The World of Thai Noodles

ก๋วยเตี๋ยว

[ Ǩwyteī̌yw ]

South-East Asian cuisine and noodles go together like a wink and a smile. In other words, for many South-East Asian dishes, noodles are their integral ingredient. It is hard to imagine Vietnamese Pho without the distinct Pho Noodles or Thai Ba Mhee Nam soup without its yellow egg or vermicelli elongated companion.

The world of Asian noodles is also fairly diverse and complex. This article is my humble attempt to give ourselves a bird-eye overview of Asian noodles; a very broad categorisation, which might be useful when roaming around South East Asian food markets or eating at the street food stalls, so common in Thailand.

Most noodles are made of rice, yam and mung bean or wheat flour. Usually, it is not ingredients but rather the shape of noodles that gives them their distinct names.

From my experience, there are 4 main types of noodles broadly available in Thailand:

Glass (or Clear) Noodles – วุ้นเส้น – [ wun sen ]

Glass (or Clear) Noodles ,called locally as [ wun sen ] and written in Thai as วุ้นเส้น.

Yellow Egg Noodles – บะหมี่ – [ ba mhee ]

Yellow Egg Noodles, called locally as [ Ba Mhee ] and written in Thai as บะหมี่.

Instant Noodles – มาม่า – [ ma ma ]

Instant noodles, called locally as [ ma ma ] and written in Thai as มาม่า.

White Noodles:

• Flat and Wide, White Noodles – เส้นใหญ่ – [sen yay]

  White, flat and wide noodles, called locally as [ sen yay ] and written in Thai as เส้นใหญ่.
• Normal White Noodles – เส้นเล็ก – [ sen lec ]

  Normal sized white rice noodles called locally as [ sen lec ] and written in Thai as เส้นเล็ก.
• Thin White (Vermicelli) Noodles – เส้นหมี่ – [ sen mhee ]

  Thin white (vermicelli) noodles, called locally as [ sen mhee ] and written in Thai as เส้นหมี่.

Thai noodle dishes are served by default with a specific type of noodles. Perhaps it’s worth noting that sometimes swapping the type of noodles that came with your dish means the dish loses its identity and becomes something else. What might seem like a subtle difference to us (westerners), can be a name-changer for Asian folks. Here are some common Thai noodles dishes to try when visiting (or living in) Thailand.