THAI LANGUAGE LESSONS
L17b - Food: Meats
| meat | neu-a |
| chicken | gai |
| pork | moo |
| beef | neu-a wua |
| prawn | goong |
| lobster | goong mang gorn |
| shellfish | hoi |
| oyster | hoi nahng rom |
| fish | plah |
| squid | plah murk |
| bass | plah ga-pong |
| red snapper | plah ga-pong dairng |
| pomfret | plah ja-la-met |
| small mackeral | plah too |
| mackeral | plah saba |
| salmon | plah sah-mon |
| catfish | plah dook |
| freshwater catfish | plah chorn |
| sushi | plah dip |
| canned fish | plah gra-pong |
| meatball | loook chin |
| chicken ball | loook chin gai |
| pork ball | loook chin moo |
| fish ball | loook chin plah |
| steak | sa-tayk |
Beef: The full term for beef is neu-a wua (meat of cow). It can be abbreviated to 'neu-a' but this is also the generic term for meat so to avoid confusion it is better to stick with the longer version.
Mackeral: The small mackeral (plah too) are sold already gutted and cooked in packs of two or three. They are used as snack meat with dishes such as som-tam. The bigger mackerals are sometimes referred to as 'plah makeral' but more often Thais say 'plah saba' borrowed from Japanese because the salty flesh is excellent for sushi.
Catfish: The saltwater catfish (plah dook) and the freshwater catfish (plah chorn) are both unappetising to look at. The 'plah chorn' with their big mouths and long whiskers are especially ugly. Their flesh is quite bland so Thais usually slit the meat and rub in salt to add some flavour before frying or grilling.
Canned Fish: 'gra-pong' is tin can. When Thais say 'plah gra-pong' they are usually talking about sardines. Note that bass is 'plah ga-pong' so be careful not to mix them up.
Meatballs: 'loook chin' is a combination of two classifiers. 'loook' for small round objects and 'chin' for pieces of meat. You should note that these meatballs are not the big meaty items that westerners might associate with the phrase. 'loook chin' are factory meatballs produced from animal parts and other fillers.
