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Thai Street Food Stalls earn spots @ 2023 Michelin Guide
Thailand’s culinary scene is making waves. It was announced yesterday that 189 street food eateries across the kingdom have made it to the 2023 Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list. Out of the 189 restaurants and eateries that made it to the list, 84 were street food eateries, and 105 were restaurants. Michelin Guide’s international director, Gwendal Poullennec, said the high proportion of street food eateries on the list reflects Thailand’s “quintessential culinary scene as an ultimate street food haven for budget-savvy diners.” Poullennec noted that street food provides a “cultural adventure” into Thailand’s culinary tradition, on top of an authentic Thai eating experience. She added that the recent Bib Gourmand selection would help boost Thailand’s gastro-tourism, particularly in the northeast region, to which Michelin has just expanded its coverage this year.
Pae Araya - Ubon Ratchatani
The Highlights
33 restaurants and eateries are located in Thailand’s northeast region - widely known as “Isan”. With 20 provinces in this largest region of Thailand, four provincial cities Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen – are selected to represent the region’s distinctive and flavorful cuisine, as well as its remarkable natural and cultural heritage. This includes 11 in Khon Kaen, nine in Nakhon Ratchasima, seven in Udon Thani, and six in Ubon Ratchathani. Northeastern Thai or “Isan” cuisine has an interesting background with cultural influences from ancient eras – including the Sukhothai Kingdom and Khmer empire – as well as from neighboring countries i.e. Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China. The region has fields and forests on plateaus and mountains suitable for livestock farming. In addition, it is a significant area for quality rice cultivation - including the world-famous Jasmine rice and glutinous rice. Although Isan food does not contain any seafood ingredients due to its landlocked geographical location, the region has many rivers - notably, the Mekong River, where freshwater fish are in abundance.
Michelin inspectors have been impressed with the flavorful and distinctive Isan cuisine, as it employs simple cooking methods yet delivers subtle and complex flavour profiles – such as boiling, grilling, steaming, slow-cooking, and – above all – the food preservation technique, which is considered a highlight of the cuisine, as it showcases local wisdom in keeping fish and seasonal vegetables for longer shelf life as food ingredients. Fermented fish [Pla Ra], made of local fish fermented in salt and rice, is the most famous and major preserved ingredient that has been used in many dishes and sauces, and has been registered as a heritage of national cultural wisdom since 2012.
Apart from unique food and interesting culinary background, there are many Isan-born chefs with food knowledge and cooking experience from working in world-famous restaurants abroad, and have now opened their own restaurants in their homeland. They play a significant role in elevating Isan food to the next level - using local ingredients combined with their superior cooking skills, setting a new standard for more high-quality local food. This is a great sign that the Northeastern region of Thailand will soon be an interesting tourist destination for local gastronomy, contributing to a good economy among local communities and markets.
Thailand’s Northeastern region has a vast potential – in terms of culinary culture and history, diverse tourist attractions, as well as charming local lifestyle. Apart from delicious and authentic Northeastern Thai or ‘Isan’ cuisine, people of all ages can enjoy visiting attractions like Khao Yai National Park - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - that situated mainly in Nakhon Ratchasima, Pha Taem National Park in Ubon Ratchathani, Ban Chiang Archaeological Site in Udon Thani, Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum in Khon Kaen. Moreover, the Northeastern region has a lot of outstanding local food and handicraft products, with more than 34 registered Geographical Indication (GI) items, to look out for when shopping for souvenirs. With the launch of the upcoming 2023 MICHELIN Guide Thailand edition, we hope that not only will the entire world be aware of the vibrant culinary scene of the Northeastern region of Thailand, but also boost tourism and the local economy at the same time,
Thailand’s dining scene has been making headlines this year. In July, a restaurant in Bangkok was ranked 39th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. The restaurant, Sorn, has won two Michelin stars. A hotspot for fine dining, Sorn serves traditional southern Thai cuisine. Sorn focuses on serving old recipes that have been lost in the modern age. It also has a focus on “local culinary wisdom” and ingredients are sustainably sourced from a trusted network of farmers and fishermen.
Last year, UNESCO named the central province of Petchaburi a Creative City of Gastronomy. The city continues to draw income from food tourism and locally produced ingredients.The dish that originally put Petchaburi on UNESCO’s map is toddy palm curry, in Thai known as Gaeng Kua Hua Tan. A local woman who makes it uses a traditional recipe with fresh galangal, finger roots, lemongrass and red chillies mixed with coconut milk.
Thailand’s culinary landscape is preserving the country’s heritage, and promoting Thailand to the world.
Thailand’s culinary scene is making waves. It was announced yesterday that 189 street food eateries across the kingdom have made it to the 2023 Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list. Out of the 189 restaurants and eateries that made it to the list, 84 were street food eateries, and 105 were restaurants. Michelin Guide’s international director, Gwendal Poullennec, said the high proportion of street food eateries on the list reflects Thailand’s “quintessential culinary scene as an ultimate street food haven for budget-savvy diners.” Poullennec noted that street food provides a “cultural adventure” into Thailand’s culinary tradition, on top of an authentic Thai eating experience. She added that the recent Bib Gourmand selection would help boost Thailand’s gastro-tourism, particularly in the northeast region, to which Michelin has just expanded its coverage this year.
Pae Araya - Ubon Ratchatani
The Highlights
33 restaurants and eateries are located in Thailand’s northeast region - widely known as “Isan”. With 20 provinces in this largest region of Thailand, four provincial cities Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen – are selected to represent the region’s distinctive and flavorful cuisine, as well as its remarkable natural and cultural heritage. This includes 11 in Khon Kaen, nine in Nakhon Ratchasima, seven in Udon Thani, and six in Ubon Ratchathani. Northeastern Thai or “Isan” cuisine has an interesting background with cultural influences from ancient eras – including the Sukhothai Kingdom and Khmer empire – as well as from neighboring countries i.e. Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and China. The region has fields and forests on plateaus and mountains suitable for livestock farming. In addition, it is a significant area for quality rice cultivation - including the world-famous Jasmine rice and glutinous rice. Although Isan food does not contain any seafood ingredients due to its landlocked geographical location, the region has many rivers - notably, the Mekong River, where freshwater fish are in abundance.
Michelin inspectors have been impressed with the flavorful and distinctive Isan cuisine, as it employs simple cooking methods yet delivers subtle and complex flavour profiles – such as boiling, grilling, steaming, slow-cooking, and – above all – the food preservation technique, which is considered a highlight of the cuisine, as it showcases local wisdom in keeping fish and seasonal vegetables for longer shelf life as food ingredients. Fermented fish [Pla Ra], made of local fish fermented in salt and rice, is the most famous and major preserved ingredient that has been used in many dishes and sauces, and has been registered as a heritage of national cultural wisdom since 2012.
Apart from unique food and interesting culinary background, there are many Isan-born chefs with food knowledge and cooking experience from working in world-famous restaurants abroad, and have now opened their own restaurants in their homeland. They play a significant role in elevating Isan food to the next level - using local ingredients combined with their superior cooking skills, setting a new standard for more high-quality local food. This is a great sign that the Northeastern region of Thailand will soon be an interesting tourist destination for local gastronomy, contributing to a good economy among local communities and markets.
Thailand’s Northeastern region has a vast potential – in terms of culinary culture and history, diverse tourist attractions, as well as charming local lifestyle. Apart from delicious and authentic Northeastern Thai or ‘Isan’ cuisine, people of all ages can enjoy visiting attractions like Khao Yai National Park - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - that situated mainly in Nakhon Ratchasima, Pha Taem National Park in Ubon Ratchathani, Ban Chiang Archaeological Site in Udon Thani, Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum in Khon Kaen. Moreover, the Northeastern region has a lot of outstanding local food and handicraft products, with more than 34 registered Geographical Indication (GI) items, to look out for when shopping for souvenirs. With the launch of the upcoming 2023 MICHELIN Guide Thailand edition, we hope that not only will the entire world be aware of the vibrant culinary scene of the Northeastern region of Thailand, but also boost tourism and the local economy at the same time,
- 82 Restaurants and eateries are located in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces.
- 27 Restaurants and eateries are located in Chiang Mai
- 23 Restaurants are in Phuket
- 11 Restaurants are in Phang Nga.
Thailand’s dining scene has been making headlines this year. In July, a restaurant in Bangkok was ranked 39th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022. The restaurant, Sorn, has won two Michelin stars. A hotspot for fine dining, Sorn serves traditional southern Thai cuisine. Sorn focuses on serving old recipes that have been lost in the modern age. It also has a focus on “local culinary wisdom” and ingredients are sustainably sourced from a trusted network of farmers and fishermen.
Last year, UNESCO named the central province of Petchaburi a Creative City of Gastronomy. The city continues to draw income from food tourism and locally produced ingredients.The dish that originally put Petchaburi on UNESCO’s map is toddy palm curry, in Thai known as Gaeng Kua Hua Tan. A local woman who makes it uses a traditional recipe with fresh galangal, finger roots, lemongrass and red chillies mixed with coconut milk.
Thailand’s culinary landscape is preserving the country’s heritage, and promoting Thailand to the world.
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