Thailand is popular for several reasons including amazing Thai food. So, when going to Thailand, you may start preparing yourself to have a taste of the culinary delight available in the Land of Smiles. But out of the food available in Thailand, can you eat salad?
Based on the comments of various people on Trip Advisor and other popular forums, you can eat salad in Thailand without any hassle. Generally, many of the salads available in Thailand are safe, but there are still some prepared with unhygienic methods. Therefore, you need to be careful where you buy salad in Thailand.
As explained above, there is no rule prohibiting you from eating salad in Thailand. However, there are health concerns with taking salad in the country as the food may have undergone some unhealthy process. Nevertheless, we will shed more light on things you can do when you want to eat salad in Thailand.
The risk associated with taking salads in Thailand
Although eating salad in Thailand may be safe for lots of individuals, a few individuals have also complained about it. This could be because of the sensitivity of their stomach or the availability of bacteria in the salad consumed.
Whatever the case is, there is a risk involved in taking prewashed and pre-packaged salad in Thailand. In some parts of the country, tap water is not drinkable, especially for foreigners. So, any salad washed with tap water may be unhealthy for some individuals. In fact, some individuals take probiotics and still become sick after taking salad in Thailand.
Therefore, you should always be mindful of the risk involved when taking salad in this Southeast Asian country.
What to do when you want to eat salad in Thailand
Regardless of the risk, several people have been eating salad in Thailand without any issue. So, if you want to eat salad in Thailand, you should do the following:
- Prepare salad yourself instead of buying
The safest and healthiest way to eat salad in Thailand is to prepare the food yourself. You can never be certain how salad has been prepared by a seller. Hence, you may not know whether it is safe to eat or not. But when you prepare it yourself, you understand the process involved in preparing it as well as the steps taken to make it safe.
So, if you don’t want to expose yourself to any issue when eating salad in Thailand, don’t buy salad in Thailand. You should rather prepare it yourself.
- Eat freshly cooked veggies and fruits
Freshly cooked veggies and fruits in a salad are usually healthy. This is because the cooking process would have gotten rid of most bacteria in the food. However, salads that have been cooked for a long period may also be unhealthy. So, you must confirm that the salads are freshly cooked.
- Wash fresh fruits and veggies with bottled water
You can buy and eat fresh fruits and veggies in Thailand. However, you need to understand that most vendors will use tap water for cleaning their salads. Since the quality of tap water in some parts of Thailand is questionable, you need to wash the veggies and fruits again with bottled water. This will give you some sort of confidence that the salad is clean.
- Avoid those you cannot wash
If veggies, fruits, etc. have been made into Thai smoothies and so on, you will not be able to wash them. As a result of this, you may be exposed to some risks involved in eating unhealthy fruits and veggies. Therefore, you should avoid such drinks or food. In other words, you should not eat any salad that you cannot wash with bottled water.
- Buy salad from quality vendors
Some high-quality vendors take the time to prepare their salads. They use drinkable water to wash the fruits, veggies, and so on. As a consequence, their salads are healthy. So, if you can verify the quality of a vendor, you can still buy and eat salad from them.
The best salads to eat in Thailand
Once you have observed the points above, there are some salads you should look forward to eating in Thailand. They include the following:
- Yam kun chiang
This salad usually has ingredients such as shallots, onions, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, and cilantro leaves. Dried pork sausage is usually added to it. In addition, yam kun chiang may be served with rice vinegar, lime juice, and/or fish sauce.
- Yam wun sen
This is a traditional Thai salad that is known to be filled with tons of flavors. It contains glass noodles, lime juice, roasted peanuts, fried garlic, onions, dried shrimps, fish sauce, chili peppers, Chinese celery, and cilantro. To get additional protein, some people often add ground beef or pork to yam wun sen.
- Phla kung
Phla kung is a hot and sour shrimp salad, but it has some variations that don’t have shrimp but rather contain fish or seafood. Irrespective of the variation, phla kung is made with a wide range of ingredients including mint leaves, lemongrass stalks, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, mint sprigs, and cilantro. When prepared, phla kung will be kept inside fresh lettuce leaves.
- Mu nam tok
This is another popular Thai salad that you can try. Apart from glutinous rice, other ingredients inside the salad include mint, cabbage, mint, shallots, coriander, black pepper, and scallions. Mu nam tok also contains oil and pork.
- Som tam mamuang
This is another well-known traditional Thai salad that boasts of having roasted shrimps and peanuts. Lime juice, green mango, garlic, tamarind water coriander, chili peppers, sugar, and shallots are mixed with fish sauce and roasted ingredients. This salad is usually prepared hot.
If you would like to know more types of salads to eat in Thailand, you should explore Taste Atlas.
In conclusion, you can eat salad in Thailand without any issue. However, you should read this post carefully to understand the things to do or not do when eating salad in Thailand.