Phuket, one of the oldest cities in Thailand, was an important port where Chinese immigrants first landed and married locally-born wives. This gave birth to the “Peranakan” – a term used to identify the “mixed-race” descendants. These cultural influences are reflected in Phuket cuisine, which has a strong Chinese influence.

If you are in Phuket, it’s a must to try these 5 local dishes. We’ve got you covered from breakfast to supper.

Kanom Jeen

Try this noodle dish of thin rice noodles made from fermented rice. Top your noodles with a variety of flavourful sauces, usually fish curry (Nam ya) made with fish and various spices cooked in coconut milk. Typically eaten for breakfast, you mix it together with various fresh, blanched and picked vegetables like long beans, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, Thai basil leaves and pickled mustard greens.

Por Pia

A simple deep-fried dish that wraps together a filling of meat, prawn, rice noodles and vegetable in a roll. This Thai spring roll is great as a snack that you can grab on the street. You can also find it in sit-down restaurants and have it as an appetizer.

Mee Hokkien

Thick yellow noodles stir-fried with prawns, pork, eggs, bean sprouts and greens, this Hokkien-style noodles is enjoyable as a lunch meal. The most famous restaurant in Phuket is Mee Ton Poe, right in the heard of Old Phuket Town where you’ll find mostly local Phuketians tucking into a bowl of simple goodness.

O-Tao

Another variation of a Chinese-inspired dish, O-Tao is an oyster omelette dish made of flour and taro root, together with oysters (or sometimes seafood) and bean sprouts. Served together with additional bean sprouts and pork crackling, you can eat it on its own or dip it into a sweet and spicy sauce for an additional kick.

Oh Aew

This is a traditional Southern Thai shaved ice dessert. “Oh Aew” is a softer and stickier gelatinous jelly is made of banana and a Chinese herb known to “cool” your body. Served with red bean, black grass jelly and ice with a bright red syrup on top, it’s a great dessert to cool off from the heat of Phuket.