Tips for Eating Thai Food provided by the American Heart Association
Thai food is a wonderful blend of the fresh and spicy. It tends to be light on fats, meats and sauces and relies more on vegetables, noodles and rice. It's no mystery why it has become so popular.
Tips: Aim for the lighter, stir-fried dishes and the fresh spring rolls. Steer clear of heavy sauces and deep-fried entrees. Ask that the cooking be done with vegetable oil rather than coconut oil or lard. Choose chicken over duck, but limit meat, poultry and seafood portions. Avoid soups and soy and other sauces if you must watch your sodium intake, and ask that MSG be left out. Share portions.
| Instead of |
Try |
| Fried spring rolls (rolls filled with vegetables and served with sweet and sour sauce) |
Fresh spring rolls |
| Dishes with coconut milk, peanuts, cashews and peanut sauce |
Stir-fried dishes |
| Tom ka gai (chicken in coconut milk with mushrooms and lime juice soup) |
Tom yam goong (hot and sour shrimp soup |
| Gai pad med ma-maung himapan (cashew chicken) |
Kanaa namman hoi (stir fried broccoli with oyster sauce) Items without oyster sauce, which is high in sodium, would be even better choices.) |
| Gaeng keow wan gai (curry chicken with eggplant) |
Nuea pad prik (pepper steak) |
| Gaeng ped gai (red curry chicken) |
Pad Thai (noodles stir-fried with ground peanuts, bean sprouts, egg, tofu and scallions, topped with shrimp) |
| Fried rice |
Steamed rice |
| Gluay kaeg (banana slices dipped in coconut batter and fried) |
Khao newo kaew (sweet sticky rice) |
| Coconut ice cream |
Fruit ice |
|
