Garlic in Thai

“Garlic” in Thai is กระเทียมgrà-tiam.

กระเทียม grà-tiam

garlic noun

  • grà low
  • tiam mid
  • Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.

How to use it

Thai garlic has small cloves with thin pinkish-purple skins, which cooks often leave on. Fried golden and crispy, กระเทียมเจียวgrà-tiam jiaw, it's sprinkled over congee and noodle soups, and the classic หมูกระเทียมmǔu grà-tiam is pork fried with garlic and pepper.

Strict Thai vegans, who eat เจjee, avoid garlic and onions as well as meat.

Other spellings you'll see

There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:

  • kratiam
  • kra tiam
  • kratiem

More food and drink in Thai

All food and drink
  • ข้าว kâao Rice
  • ข้าวเหนียว kâao-nǐaw Sticky rice
  • ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง kâao-nǐaw má-mûang Mango sticky rice
  • ส้มตำ sôm-dtam Papaya salad

    papaya salad, som tam

  • ก๋วยเตี๋ยว gǔay-dtǐaw Noodles

    noodle soup

  • ข้าวซอย kâao-sawy Khao soi

    khao soi (Chiang Mai's curry noodle soup)

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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones