About

Our story

We have been travelling to Thailand for almost twenty years. The first trip was the usual one: a few nights in Bangkok, a beach in the south and a list of dishes we had read about. What we did not expect was how much the food would change every time we moved. The khao soi in Chiang Mai tasted nothing like the curries in Bangkok, the grilled chicken and som tam in Isaan were sharper and hotter than anything in the capital, and in Phuket and Hat Yai the food carried Malay and Chinese flavours we had never connected with Thailand at all.

So we kept going back. Over the years we have eaten our way from the mountains of the North, through Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Lampang, down to the old capitals of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, across the Isaan plateau in Khon Kaen and Udon Thani, along the coast at Hua Hin, and south to Phuket, Krabi and Hat Yai. Most of the best meals came from places without a menu in English: a curry stall at a morning market, a noodle shop with one dish and a queue, a grandmother grilling pork over charcoal at the side of the road.

Back home, we wanted to cook those dishes properly, and that meant learning the ingredients, the regional differences and the small techniques that make the difference between food that is fine and food that is aroy mak mak. This site is everything we have learned so far, written down so you can cook it at home and know where to find the real thing when you go.

What you will find here

Aroy Mak Mak is a guide to Thai food in four parts. There are 30 recipes covering curries, soups, noodles, salads, grills and desserts from Bangkok and the Central Plains, the North, Isaan and the South. There are 74 ingredient guides to the condiments, vegetables and herbs and fruits that Thai cooking is built on, plus an introduction to each of the four regions. There are 50 places to eat, from street stalls to restaurants and markets, and there are longer stories about how Thai food works.

The parts are linked on purpose. A recipe tells you which region the dish comes from and which ingredients matter most; the ingredient guides tell you how to buy, store and substitute them; and the place pages point you to the stalls and restaurants where you can taste the real thing before you try it yourself.

How the recipes are written

Every recipe lists its ingredients with quantities, the preparation and cooking times, the number of servings and a numbered method, and the cook's tips at the end cover the things that usually go wrong. When an ingredient is hard to find outside Thailand, its ingredient guide explains what to look for and what to use instead. Thai cooking is seasoned to taste rather than to the gram, so treat the amounts of fish sauce, lime, sugar and chilli as a starting point and adjust as you go.

Thai food uses a few ingredients that are common allergens, especially peanuts, shellfish, fish sauce, shrimp paste, eggs, soy and wheat in some sauces. Always read the ingredient list with your own needs in mind.

How places are chosen

The places on this site are well known for a reason: long-running stalls, family restaurants with a dish they are famous for, Michelin-listed kitchens and the markets locals use. Each place page gives the address, a map, the price level, opening hours where they are known and what to order. Facts such as awards and addresses are checked against published sources before a place is added, and a Michelin tag is only shown for a current star or Bib Gourmand, not for past awards.

Street food in particular changes quickly. Stalls move, change their hours, close for holidays or shut for good. Check the opening hours before you make a special trip, and if you find that something has changed, let us know so the page can be updated for the next person.

Corrections

Mistakes happen, in quantities, in Thai names and in opening hours. If you spot one, please get in touch. Corrections are made on the page itself so the information stays right for everyone who reads it later.

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