Khay jiao (the Thai name for omelette) isn’t much like an American omelette, it’s WAY better. Here are four differences between a Western Omelette and a Thai omelette:

What’s the difference between a Thai omelette and a Western omelette?

• Instead of using salt or black pepper, Thai omelettes are made with fish sauce, I like to also add dark soy sauce, but that’s optional, and white pepper.

• Instead of folding the Thai omelette over, the perfectly browned, crispy, fluffy Thai omelette is served open-faced like a frittata over a round hill of Jasmine rice. Nope, not served with toast!

• Thai Sriracha chili sauce is served with it in a little bowl or in a bottle on the table, or we like to drizzle it on top.

• Thai omelettes aren’t considered only a breakfast item in Thailand and are often eaten at any time of the day.

How do you make a Thai omelette?

Here are a few tips for how to make a perfect, easy Thai omelette if you want to make it just like the one you had in Thailand:

• Mix the eggs really well until really frothy before adding any other ingredients.
• To get your Thai omelette super crispy, make sure you you have plenty of oil and it’s very hot, right at smoking hot.
• Wait to move the Thai omelette until it starts to solidify in the middle, or it will break in the middle when you try to flip it over.
• The best pan to make a Thai omelette in is a wok.

What do you put in a Thai Omelette?

What always goes in Thai omelettes are eggs, fish sauce, white pepper powder, and it’s optional, but my secret ingredient is a little dark sweet Thai soy sauce.

I saw a Bangkok khay jiao street vendor put that in her Thai omelette once, it was one of the best Thai omelettes I’ve had, so I decided to use her trick to balance the flavors.

In Thailand, usually Thai omelettes have ground pork and/or green onions in it, but we also like to put in:

• garlic
• onions
• sausage
• spinach
• fresh bean sprouts
• bacon
• mushrooms
• broccoli
• really it’s whatever meat and veggies are in our fridge that we want to use up

Oh, and there is no cheese involved in a Thai omelette. Thais don’t use dairy in their cooking, and my Thai Hubby is lactose-intolerant anyways, so we don’t add cheese.

But if you want to make it more of a Western-style omelette, throw some cheese on top. Thais will think you are weird, but it’s ok.

And don’t forget to serve it over Jasmine rice with Thai Sriracha drizzled on top!

Do Thais eat Thai Omelettes for breakfast? If not, what do Thais eat for breakfast?

My love for all things breakfast foods was sadly smashed to smithereens while living in Thailand where often Thais just eat the same thing they had for dinner for breakfast.

Lame.

They do have a sort of rice porridge congee called jok that is served everywhere on the streets in the morning, but it’s a bit too intense for breakfast for me. But I do make jok for Thai Hubby for breakfast when it’s his birthday or Father’s Day.

Breakfast was the only meal I would make for myself in Thailand. Usually it was “whole-wheat bread” that really looked like white bread with a slight tan with over-priced jam or peanut butter, or soupy yogurt with museli.

Of course eating amazing, cheap Thai food the rest of the day made up for the breakfast choices!

What to serve with Thai Omelettes:

When I did eat breakfast on the street in Thailand, I would usually get khay jiao since it was my favorite thing to eat for breakfast in Thailand, but now in America, the most common way we eat it is as a dinner side dish alongside many Thai dishes like:

• Thai Sun-Dried Beef Jerky, what doesn’t pair well with that?!
• Spicy Thai Basil Chicken, it’s usually paired with a fried egg, but we also like it with khay jiao.
• Kid-Friendly Thai Fried Rice Omelette, a meal your kids and you both adore!

Try it out for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and tell me what you think! The best place to find me is @thaifoodie on Instagram!

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