Joanna James
Gorgeous Koh Phangan Island is famous for its succulent selection of fresh seafood dishes. Just 30 minutes from Koh Samui, the area offers a variety of dishes flavoured with exotic Thai spices.
Of course, seafood dominates all dishes on this beautiful island paradise. The waters surrounding the island are rich in all manner of marine life, offering variety and flavour to the many culinary dishes on offer. Look forward to tucking into delicious crab, lobster, shellfish, squid, prawns and very fresh seaweed salads. Each dish is of course given the Thai twist and flavoured with exotic spices such as lemon, tamarind, ginger, basil and loads of thick creamy coconut milk. Here's a tip, the best Koh Phangan restaurants for tucking into seafood are those located right on the beach where places similar to The Bistro @ The Beach let you sink your feet into the soft sands while dining on the best of the ocean.
Okay let's skip to the sweet treats on offer; Kalamae is a sweet treat that's made with glutinous rice flour paired with coconut cream and palm sugar. The result is a toffee similar to French caramel. This dish is a famous south Thai dessert more popular around Koh Samui and Koh Phangan due to the abundance of coconut palms in the area. Kalamae comes wrapped up in neat cone-shaped plastic blocks.
Top Yum is famous across Thailand, but on Koh Phangan, this spicy soup is extra fresh and tangier than in other parts. Tom Yum is a spicy and sour soup that in Koh Phangan is mainly made of seafood. The main ingredients are lime juice, fish sauce, galangal leaves, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and crushed chilli. Each restaurant will have its own version of the soup which by the way tends to get quite spicy if left to its original Thai version. Remember and request for a spice level that best suits your palate. You can, of course, master the skills of Thai cookery by joining a holiday cookery class; there are some resorts similar to Anantara Rasananda Koh Phangan Villas that offer this service to tourists eager to cook Thai style.
Khao Phad translated is 'fried rice'. This is the one Thai dish that is not spicy and is more tourist oriented fast food. Khao Phad can be ordered with many mixes including pork, crab, chicken, beef and seafood. It is a savoury dish that can be whipped up in seconds and has a base of fragrant Thai Jasmine rice, soy sauce, garlic, egg, salt, sugar and oyster sauce all stir-fried in a wok.
One of the country's most popular dishes Phad Thai is a stir-fried noodle dish that has Vietnamese and Chinese origins. The main ingredients are rice noodle, tofu, egg, garlic, fish sauce, tamarind sauce, red chilli, soybean, palm sugar and a choice of crab, chicken, pork or beef all stir-fried in a wok.
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