Some think about spicy red curry, hot chillies, and other tongue burning, forehead sweating dishes when they think about Thai food. However, I can share with you first hand, that Thai food is full of sweet, sour and refreshing flavors that will have your taste buds dancing as well as your children’s. The wonderful part about eating in Thailand is that there are many influences from around the region as well as a variety of cuisines such as Italian, Indian, French, American, Middle Eastern and many more that will satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
Here is a little advice from my personal experience living and travelling through Thailand with my daughter.
Breakfast is a meal not to worry about as most hotels offer buffet breakfast that has many options from American items such as eggs, bacon, toast, to the more exotic choices of fried rice, dim sum and other Asian favorites. But you can always guarantee that safe choices for a baby or small child would be rice porridge, which by nature is not spicy but a warm satisfying dish. In Thai it’s called “jok” and can be cooked practically anywhere. Hotel restaurants very often serve this “jok” for breakfast.
Rice porridge for breakfast at Centara Grand at CentralWorld
Don’t forget, fresh fruits are almost always available and a great option, especially papaya and dragon fruit which are nice to taste and good for baby’s stomach.
Papaya, pineapple, watermelon and melon for breakfast
The following are a number of popular and tasty Thai dishes that everyone in the family will be able to enjoy.
Satay – Grilled chicken skewers served with a peanut dipping sauce.
Pad Thai – This noodle dish has it all with sweet, crunchy and tangy flavors. If your children are not fans of dried shrimp, you can ask for it “Mai sai goong heng,” which means no dried shrimp.
Chicken and Cashew Nut – Mixed with vegetables, the chicken and cashew is a little sweet.
And for dessert, a must try is Mango Sticky Rice, which will be a big hit with the children and guaranteed to become one of your favorites, especially since sweet, ripe mangos and are perfectly paired with the coconut sticky rice.
Mango with sticky rice – a delicious Thai desert
One thing you need to know if you opt to eat in small local restaurants, especially in the resort areas – is that most of the cooks add lots of MSG into all dishes. Hotel food is better in this sense, and though might be a bit more expensive, is a lot safer for the baby.
Just remember, when ordering for your child, make sure to ask the server to not make it spicy.