How to Order Thai Food, Like a Boss: Part 1

As I am sure you can tell I am not Thai, however I have worked as a waitress in a local Thai restaurant for almost 5 years.  I feel like I know Thai food quite well, and since people always like have suggestions or ask a million questions here is a handy-dandy guide to ordering Thai food.  Not all restaurants are going to have the same items, but I am sure that you would be able to find something you'd enjoy after reading this!

First, let's start with some misconceptions of Thai food:

1.  Everything is spicy: Nope.  While some dishes may be spicy right off the bat like a curry (since curry is a naturally spicy spice) not everything is spicy.  All restaurants should have a base level of spiciness of level/star of one or two that can be made hotter.  It's just hard to make anything less spicy if it already is.  One way to look at is that in Thailand they eat all their meals family style, as in there are several entrees that everyone shares.  So if mom likes something with a level three of spice but dad likes a 10 and their daughter likes 2 they have to make something at a base line of spicy.  Then they would heat it up with hot sauces.

2.  Thai Tea: It is not made with coconut milk, but diary.  We use both condense milk and half and half.  Also Thai tea is very different than Chai tea.  Despite the fact that Chai is Indian and Thai tea, is well, Thai, Chai is spicy and sweet while Thai tea is just sweet all around.

3. Thai food is just like Chinese food: Several customers have said this to me on many occasions.  No, it's not.  They're two very both unique, beautiful, and delicious cuisines with deep historical and cultural significance.

4. Chopsticks:  While many Thai resteruants (including the one I work at) have chopsticks available to customers they don't actually use chopsticks in Thailand to eat Thai food.  They'll use them for other Asian cuisines like Chinese or Korean.  But when they eat at home they use a spoon and fork.

5.  Pad Thai:  It isn't made with peanut sauce, just has peanuts on the side.  It's primarily tamarind juice.

6. Salad Rolls:  A lot of Thai places have them, some don't.  Salad rolls (sometimes called summer rolls) aren't Thai.  They're from Vietnam.  So my restaurant doesn't have then because they're not Thai, and our owner likes to keep things traditional.

The next parts will be about dish suggestions, how to order them, and suggestions for kids.