GEORGE TOWN, Feb 5 — It could be Penang’s close proximity to Thailand or the rather large Thai community living here, but Thai food is everywhere in Penang.

In fact, Thai food is one of the more common hawker fare in many of the food courts and coffee shops here. There are also numerous Thai restaurants located all over the island and mainland.

And it’s not just spicy tomyum but a variety of Thai cuisine from pad Thai to rice sets like pineapple fried rice, Thai fried rice, pork knuckle rice, plain white rice served with green curry and chicken pad prik.

The pad Thai is vastly different from the local char koay teow as they use long thin flat rice noodles that are more springy with a bite to it compared to the thicker flat rice noodles used in char koay teow. The sauces used for the pad Thai are also milder and there is the addition of fish sauce and sometimes vinegar for that twist in flavours.

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Pad Thai is often stir fried with either chicken or pork slices, shrimps, eggs and topped with spring onions. Depending on the stall you go to, some add in bean sprouts while frying the noodles while the more traditional style is to serve the noodles topped with raw bean sprouts, a spoonful of crushed peanuts, a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of chilli flakes.

The whole medley comes with half a lime so you can squeeze it onto the noodles and mix everything together for a burst of sweet and sour spiciness while the nutty flavours of the crushed peanuts enhance the whole dish.

While these hawker stalls may not offer similar dishes found in Thai restaurants, the prices are usually reasonable and the no-frills food is always prepared fresh and fast.

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Here are some of the hawker stalls serving Thai food to try out on the island:

Thai Shop, 257 Lebuh Kimberley, George Town
Time: 11.30am-9pm

This is a relatively new place. Located in an old heritage shophouse, there is also seating in a narrow alleyway next to it. The specialty is pork knuckle rice and pork fillet skewers.

Old City Food Court, Prima Tanjung, Jalan Fettes, Tanjung Tokong
Time: 11.30am-9pm

There are several Thai style hawker stalls inside this food court. One sells only rice sets, another one sells pad Thai and yet another one sells pork knuckle rice.

Cecil Street Market, Lebuh Cecil, George Town
Time: 11.30am-4pm

This stall specialises in pineapple fried rice, belacan fried rice and pad prik rice but they have very limited choices. It is located somewhere in the middle of the food court in the market complex.

Super Tanker Food Court, Lebuh Nipah 2, Bayan Lepas
Time: 7am-11pm

The stall in this food court has more than 10 different types of rice sets including a few types of fried rice and rice with all types of curries and Thai-style dishes.

Mount Erskine open-air night food court, Jalan Mount Erskine
Time: 6pm-11pm

This is manned by a Thai and similar to the one in the Super Tanker Food Court; they have a variety of fried rice and rice sets with tomyum, green curry and basil chicken.