If someone ever says to you, “You must try Khao Man Gai”, you might wonder what the heck that is. Khao Man Gai is actually one of the best, and healthiest, dishes to eat in Thailand and is easily available at thousands of street stalls all over the country.
One of the simplest Thai dishes, Khao Man Gai is nothing more than boiled chicken, which is chopped up and served over rice. The rice is cooked in chicken broth, so has a lovely taste, and both the rice and boiled chicken are served with some slices of cucumber, a sweet-salty sauce, and usually a bowl of chicken broth with big pieces of chicken in it on the side.
You’ll find Khao Man Gai at street stalls all over Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket as well as just about every other place in Thailand. I’ve found the best places to eat it though are those restaurants or street stalls that specialize in it, meaning they hardly make anything else. It’s served fresh, hot and fast and is one of my favorite dishes for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Just one quick tip when you order Khao Man Gai, most stalls only give you a small bowl of sauce. I always order double the sauce as, otherwise, the chicken and rice gets a little bit too dry. Unless you pour copious amounts of chicken soup over it, of course.
Meanwhile, here’s a great video showing Khao Man Gai in Bangkok and exactly what it is. The narrator doesn’t like the dish as much as most Thais, and myself, do but still, he at least tried it.