เผ็ดน้อย
phet noi
In Thai, 'mild spicy' is expressed as เผ็ดน้อย (phet noi).
The phrase เผ็ดน้อย is commonly used when ordering food at restaurants to specify a preference for low heat levels.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the adjective เผ็ด (phet) meaning 'spicy' and the quantifier น้อย (noi) meaning 'little' or 'few'.
Which one should you use?
While เผ็ดน้อย means 'mildly spicy', there are other ways to specify spice levels. You can use เผ็ดนิดเดียว (phet nit diao) to express an even lower level, meaning 'only a tiny bit of spice'. Additionally, ไม่เผ็ดจัด means 'not intensely spicy'.
How does it change in a sentence?
Be careful with your request for spice levels: เผ็ดน้อย means 'mildly spicy', but if you want to request food with no chili at all, use the phrase ไม่เผ็ด (mai phet), which means 'not spicy'.
How do you pronounce it?
phet noi
What mistakes should you avoid?
ไม่เผ็ด means 'not spicy' and is used to request food with no chili at all.
Did you know?
- The word เผ็ด (phet) can be used metaphorically in Thai slang to describe a person who is 'fiery' or 'sharp-tongued'.
- In Thai restaurants, asking for เผ็ดน้อย (phet noi) might still result in a dish that is too hot for many Western palates. The local standard for 'mild' is often much higher than the 'mild' found in international spice scales.
- Adding the particles ครับ (khrap) or ค่ะ (kha) after เผ็ดน้อย changes the request from a potential demand into a gentle preference.
Examples in context
- ขอแบบเผ็ดน้อยนะคะkho baep phet noi na khaI would like it mild spicy, please.
- อาหารจานนี้เผ็ดน้อยมากa-han chan ni phet noi makThis dish is very mild spicy.
Example conversation
At a Thai restaurant, a woman is ordering food from a waiter.
- สิรินทร์ Sirinสั่งผัดไทยเผ็ดน้อยหนึ่งที่ค่ะsang phat thai phet noi nueng thi khaI'll order one mild spicy Pad Thai.
- ธนกฤต Thanakritได้ครับ เผ็ดน้อยนะครับdai khrap phet noi na khrapCertainly, mild spicy, right?
- สิรินทร์ Sirinใช่ค่ะ ขอบคุณค่ะchai kha khop khun khaYes, thank you.
- ธนกฤต Thanakritรอสักครู่นะครับro sak khru na khrapPlease wait a moment.
