Phuket Street Food Guide: The Weirdest Things You Can Eat
Food surrounds everything in Thailand, with small carts lining the streets and plenty of cozy little restaurants around to serve you noodles or curry. But the safe fare that Westerners are used to being served in the hotels in Phuket isn’t the only thing on the table here—or, rather, it’s not the only thing on the street. Here’s our guide for those who want to stray away from the beaten path for a taste of what the locals really eat.
Goong Ten
Known as “dancing shrimp,” this dish is a good choice for people who are looking for something with a bit more, well, life to it. The spicy salad is made with live shrimp, usually fished out of a tank in front of you and tossed in a bowl with mint leaves and some lemon. Put a crawling spoonful of these guys into your mouth for a crunchy and sweet surprise.
Goong Chae Nam Pla
If eating live critters isn’t your thing but you’re still looking for something off the beaten path to eat, check out another seafood dish, goong chae nam pla. This Thai take on ceviche features raw mantis shrimp, usually whole, cloaked in fish sauce (nam pra), garlic, chilli, sugar and lime juice and served cold.
Larb Mote Daeng
Alternative sources of protein are becoming more popular around the world, but the idea of eating bugs is nothing new in Thailand. Check out their best take on this idea, larb mote daeng, for an interesting juxtaposition of tangy little red fire ants set against luxurious, savoury fire ant eggs. The adult ants have a complex, tangy flavour that’s the result of a diet consisting mainly of mango. It’s an alternative source of protein and caviar that any sustainable foodie is sure to love.
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Hon Mhai
Ants are far from the only insect eaten in Thailand. These crunchy, deep-fried silkworms are commonly sold as a street snack. Other creepy-crawlies, including grashoppers, tarantulas and crickets, get the same treatment at Thai fried bug carts in a dish called malang tod, a sight you’re bound to encounter when you’re working your way through all of the things to do in Phuket.
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Roasted goodies
In fact it’s hard to find a thing that Thai chefs won’t roast or fry, as evidenced by the range of options you have if you want something crunchy and flame-toasted to chew on. In addition to your choice of fried bugs, you’ll also be able to pick up a skewer of roasted bat or, even more surprisingly, a cooked scorpion-on-a-stick. The poisonous barb on the end of the scorpion’s tail is removed and the whole thing is roasted or fried to make a crispy-shelled snack that most people liken to potato chips.
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Khai Khao
For people who want a traditional source of meat prepared in an innovative way, it’s worth finding a place that serves khai khao. Not for the faint of heart, these boiled fertilized chicken or duck eggs are served on skewers or in the shell as a side dish with soup, and are rumoured to encourage fertility. While this claim is certainly up for debate, the bravery of those who try this complex combination of flavours and textures is undeniable.
Khai Now
If you thought rotten eggs were only good for fertilizer, check out khai now, which is sold alongside khai khao. This dish, also usually skewered, is essentially steamed rotten eggs that take on a thick, spongy texture from having been exposed to bubbling sulfur. It’s certainly a specific flavour profile, but you might as well try both egg dishes if you’re at a cart that sells them!
Luu Muu
In Thailand blood isn’t for vampires; it’s what’s for dinner. Luu muu is a dish of spiced raw pig’s blood that’s served over deep-fried noodles and intestines. Buyers beware, though, because this meal runs you the risk of catching a dangerous streptococcus suis infection.
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Larb Leuat Neua
Think eating carpaccio is brave? This traditional beef salad is made with a mix of raw mince, scallion and mint leaves, and is served with a dollop of buttery blood sauce. If you make your way up to northern Thailand you might even find Laap Phrae, a similar raw meat salad that typically also features tripe, nam phia (the contents from a cow’s first stomach, or rumen) and nam dee (uncooked bile that comes from a cow’s gallbladder) served with rice.
Kha Gai
This lemongrass, ginger and chicken soup has made its rounds being Westernized into restaurants outside Thailand, but a traditional kha gai—at least the sort you’ll get from street vendors in Phuket—will also have chicken feet, innards and some congealed blood in the mix.
Mok huak
Frogs are as popular in Thai cuisine as they are in French fare, but this use of frogs is a little different from what you’d find in a European restaurant. The dish is only available in the rainy months because that’s when its chief ingredient, frog tadpoles, are in season. The tadpoles are wrapped up in a banana leaf along with herbs and seasoning before being grilled over a charcoal fire and then served with sticky rice. You can often find mok huak alongside fried and roasted adult frogs, which are usually served skewered and do, in fact, taste like chicken.
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Baak Bpet
A staple of carts selling duck-based dishes, baak bpet is a great example of not letting a good thing go to waste. Duck bills are marinated in soy sauce for hours until they’re soft enough to be consumed and then grilled to a crunch over a hot fire. The result is a surprisingly fantastic snack: salty and with just enough crispy duck fat to make it the perfect partner to a cold beer and a hot day.