Thai food is a healthy choice when eating out or when buying take-away food as there are plenty of healthy options on the menu with lots of vegetables and herbs. Portion sizes tend to be small and you can forgo the rice. The ingredients are generally are stir-fried so that most of the nutrients are not lost by over-cooking. Thai food includes many fresh herbs that add flvor and reduce the need for excess salt.
However some of the foods on the menus are high in fat and have high calories. It is worthwhile learning how to identify the lower calorie alternatives and the things to avoid if you are on a diet. In this review I aim to provide information on healthy low calorie and low fat choices as well as presenting a comprehensive table summarising the calorie and fat content of common Thai dishes.
An example of a good choices from the menu would be hot and sour shrimp soup and a stir fried cashew chicken dish Shrimp soup has about 295 calories while the cashew chicken contains 394 calories. Compare this with Mussaman curry, which has about 760 calories and coconut shrimp soup, which contains 528 calories. The latter combination contains nearly twice the calories - add some rice and fried noodles to the soup and this mean could total more than 70% of your total daily allowance of calories ( 2100-2800 calories per day).
Pad Thai is a very popular Thai dish that is made up of meat such as chicken or beef, rice noodles, eggs, fresh greens such as green onions, bean sprouts and cilantro, peanuts and a sauce made up of oil, spices, fish sauce and chili. Pad Thai is delicious but is very high in calories, especially if ordered from a restaurant. and can contain about 1,400 calories (about half the daily calorie allowance). The serving sizes are usually large and could easily be two meals.
If eating at a restaurant, eat half or share the meal. Pad Thai can be made at home recipes typically only have half the calories of a restaurant meal. To reduce the calories use less noodles than recommended and add more vegetables. Use low fat beef or chicken breast, shrimp, or tofu. Trim the excess fat off before cooking. Use minimal amount of oil (2 teaspoons) by using a non-stick wok or frying pan. Only eat the recommended serving size for the recipe.
Some other healthy alternative are shown below as well as a list of calories and fat in common Thai dishes.
Healthy Choice (Low Calories)
|
High in Calories
|
---|---|
tom yum koong (shrimp and mushrooms simmered in hot-and-sour broth with coriander, lime leaves and lemongrass)
|
dumplings or spring rolls
|
sauteed shrimp or beef with basil, onion and chillies
|
pad thai
|
sauteed scallops and shrimp (or beef or pork) with mushrooms, zucchini and chili paste
|
any curry dish
|
sauteed beef, chicken or pork with shrimp paste and green beans
|
sauteed beef, chicken or pork with ginger, black bean sauce and green onion
|
sauteed mixed vegetables
|
Thai fried rice with vegetables and eggs
|
steamed mussels with Thai herbs and garlic sauce
|
deep-fried whole fish with sweet-and-sour sauce
|
Food
|
Quantity
|
Calories
|
---|---|---|
Beef with Basil, 4 oz round steak
|
serve
|
360
|
Chicken Satay (Satay gai), 1/4 order with peanut sauce
|
serve
|
490
|
Chicken with Basil (Gai Pad Gaprao), 4 oz chicken
|
serve
|
335
|
Coconut Milk Soup with Chicken (Tom kha gai)
|
serve
|
165
|
Drunken Chicken Wings (Peek gai mao daeng) 1.2 order
|
serve
|
655
|
Fish cakes, each
|
serve
|
50
|
Fresh pineapple
|
serve
|
70
|
Gai hoh bai teo (chicken wrapped in bandan leaf)
|
serve
|
420
|
Gai tome ke (chicken, coconut and galangel soup)
|
serve
|
110
|
Gang ped bhed yang (duck curry)
|
serve
|
540
|
Ginger Beef, 4 oz round steak
|
serve
|
230
|
Ginger Chicken (Gai Pad Khing), 1/2 order
|
serve
|
368
|
Ginger Pork, 1/2 order
|
serve
|
469
|
Green Curry, beef, 4 oz round steak
|
serve
|
587
|
Green Curry, chicken, 4 oz chicken breast
|
serve
|
562
|
Green Curry, pork, 4 oz shoulder
|
serve
|
800
|
Green Curry, shrimp, 16 lg. Shrimp
|
serve
|
557
|
Kow neuw mamuang (mangoes with sticky rice)
|
serve
|
66
|
Lean Cuisine Thai chicken
|
serve
|
250
|
Lean Cuisine Thai-Style chicken with rice
|
serve
|
230
|
Lemon Grass Chicken (Gai Sai Takrai), 1/2 order
|
serve
|
280
|
Moo pad king (pork fried with ginger)
|
serve
|
310
|
Normai pad kai (pork with bamboo shoots)
|
serve
|
370
|
Pad Thai (fried noodles)
|
serve
|
410
|
Pad Thai Chicken, 4 oz chicken and 50g noodles
|
serve
|
766
|
Pad Thai Shrimp,16 large shrimp and 50g noodles
|
serve
|
760
|
Pad Thai Vegetable, 50g noodles
|
serve
|
665
|
Panang Curry, chicken, 4 oz chicken breast
|
serve
|
472
|
Panang Curry, chicken, 4 oz chicken breast
|
serve
|
472
|
Pepper Steak, 4 oz round steak
|
serve
|
280
|
Pla manow (fish with lemon sauce)
|
serve
|
400
|
Pork Satay, 1/4 order with peanut sauce
|
serve
|
590
|
Pork with Basil, 4 oz pork loin
|
serve
|
469
|
Pork with Peanut Sauce, 1/2 order
|
serve
|
1025
|
Red Curry, beef, 4 oz round steak
|
serve
|
564
|
Red Curry, chicken, 4 oz chicken breast
|
serve
|
539
|
Red Curry, pork, 4 oz shoulder
|
serve
|
777
|
Red Curry, shrimp, 16 lg shrimp
|
serve
|
533
|
Roasted Garlic Rice Noodle Bowl
|
serve
|
120
|
Satay and peanut sauce
|
serve
|
400
|
Som loy geow (oranges in syrup)
|
serve
|
210
|
Spring rolls, each
|
serve
|
100
|
Stir fried vegetables and Tofu (Pad Phak Taohu), 1/2 order
|
serve
|
565
|
Thai Burger (1 burger)
|
serve
|
100
|
Thai Chili Sauce
|
1 tbsp
|
15
|
Thai Hot & Sour Noodle Bowl
|
serve
|
115
|
Thai Kitchen Curry Noodle Stir Fry
|
serve
|
290
|
Thai Lemongrass & Chili Soup
|
serve
|
80
|
Thai Lemongrass & Ginger Jasmine Rice
|
serve
|
200
|
Thai Mushroom Soup Bowl
|
serve
|
120
|
Thai Noodle soup
|
serve
|
79
|
Thai Spring Roll
|
serve
|
455
|
Thai Style Chicken & Rice Noodles
|
serve
|
290
|
Tom yam gung (hot and sour soup with prawns)
|
serve
|
120
|
Yam talay (seafood salad) without dressing
|
serve
|
150
|