By Kristen Nyampong

Thai food is by far my favorite cuisine to eat as a vegan because it’s so flavorful and versatile. I loved it so much that I had the opportunity of working at a Thai restaurant for a couple of months. Through my job I learned about the different flavors within the cuisine and most importantly what vegans should be aware of when ordering. In this article I will give you tips and tricks to make sure your dish at a Thai restaurant is vegan-friendly.  

Thai food has a very unique flavor within the sauces and curries. Its aroma has a lot of lemon grass, chili sauce, Thai Basil, and unfortunately fish sauce. Moreover, fish by-products are extremely common within Thai cuisine, especially its street food. Thus, if you are planning to dine at a Thai restaurant, call ahead to make sure they have vegan options. They may say yes, but do not really understand that you mean no fish along with no meat, dairy, and egg. So make sure you emphasize no fish sauce. Authentic Thai restaurants should be able to cater to your needs because they make all their sauces in house and some house-made sauces usually do not have any fish by-product. However, some Thai restaurants use premade pastes that usually have some sort of fish by-product.

The way to tell if a dish has fish by-product is by its smell and color. A dish with fish may have a fishy aroma and it will be darker due to the presence of some sort of fish sauce or paste. For example, Pad Thai is a very common dish in Thailand. It is based on tamarind and chili sauce that gives the dish a sweet and spicy flavor. If the Pad Thai is vibrant orange/red it will likely not have fish sauce, but if a Pad Thai is a dark reddish brown color, it likely has fish sauce. This is also the same for Green Curry. Green curry is based on green chilies, lime leaves, lemongrass, coconut milk, and traditionally shrimp paste. If the curry is vibrant green it will likely not have shrimp paste, but a curry that is a dark green does. 

It is very important to make sure your waiter is aware you are vegan and ask MANY questions about the dish you are ordering. Don’t be afraid to ask them to check with the kitchen before you place your order. Thai restaurants always have tofu options and some dishes can be made vegan if they don’t add fish sauce. So ask if they can make a certain sauce dish without the fish sauce. This is true with stir-fries as well. Always ask if the curries do not have any fish paste in them because it will not be noted in the menu item. Although fish sauce is more commonly used in Thai dishes, egg is commonly used in all fried rice dishes and almost every noodle dish. Moreover, you must tell your waiter you do not want egg in any of your noodles or fried rice dish. Some common noodle dishes with eggs are Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, and Drunken Noodles.  

Due to a lot of chilies within Thai food, for some it can be very spicy. There is a spice system that many Thai Restaurants use. It is a five star rating, five star being extremely spicy and one star being mild. Usually if you don’t ask for it to be spicy, they will assume you would prefer it to be mild and won’t add extra spice. Moreover, use the five star system if you don’t want it to be mild and would prefer a little spice. If your food is already prepared and you would prefer more spice, you could ask for the spice condiment rack. Don’t use just any spice on the spice rack because some do have fish sauce like the Nam Pla Prik, which is more liquidity than the other spices. However, the Prik Namsom, which is a vinegar based red chili sauce, and the Thai dried red chili flakes, do not have any fish sauce.  

If you are planning to go to a Thai restaurant, be sure to use these tips! Some usually vegan friendly dishes are Red Curry, Pad Thai ordered without egg, and Massaman Curry. But as previously stated, don’t be afraid to ask if they can make a certain dish vegan without fish sauce. Happy eating!

For information on vegetarian restaurants around the USA and Canada, see: https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php