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What to eat in Southern Thailand? Top 4 Southern Thai Foods

Last update: Sun Feb 16 2025
Top 4 Southern Thai Foods
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Best Southern Thai Foods

01

Stir-fry

SOUTHERN THAILAND, Thailand
3.8
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This southern Thai variety of dry curry combines spicy curry paste and ground pork. The fragrant paste consists of red chili peppers, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric, cilantro, galangal, and shrimp paste, while the whole dish is seasoned with palm sugar and fish sauce.


No liquid is added to the curry, allowing the pork to be thoroughly coated in the curry paste and producing an almost dry version of a stir-fry. The dish is usually served with fresh vegetables and rice on the side.

MOST ICONIC Khua kling

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02
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Hat Yai is a traditional chicken dish originating from Thailand, also known as Southern Thai fried chicken. The origins of the dish are in the Hat Yai city in southern Thailand, hence the name. In order to prepare it, bone-in, skin-on chicken is marinated in a combination of garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, salt, white and black pepper, and coriander.


The chicken is dipped in batter and fried in hot oil until golden brown. It is then topped with crispy fried shallots and served, usually with rice or a dipping sauce such as nam chim kai (sweet chili sauce) on the side.

03

Fish Dish

SOUTHERN THAILAND, Thailand
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Pla thot khamin or deep-fried turmeric fish is a fish delicacy hailing from the south of Thailand. The dish is typically made with whole, cleaned fish, seasoned with salt, and then thoroughly rubbed with a chunky mixture of fresh turmeric and garlic before it is deep-fried in hot oil until golden brown.


Thai people usually prepare the marinating turmeric-garlic paste by pounding the ingredients with a mortar and pestle. In Thailand, threadfin bream is mostly used for this dish due to its suitable small size and firm flesh, but any firm-fleshed fish can be used, such as tilapia or mackerel. 
04

Street Food

PHUKET, Thailand
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A Phuket specialty that is thought to be of Hokkien Chinese origin, oh tao is typically made by combining boiled taro root, oysters, eggs, flour, garlic, onions, dried chilis, crispy pork rind, bean sprouts, and soy sauce. The mixture is fried until thoroughly blended, and it is typically served accompanied by extra bean sprouts, deep-fried pork rinds on top, and a sweet and spicy dipping sauce on the side.


Oh tao is also a common street food item sold by numerous street food vendors who often serve it wrapped in a banana leaf. There are variations on this dish that call for using different types of seafood such as squids or prawns instead of oysters.


In Thailand, people have a tradition of consuming this dish on Chinese New Year, believing that this will bring them good luck, while at funerals, the dish is thought to bring families closer together and ease their loss.

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Southern Thai Food