Top 11 Thai Stir-fry Dishes

This traditional Thai stir-fry combines minced meat or seafood with holy basil and various other ingredients such as shallots, garlic, and chili peppers. The dish is flavored with soy sauce, sugar, and fish sauce, and typically comes served with rice, fried eggs, and fish sauce on the side. Interestingly, phat kaphrao is ranked as the fourth most common dish ordered by foreigners in Thailand.Expand

Pad Thai is Thailand's national dish, a flavorful stir-fry (pad in Thai) dish consisting of rice noodles, tofu, dried shrimp, bean sprouts, and eggs. If it's made with meat, chicken and pork are some of the most popular choices. The flavors are an intricate combination of sweet, sour, and salty, with a well-balanced contrast of textures. Pad Thai is probably one of the most popular Thai dishes abroad. Its origins can be traced to a period of nationalism in the country, after the 1932 revolution that ended the absolute monarchy. There was a public contest to find a new national noodle dish, and the winner was a Pad Thai consisting of noodles, radish, sprouts, peanuts, and eggs. Tender rice noodles are additionally flavored with sugar, tamarind, lime juice, vinegar, and fish sauce, and the dish is traditionally served with ground red chilis, white vinegar, sugar, fresh lime wedges, and fish sauce on the side, so each consumer can garnish the meal to their preference.Expand

Phat si-io is a Chinese-style noodle dish originating from Thailand. The dish is often prepared and served from street stalls and consists of big noodles or vermicelli which are stir-fried with thinly sliced pork, beef, chicken, or seafood. The dish is popular because of its fragrant aroma coming from fried soy sauce (both light and dark varieties), garlic, eggs, and Chinese broccoli, which are also included in the pan. The dish is also spelled as pad see ew, with pad meaning fried, and see ew meaning soy sauce, so the name literally means fried soy sauce. Once done, it's recommended to serve phat si-io with chili sauce.Expand

Pad kee mao (more commonly known as drunken noodles) is a stir-fry noodle dish originating from Thailand, similar to phat si-io. It is made with broad rice noodles, chicken thighs (or breast), garlic, red chilis, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, baby corn, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, and holy basil. Other versions of the dish use squid or different seafood as the main ingredient. There are many theories as to the origin of its name, but the most commonly accepted one is that pad kee mao is a popular food of choice for late-night drinking. Nowadays, the dish is also found in Thai-fusion cooking, with some versions made with instant noodles or even spaghetti.Expand

Kai phat met mamuang himmaphan is a traditional dish originating from Central Thailand. The dish consists of chicken that’s fried with cashew nuts. It’s usually made with a combination of chicken breast, cashews, onions, hot peppers, scallions, garlic, flour, oyster sauce, soy sauce, oil, sugar, and chicken stock. The chicken is marinated in soy sauce, flour, and oil. The cashews are stir-fried in oil with dried hot peppers, and the chicken is then added to the pan with garlic and onions. The dish is stir-fried and seasoned with oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Chicken stock and scallions are added to the dish, everything is shortly stir-fried, and kai phat met mamuang himmaphan is ready to be enjoyed while piping hot. The dish is typically served with steamed rice on the side.Expand

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.Expand

Chai tow kway is a savory dish originating in the Teochew Chinese community and widely popular in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and southern Thailand, where it is often called carrot cake despite containing no carrot. The name comes from the Teochew words for radish and cake, referring to the main ingredient: steamed rice flour and white radish batter that is set into a firm cake. This cake is cut into cubes and then stir-fried with preserved radish, eggs, garlic, and seasonings. The preparation results in a dish that is both crisp and tender, with a balance of savory and lightly sweet flavors. The batter for chai tow kway begins with grated white radish, which is mixed with water and rice flour to form a thick slurry. This mixture is poured into a tray and steamed until it solidifies into a smooth, cohesive block. After cooling, the cake is diced into bite-sized pieces. In hawker stalls and home kitchens alike, the cubes are then fried in hot oil with chopped preserved radish for a salty undertone, garlic for aroma, and beaten eggs to bind everything together. Depending on preference, the dish can be prepared in a white style without sweet soy sauce, or in a black style where dark sweet soy sauce is added for a richer taste and caramelized edges. Chai tow kway is typically garnished with chopped scallions and sometimes a sprinkle of white pepper. It is eaten hot, often as a breakfast or supper dish, and is a staple offering at many hawker centers. Vendors usually prepare it fresh to order, letting customers choose how much egg or chili to include. The dish is commonly enjoyed with pickled chilies on the side, adding a sour and spicy contrast.Expand

Pad woon sen is a traditional noodles dish. It consists of silky glass noodles that are stir-fried with vegetables such as carrots and cabbage, then topped with Thai bird chili and cilantro. The noodles should be soaked before the preparation. The sauce is made with water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and white pepper. Other common ingredients used in the dish include eggs, onions, garlic, bean sprouts, spring onions, and sometimes chicken, if desired. Before serving, it's recommended to garnish the dish with cilantro and sliced chili peppers.Expand

Kung thot krathiam phrik thai is a Thai stir-fry consisting of shrimps that are fried with garlic and pepper. In order to soak up more of the flavors, the shrimps are often mixed with the rest of the ingredients that typically include minced garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and ground white pepper before they are stir-fried with the marinating mixture. This stir-fry dish is typically eaten on a bed of jasmine rice with slices of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers on top, but noodles can also be used instead of rice. The typical condiment of choice is prik nam pla, a mixture of bird’s eye chilis, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, and lime juice, which is often served alongside rice dishes. This one-dish Thai meal is a perfect blend of savory, garlicky, and salty, with just enough heat to enhance the flavor of the dish. Kung thot krathiam phrik thai is a typical street food and lunchtime item, and it is rarely prepared at home.Expand

Pla duk phat phet is a Thai fish specialty made with pieces of deep-fried catfish that are stir-fried in a spicy Thai red curry sauce. Apart from fresh Thai red curry paste (nam phrik kaeng phet daeng), the sauce typically contains ingredients such as kaffir lime leaves, chili peppers, garlic, krachai (Chinese ginger), water or chicken stock, and (optionally) lemongrass or galangal. Fish sauce, oyster sauce, and palm sugar are added to the dish to enhance its flavor, while some versions call for the addition of coconut milk to the sauce. Crispy catfish pieces immersed in a flavor-packed curry sauce are often topped with fried Thai basil leaves and thin crunchy strips of red bell peppers, and are usually accompanied by sticky rice or steamed jasmine rice on the side.Expand