Glossary PDF Print E-mail


Thai is rendered phonetically into English spelling, so spelling of words will vary on menus. For example, "gaeng," or curry, will often appear as "kaeng" or "kang."

fuk thong: pumpkin
gaeng: curry
gaeng jued: clear and mild soup
gaeng keow wan: a green curry made with fresh green chilis
gaeng musaman: literally "Muslim curry," a warmly spiced, hot Indian-style curry
gaeng panaeng: an Indian-inspired curry without vegetables


gaeng ped: a hot red curry made with dried red chilis
gai: chicken
goong: prawn
grathiam: garlic
grathiam prig thai: fried with garlic and hot pepper
hed: mushroom
hoi: shellfish
kalumpree: cabbage
kangung: spinach
kaprow: with basil
kee mow: with kaffir lime leaves and chili
khing: ginger
kiew wan: green curry paste made with green chili and coconut milk
larb: a salad of spicy ground meat and raw vegetables
moo: pork
nam pla: fish sauce (sometimes with chili and lime juice)
nam prik: Thai sauce (dip with shrimp paste and chili)
nuea: beef
ob mor din: steamed in a pot
pad Thai: stir-fried rice noodles
pak chee: parsley
pak kard: lettuce
panang: dry aromatic peanut curry
par: red curry
ped: duck
phad: sauteed
phad pak: sauteed mixed vegetable
phed: red curry paste made with red chilli and coconut milk
pla: fish
pla mueg: squid
poo:crab
praew wan: sweet & sour
prik gaprow: fried with chili and basil leaves
satay: kebabs of skewered meat or poultry
som: spicy and sour soup with tamarind juice
som tam esan: a frequently served salad of green papaya
taeng kva: cucumber
tam taeng: a refreshing salad of cucumbers
thua ngork: bean sprout
tod mun: deep fred fish, crab or shrimp cake
tom yam gai: chicken hot and sour soup
tom yam kung: shrimp hot and sour soup
yang: barbecued
yam: spicy and sour


Fruits:
champoo: rose apple
kluay: banana
mala-kor: papaya
ma-muang: mango
ma-prow: coconut
ngor: rambutan
noi na: custard apple
sapalot: pineapple
som: orange


Noodles:
ba mee: egg noodle
guin tiow: noodles
phad si-iew: fried noodle with meat in soy sauce
phad thai: fried noodle thai-style with stuffed egg
radd nah: noodle in light gravy
sen mee: rice vermicelli
woonsen: glass noodle


Rice:
khao su-ay: steamed rice
khao tom:boiled rice
khao neow:sticky rice
khao phad:fried rice
Khao phad gai: fried rice with chicken