Noodles and snacks shaped by Chinese and Malay culture
In Phuket you need not stop at grilled seafood. Try mi hokkien, thick noodles stir-fried, and mi hun, thin rice noodles. After the meal, take a break with o-aew, a bowl of ice and jelly. Add local food to the day you spend walking the old town.
Choosing a meal in Phuket
Have mi hokkien or mi hun as your meal, and on a hot day choose o-aew for dessert. If you are in a group, share the two noodle dishes and compare thick noodles with thin ones.
Phuket's food carries the influence of Chinese-descent and Malay food culture. Thick noodles are sometimes stir-fried with seafood, and thin noodles may come with a pork rib broth. When you also look at the snack eaten with ice and jelly, Phuket's table looks more varied than the seafood you may have expected.
Mi hokkien and mi hun are different noodle dishes. If you order them by name, you can enjoy the difference in texture and in what comes with each.
Pick a dish you would like to try. We explain what it tastes like and what to eat it with.
The flavour of sauce and seafood soaks into the thick noodles. Compared with mi hun, which uses thin rice noodles, the texture of the noodles feels different. The taste of a bowl can also change with the amount of broth and accompaniments such as egg.
Mi Hokkien: taste and how to eat it →It is a dish in which you enjoy the texture of thin rice noodles with the flavour of the broth served alongside. If the noodles and broth come separately, alternate between them. It gives you a different meal from thick stir-fried noodles.
Mi Hun: taste and how to eat it →
The sweetness of soft jelly and syrup is added to cold ice. The taste and texture of each spoonful change with which toppings go on. Scoop the ice and jelly together and try it.
O-Aew: taste and how to eat it →A fruit's famous growing area may not be where you buy it today. Check the season and taste, then pick the fruit you want to eat.
You feel sweetness and sourness together, and the firmness of the flesh differs with variety. If a seasoning is served on the side, taste the fruit first and then add it.
Pineapple: season, taste and how to eat it →
With a young coconut you enjoy the water and the soft white flesh together. Nam Hom is introduced as a variety whose character is its aroma.
Young Coconut: season, taste and how to eat it →
It is a crunchy, juicy fruit. Fresh fruit and the shake blended with ice give you different textures.
Watermelon: season, taste and how to eat it →
The white flesh is soft and sweet-sour. The larger segments can have a seed, so eat slowly.
Mangosteen: season, taste and how to eat it →Mi hokkien and mi hun are different noodle dishes. If you order them by name, you can enjoy the difference in texture and in what comes with each.
Have mi hokkien or mi hun as your meal, and on a hot day choose o-aew for dessert. If you are in a group, share the two noodle dishes and compare thick noodles with thin ones.
If you want to read more about these dishes and regions, these sources are a good place to start. Ingredients and cooking methods can differ from one eatery to another.
