In Thai, Jay is the word for vegetarian. While it’s easy to ask for a dish to be prepared this way, the truth is that most traditional Thai foods aren’t Jay’s, so finding vegetarian Thai foods might prove difficult when it comes to traditional cuisine. The basis of many Thai dishes is usually a combination of sauces created from seafood, such as oyster sauce and fish oil. Like many other Asian cuisines, traditional Thai food also includes soy sauce, chili oil and tofu, thus offering vegetarians a good amount of seafood alternatives. Instead of eating chicken or fish, a vegetarian may ask for tofu or, depending on the dish, skip the core proteins altogether cheap thai food near me.

Along with this, those who wish to eat Thai vegetarian foods can also ask to replace the oyster sauce with soy sauce. Both of these sauces play the same role in Thai food, giving each dish a salty base. Another substitution that can be made is adding soybean noodles instead of shrimp noodles to prepare Thai vegetarian foods. Soya paste has a similar texture to shrimp paste; therefore, it will not change the overall pot too much.

When it comes to specific dishes, there are several options available for Thai vegetarian foods, but it may require a special request for the chef to leave out animal products. Som tam, or papaya salad, is a very popular dish in Thailand. Traditionally made from grated, non-unripe papaya, lime juice, tomatoes, chillies, garlic, sugar, dried shrimp and fish paste, this fresh fruit salad can be modified.