06 Jul. 2024

Are you intolerant to spicy food and worried you won't be able to eat well during a trip to Thailand? Rest assured, it's entirely possible to enjoy non-spicy meals in Thailand. Here's our complete guide to mild Thai dishes and all our tips for avoiding heat during your stay.

Is Thai Cuisine Always Spicy?

It's true that Thais eat extremely spicy food. However, Thai cuisine offers an impressive variety of flavors and dishes that aren't always heavily spiced. Indeed, you'll find numerous fresh herbs and aromatics (such as galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime...) that flavor dishes without adding chili heat.

Moreover, Thai cuisine is always fresh and prepared to order. Plus, it's possible to adjust the spice level for certain dishes. It's also worth noting that locals are well aware that most travelers don't eat spicy food. They're accustomed to adapting and use far less chili in their dishes for Western visitors.

Good to Know:

Generally speaking, Thais are in the habit of asking tourists what level of spiciness they prefer in their dish. You can request a completely mild dish with the exception of a few that will always retain some heat (think curry soups like panang curry, Tom Yam, or green curry, which are prepared with pre-spiced curry paste). For those tempted by chili, we recommend starting gently before increasing the heat. Note that Thais may ask for your spice preference: 1 chili (mild), 2 chili (medium), and 3 chili (very spicy).

What Are Non-Spicy Thai Dishes?

You don't eat chili at all and worry about what to order during a Thailand trip? Don't panic—there are plenty of Thai dishes that aren't spicy. Here are the main ones:

• Pad Thai: Considered the national dish, pad Thai is among the signature Thai culinary specialties. It consists of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, vegetables, peanuts, tamarind sauce, accompanied by meat (chicken, pork, beef), seafood (shrimp, mixed seafood), or tofu.
• Khao Pad (or Kao Phat): Fried rice served with egg, vegetables, meat, fish, or tofu.
• Pad See Ew: Stir-fried noodles in dark sweet soy sauce, garlic, and vegetables. Again, you can add meat, fish, or tofu.
• Tom Kha: A coconut milk soup prepared with galangal, lemongrass, and mushrooms. The most common version is with chicken (Tom Kha Kai), but other variants exist (beef, pork, fish, tofu, vegetables...). Smooth and sweet, it's one of the rare Thai soups that isn't spicy.
• Pad Med Mamuang (more commonly called "Cashew Nuts" on restaurant menus): Stir-fried vegetables with cashew nuts in a delicious salty-sweet sauce. Once again, you can choose to pair it with meat, fish, or tofu.
• Pad Gratiem Prik Thai (more commonly called "Garlic & Pepper" on restaurant menus): A stir-fried dish with your choice of protein, crispy fried garlic chunks, and plenty of black pepper.
• Kai Jeow: This is the Thai omelet. It's made from eggs, fish sauce, soy sauce, herbs, and can be enhanced with vegetables or pieces of meat.

Attention!

Although these dishes are generally not spicy, we still advise you to tell servers that you don't eat spicy food at all. For this, a quick language lesson helps you learn basic Thai vocabulary: simply say "Mai Ped" (pronounced "Maï Phet"), which simply means "not spicy."

Beyond these mild dishes, other normally spicy Thai dishes can be prepared without chili. Just mention it when ordering. Among them:

• Som Tam: The famous green papaya salad enhanced with tomato, lime, peanuts, and fish sauce. Although it typically contains very potent chilis, some restaurants can prepare it without them.
• Laab: Laabs are salads of minced cooked or raw meat mixed with fish sauce, shallots, lime juice, and fresh herbs (mainly cilantro and mint) and fresh chili (which you can simply omit). There's laab kai for chicken and laab Moo for pork. Note that vegetarian versions with minced tofu also exist.
• Pad Gaprao (or Pad Kra Pao): A stir-fry of meat (or shrimp, seafood, or tofu) flavored with Thai basil leaves and soy sauce and oyster sauce. Again, locals love eating it with fresh chilis, but you can request it without.
• Morning Glory: A dish much appreciated by locals any time of day. It consists of water spinach with garlic and chilis in a salty-sweet sauce. Once more, you can ask for a version without chili.

What Should You Do to Soothe Your Palate If You Eat Too Much Spice?

You've ordered a dish and it's spicier than expected? Here are our tips for soothing a "burning mouth" from chili:

• Don't try drinking cold water—it will make things worse. Contrary to popular belief, cold water doesn't calm the burning effect of chili. It actually tends to spread capsaicin (the molecule responsible for the prickling sensation) throughout your mouth.
• Consume dairy-based foods and drinks and acidic beverages. These can attenuate the burning sensations in your mouth. Think particularly of smoothies, milkshakes, and yogurt made with cow's milk, ice cream, lime juice, or tomato juice.
• Accompany your dishes with a portion of rice. In fact, carbohydrates (and sugar in general) help reduce the burning sensation from chili.
• Rinse your mouth with oil: This trick may sound unappetizing but it's ultra-effective! Indeed, capsaicin is lipid-soluble, meaning it dissolves only in fatty substances. That's why rinsing your mouth with oil helps relieve the burning sensations from chili.

Now that you know everything about spices in Thai dishes, all that's left is to wish you excellent culinary discoveries!

Florine Dergelet

Florine Dergelet

A web writer for over 10 years, Florine Dergelet is a traveler driven by the desire to discover the world with an open heart. Each of her articles is an invitation to slow down, to listen, to understand. For her, traveling isn't about checking countries off a map, but weaving connections (often invisible yet always powerful) with places, peoples, and all manner of creatures in the animal kingdom. Her motto? Advise travelers with integrity, awaken their consciousness about animal welfare, respect for cultures, and the importance of humble, sustainable tourism. Because the most beautiful memories are often born far from the spotlight, in the shadow of a trail, in the midst of conversation, or in the quiet whisper of a world we finally take time to truly listen to…