Lunchtime Thai Menu 12

By Richard Barrow
Fri Mar 21, 2008 at 16:27:22 Words: 341 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 1 feedback »
White Noodles with Fish Curry Sauce
This is the continuation of our Friday Lunchtime Thai Menu. The main dishes today are not served with rice. Instead, we had them with what some people call Thai spaghetti. The Thai people themselves call them "khanom jeen" which makes you think that it is a kind of Chinese dessert. But really, it comes from a Mon word "kanom jin". When the Thais adopted this dish, they either misheard the name, or just couldn't spell very well. In English, we would call it fermented rice vermicelli. There are a number of different dishes that you can have with these noodles. The one today is called khanom jeen nam yaa. It is a fish curry with wild ginger. There are variations around the country. In the north, they use pork instead of fish. In the northeast, they use dried bird's eye chillies and no coconut milk. And in the south, they use turmeric and dried prawns. This cost us 20 baht for the curry, 5 baht for the noodles and 5 baht for the boiled egg. We added our own vegetables.
White Noodles with Chicken and Bamboo Shoot Curry
You can eat this chicken curry with either "khanom jeen" or rice. I personally prefer rice, but it did make a nice change today to have it with noodles. The actual curry is made in the normal way for green curry. You just add bamboo shoots which are very tasty. This was 30 baht including khanom jeen.
Khanom Piak Poon
The dessert today is "khanom piak poon" which is sometimes translated as rice flour custard. Though it is firmer than what we would normally call custard. You basically stir together rice flour, tubular flour, palm sugar and saturated red lime juice. It is cooked over a high heat until it turns sticky and thick. To make the green version you need to soak pandanus leaves in water. The black comes from burnt coconut skin. It is not a bad taste and I quite enjoyed eating it. These three only cost 10 baht.
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How to eat... Dragon Fruit
By Richard Barrow
Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 21:36:15 Words: 353 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 8 feedbacks »
When travelling in exotic countries, the food and fruit is often the highlight. But, quite often, what you see can invariably be misleading. Take the Dragon Fruit as an example. The skin is bright pink in colour with green petal like stalks, for want of a better word. I had no idea what to expect when I first ate this fruit. Compared to other fruit, this one is quite easy to prepare. When it is slightly soft when you squeeze it, use a sharp knife and cut it in half from end to end. The version I had today had a white flesh though you can also get a red version. You can now peal the skin using the knife, or do what I did and just used a spoon to scoop it out. The skin itself is not edible so just make sure it is all removed. Then cut it up into cubes. I find it tastes best if it is chilled first.
The taste is almost sweet though it doesn't contain many calories. The small black seeds are slightly crunchy and remind me of kiwi fruit. These are excellent source of fibre. It is a bit like eating a soft melon though with a higher water content. But the taste is quite bland. I think it would be better mixed with other fruit in a salad or made into a drink. The fruit contains large amounts of Potassium and Calcium and also Vitamin C. They are grown all over Thailand, though more commonly in Chantaburi. The main season is May to October though you can buy at other times. They are not native to Thailand and you can buy all around the world. But, they are pretty cheap here. The ones I bought in the supermarket cost me 29 baht a kilo. So, these two cost me 12 baht each which is about 35 Cents. It belongs to the Cactus family and apparently is fairly easy to grow yourself from the seeds. I might give that a go and tell you about it later if I have any success.
Name in Thai: แก้วมังกร (gaew mang-gorn)
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 11
By Richard Barrow
Fri Mar 14, 2008 at 13:46:26 Words: 577 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 5 feedbacks »
Tofu and Minced Pork (tao hoo song kreaung)
This is our weekly Thai menu where we try to buy lunch for four people with a budget of only 100 baht. The first one today is deep fried tofu with minced pork. It is not that difficult to cook. You just need to deep fry the tofu first until it turns yellow. Then stir-fry the minced pork with the pork. I am not always a fan of tofu, but I do quite like it in a number of different Thai recipes. This dish cost us 25 baht.
Spare Ribs Soup (tom soop gradook moo)
The second dish is a plain soup with pork spare ribs and mushroom. Not very exciting, but always nice to have such a dish to counterbalance anything else which is spicy. On the far left of the picture you can see bamboo "tissue" which is a soft substance from the inside of a bamboo. This dish was 35 baht.
Fishball with Green Curry
As you know, I don't always like seafood. But this is a good green curry that has fishballs. This is made by pounding the fish together with garlic and coriander roots and then they are shaped into balls. This is then placed into boiling water. Coconut milk is then poured into another pot and the green curry paste added. Next comes the fishballs. Season with fish sauce and sugar. Next you add the eggplants, sweet basil and kaffir lime leaves. This dish cost us 25 baht. You can eat with either rice or noodles called khanom jeen.
Deep Fried Pork (moo tod)
This is a snack but can also be eaten with a meal. You need to marinate it in the following mixture. First, pound together garlic and cilantro roots. Next, in a bowl, mix together flour and egg with fish sauce and soy sauce. Add to this the paste you prepared earlier. Then marinate the pork in this mixture for about half an hour. Then deep fry in oil. These cost 10 baht each.
Stuffed Crescents with Mung Bean
This is an interesting Thai dessert called khanom tua baep. As you can see there are two versions - black and green. The yellow are the mung beans. You have to soak these in warm water for about three hours. Wash them again and then steam for about 30 minutes. The outer layer is glutinous rice flour. This is mixed with coconut cream and pandanus juice. This forms the dough. The juice from the pandanus leaf gives you the natural green colouring. For black you have to use black glutinous rice flour. The filling is grated coconut which has been steamed and then is mixed with the mung beans and salt. Divide the dough and roll each part into round balls. Flatten it out and then place the filling in the center. Fold the dough over and pinch it closed at the edges. This is then cooked in boiling water until they float to the top. Arrange on a plate and garnish with some more mung beans. The dip you can see is a mixture of sugar, salt and roasted sesame seeds. Not a bad dessert which will set you back only 5 baht each.
Come back next week to thai-blogs.com to see what we ate for our Friday lunch. As always, you can contact us with your own suggestions for our meal. But it has to be food that is readily available on the street in Thailand.
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 10
By Richard Barrow
Fri Mar 7, 2008 at 16:58:29 Words: 682 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 1 feedback »
Fried Garlic with Chicken (pad khing gai)
We are now on week 10 of our Friday Lunchime Menu,. We are trying to keep below the budget of 100 baht for four people by buying street food. I am afraid I have to say that I didn't like this first dish. I am not really that keen on the strong taste of ginger and I think the cook went a bit overboard with ginger as you can see. I have had different versions where the chicken was more predominant. But, with this 20 baht dish I had trouble finding any chicken at all! It is easy to cook. Add garlic to hot oil until it is golden brown. Add the chicken and stir it well until it is nearly cooked. Now season with soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, fermented soy beans and lime juice. Then add the onion and shredded ginger and continue until everything is cooked.
Sour Orange Curry (kaeng som cha-om kai)
We have a similar dish to this at school and I always used to call it "orange curry" because of its colour and also because "som" means orange. It was only later that I found out that this word could also mean "sour" which is a good description of this curry. Most Thai curries use coconut milk. However, two notable ones don't. These are this sour curry and jungle curry. It is really a bit like a soup but it is often thick with vegetables. This 30 baht version was pretty plain, but you can also have ones with shrimp or fish. The sourness comes from the sour tamarind and lime juice. The main feature here is the "cha-om kai". This is a green vegetable called acacia which is then fried with eggs to make a kind of omlette. It is then cut into squares and added to the curry. I found this one a bit salty but I have tasted good ones in the past. Worth a try if you haven't tasted it before.
Grilled Pork with Peanut Sauce (moo sa-tay)
The grilled pork is more of a snack than a meal but we added it to today's menu because we were a bit low on meat. This dish is very popular down the market and you often see long queues at the most popular vendors. It is up to you how many skewers you buy with the pork. As you can imagine, the recipe does vary a bit with both the sauce you marinate the pork in and the peanut sauce that is the dip. This makes or breaks a vendor. One recipe I have says grind galangal, lemon grass, cilantro seed, cumin and kaffir skin until well combined. Next add the pork and then stir in sugar, salt, coconut milk, cumin powder and vegetable and leave to marinate. There are two side dishes. The first is the peanut sauce. Pound together the chili, garlic, lemon grass and turmeric to form a paste. Add this to hot oil. Stir in coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add tamarind water, sugar, salt and crushed peanuts. The second dip is another favourite of mine. Mix vinegar, sugar and salt and stir well over a heat until it boils. Set aside to let it cool. Then add sliced cucumber, red shallots and red-green chilies.
Steamed Banana Cake (khanom kluay)
Growing up in England I was never fond of banana, pineapple and even coconut. It wasn't until I went to Australia for the first time that I fell in love what what I can only describe as the real thing. Bananas in England are shipped from abroad when they are still green and then artificially ripened. My love affair with bananas has continued since I arrived in Thailand and there are quite a few desserts containing banana that I simply adore. This is one of them. A kind of mashed banana mixed with flour and coconut milk. This is placed into banana leaf cups and shredded coconut is put on top. This is then steamed for about 10 minutes. These only cost two baht each.
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 09
By Richard Barrow
Fri Feb 29, 2008 at 16:27:11 Words: 515 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 3 feedbacks »
Spicy Stir-fried Chicken with Long Beans
Judging by the letters we are receiving, people are eager to visit thai-blogs.com on Fridays to see what we are eating for lunch. It is sometimes a challenge for us when producing the Friday Lunchtime Thai Menu. We are restricted to not only street food, but also to a budget of about US$3 for all of us. Plus, we cannot repeat any of our favourites. Every Friday we are eating something new. So, for me it is sometimes hit and miss. But, this first one is one of my favourites. It is called "pat prik khing gai". It is basically pork fried in chili paste with long beans. A simple dish but tasty. The curry paste includes spur chillies, shallots, garlic, lemon grass, coriander root, kaffir lime, dried shrimp and shrimp paste. Strangely, no sign of ginger despite the name being in the title. To cook, marinate the sliced chicken (or pork) with a tea spoon of fish sauce. Blanch the yard long beans in boiling water until nearly cooked. Cut them into one inch lengths. In a hot pan, fry the chili paste until fragrant. Add the chicken and cook until done. Season with sugar and fish sauce and then stir in the beans. The version we had today is not as red looking as it should be. Maybe they watered it down a little. But, what can you expect for only 20 baht.
Hard Boiled Egg in Sweet and Sour Sauce
This is an interesting side-dish that I haven't had before. It is also strangely named in Thai as "kai luk kery". A literal translation is "son-in-law eggs". Basically, some eggs are hard-boiled and then shelled. These are then fried in hot oil until they turn yellow. For the sauce, grind together cilantro root, garlic and pepper. Stir fry them for a short while. Then add palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind sauce. Add some water and then simmer until it becomes a thick sauce.
Clear Soup with Mixed Vegetables
This is a clear soup called "gaeng liang" in Thai. It is not really spicy so don't be misled into thinking that "gaeng" always means hot and spicy. The soup stock is mixed with shrimp paste, pepper, red shallots and dried shrimp which has been grounded until well combined. It is really up to you about the vegetables. This one has shrimp, pumpkin, wax gourd, baby sweetcorn, and sweet basil leaves. This is alright as a side dish and cost us only 20 baht. I wasn't thrilled about it.
Sticky Rice Grilled in Banana Leaves
The final one today is our dessert. It is called "khao niew ping". It is basically sticky rice with a mystery contents grilled in banana leaves over a charcoal fire. You need to ask what it contains unless you like to be surprised. To ask, just say "sai a-rai". The choices are: banana, taro, shredded coconut or mung beans. Not too bad if you are not expecting much. These cost 6 baht each.
Come back next Friday to see what we ate for lunch!
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 08
By Richard Barrow
Fri Feb 22, 2008 at 20:05:32 Words: 914 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 9 feedbacks »
Green Chicken Curry (gaeng khiao wan gai)
We are now onto Week 8 of our Friday Lunchtime Thai Menu. If you have just joined us, we are trying to buy a meal every Friday for four people that will only cost us not much more than $3. Sounds impossible? Not if you live in Thailand. Thai Street Food is both cheap and delicious. The first dish on our menu today is a classic example. It is a chicken green curry which is among the favourites of many foreign tourists. Believe it or not, this dish only cost 20 baht and tasted just as good as from a restaurant.
I often cook green or red curry at home as it is quite simple. I also like making up my own recipe for this but here is the traditional method of cooking. First add the green curry paste to the pan of hot oil. You can buy this ready made down at the market. When it becomes fragrant, gradually add the coconut milk. If you are Western you will now be asking for exact measurements. But, in Thai cooking you use your gut feeling. Keep stirring until a green oil surfaces to the top. Next add the sliced chicken. You could also use beef or pork. Remember, Thai people don't use knives so everything has to be pre-cut to bite size. At the same time you should add the kaffir lime leaves. These should be torn just before adding so that the fragrance is released immediately. Once it is cooked through, transfer to a pot. Add the remaining coconut milk and season with sugar and fish sauce. Bring it back to the boil. Now add the eggplants that have been quartered. Sometimes the pea eggplants are added but I find these too hard. I usually add frozen garden variety peas instead. Once the eggplant is cooked, add sweet basil leaves and the red chilies. Now it is ready to eat!
Fried Chicken with Basil Leaves (gai pad gra-prow)
This is a favourite among Thai people and is often bought in shops as a one dish meal topped with a fried egg. I think the minced pork version is more common, though this chicken one is just as good. When you buy as a meal with rice it will cost about 25 baht. You might need to add an extra 5 baht for the fried egg. As we bought without rice it cost us only 20 baht. This can be a very spicy dish so you might like to say "pet noi" which will result in the cook not using so many chillies. The ones used in this dish are the small variety and can be very hot. A small handful is used. In Thai these are called "prik kee noo" which translates as mouse dropping chili. To cook, use a mortar and pestle to ground the chilies and garlic. Then add to hot oil until fragrant. Add the chicken and stir until done. Season with fish sauce and sugar. Some recipes add oyster sauce too. Now add the holy basil which gives it a very distinctive taste. Also add a sliced spur chili. It is now ready to eat.
Salad (salad khaek)
I guess we will have to start blaming you, our readers, for not allowing us to have balanced meals on Fridays. I would have much preferred to have a stir fried vegetable dish with the above. But, we are not allowed to repeat and are trying our best to come up with unique menus each week. This next one is called "salat khaek" which could be translated as Indian style salad. Though I think only because mayonnaise is not used for the dressing. Here they use a spicy peanut dressing similar to the one used for the satay pork dish. In this picture you can also just see some white bean curd which was actually quite nice. They sell these in plastic bags by the side of the road for only 20 baht.
Coconut Jelly Dessert (wun gati)
I don't normally eat Thai desserts as I find them too sweet. But it is alright once a week in the interest of research for this series of blogs. This first one is a hardened version of my all time favourite "khanom tuay". The lady selling this one comes during the day ringing her bell. If I can catch her I will share some pictures with you. This version is called "wun gati" which is a coconut jelly. The green colouring is natural and comes from the pandanus leaf which is often used in desserts.
Grated Coconut Pudding (kanom sod sai)
This is one of those surprise desserts that you buy wrapped in a banana leaf. You will need to ask what is inside unless you like lucky dip! This one is called "khanom sod sai" though sometimes you might hear it being called "khanom sai sai". The brown filling in this one is shredded coconut though you will sometimes find alternatives. The pudding is sticky rice with a topping of coconut cream and rice flour. This is then wrapped in a banana leaf and put in a steamer for about ten minutes. Four of these cost about 10 baht so it is worth experimenting.
I hope you enjoyed looking at our meal as much as we enjoyed eating it. Come back next Friday to see what we will eat next. In the meantime, please browse some of my most popular Thai Food Blogs.
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Sticky Rice in Bamboo
By Richard Barrow
Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 19:38:44 Words: 298 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 9 feedbacks »
When you are travelling, one of the highlights is always tasting the local specialties. Last weekend I was in Nakhon Pathom which is famous for khao lam - which is sticky rice cooked in a bamboo tube. There are different recipes. You can use either black or white sticky rice. Some will also have black beans. The white in this picture is egg custard. This dessert is flavoured with coconut milk. There is another version in Chonburi and I will show you the difference later.
When you buy them you usually have to say how many bamboo tubes you want. The classifier for this is "grabok". They are usually 35 baht each or three for 100 baht. I bought a bundle of three and she threw in a thinner tube for free. It is so nice when they do this. Around some tourist attractions, some vendors get greedy when they see foreigners and will try and overcharge. After you have chosen which one, she will ask whether you want her to crack it open. Even if you are taking it home it is probably a good idea to get her to do this. You can see in the above picture that she has got the machete out and is chopping away. Make sure you stand back. I had one for lunch and it was so tasty that I went back to get another bundle. Not for myself, but for friends back home. Whenever I tell Thai people that I have been away for the weekend, the first thing they always ask is, what food did I bring back for them!
If you haven't tried khao lam already, then do try the next time you get a chance. As well as Central Thailand, they have a version in the north.
Thai name: ข้าวหลาม​
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 07
By Richard Barrow
Fri Feb 15, 2008 at 16:54:50 Words: 635 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 3 feedbacks »
Chicken and Wax Gourd Curry (kaeng khua fuk kap gai)
This is the continuation of our Friday Lunch Menu where we show you that Thai Street Food is not only cheap but can also be very delicious. The first on the menu is the chicken and wax gourd curry. This is similar to the Red Curry with Pineapple and Mussels that we had for lunch the other week. Wax gourd is sometimes called a winter melon though it is longer in shape. The Thai name sounds a bit like an English rude word which we won't repeat here. To prepare, peel the gourd, discard the seeds and then cut into one inch chunks. Heat the coconut milk and then add the red curry paste. Next add the chicken and continue cooking for a few minutes. Finally add the gourd. Season with sugar, fish sauce and tamarind juice. This dish cost us 25 baht from a street food vendor.
Fried Salted Fish (pla khem tod)
I am never too keen on dried fish. From the point of view of a housekeeper, it is good because it keeps for many days. But, I found this one to be too salty. Maybe more than it should. After they gut the fish, they rub in a salt mixture. This is then left in the sun to dry for a couple of days. Extra flavour comes from any passing cat that might lick at it or dust kicked up from a passing car. This is then deep fried so it becomes crispy. It only costs 8 baht a piece and is a cheap meal with rice for some people.
Stir-Fried Striped Clams(pad hoi lai)
I am not too fond of clams, but living in Paknam I know they are widely available at the market. These are fresh water clams which live in the mud. In Paknam Market, a kilo of these would cost only 50 baht. You have to rinse them in water until they open up. Make sure you get all the mud out. The ingredients are very basic. Only garlic, salt and what some people call chili jam (nam prik pao). Sweet basil leaves are added at the end. This dish cost 20 baht.
Fried Mungbean Noodles with Egg (pad wunsen sai khai)
This is a basic vegetarian dish, though you could also add say minced pork. The vegetables here are carrot, tomato, Chinese cabbage, onion and spring onion. The transparent noodles (wunsen) are first soaked in water. They are then added to the frying pan at the last minute as they don't need so much cooking. This dish also has egg. You season it with dark and light soy sauce and sugar. A cheap dish for 20 baht.
Pearl Barley Pudding (luk deuei nam kati)
Our dessert today is this pudding with pearl barley topped with coconut cream. Sugar is first dissolved in a pot of water. Then tapioca flour is added to the syrup. It is stirred until clear. Then the pearl barley is added. Other versions you can add mung beans. The coconut milk has salt added and is brought slowly to the boil until the salt dissolves. This is then the topping. I can't say I was too keen on this dessert. I suppose it is what you grow up to be used to. This dish cost only 10 baht.
Our meal today was under budget at only $2.70 for four people. All of the food we have bought for this series of food blogs are bought separate from rice. This makes it easy to share with other people and saves money. However, it is also quite common to be able to buy meals for one person from street vendors. For example chicken on rice or a bowl of noodles. These dishes I will tell you about on another day.
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Breakfast Thai Menu 01
By Richard Barrow
Thu Feb 14, 2008 at 12:13:20 Words: 565 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 3 feedbacks »
Today I am going to show you the menu for my breakfast this morning. To be honest, I don't normally eat Thai food for breakfast. I usually have a traditional Western breakfast of cereals or fried egg and bacon. This kind of breakfast is actually becoming more common among Thai people in Bangkok. But, most Thai people will just have the leftovers from their meal the night before. Personally, I prefer not to start my day with something hot and spicy. For people who prefer something lighter and plainer for breakfast, then a bowl of johk is a good choice. This is a rice congee which usually has minced pork and an egg. When I am away on one of my road trips around Thailand, I often buy johk at a food stall by the side of the road for breakfast. It is very cheap and a good way to start the morning. This bowl was 15 baht and then an extra 5 baht for the optional egg.
This dish is made with broken rice which is then cooked for longer than normal. Broken rice is cheaper to buy. You can buy normal rice if you like and break it yourself! This is usually achieved by stirring it often while it is being cooked. But that is a lot of effort. It is cheaper and easier to buy broken rice. You boil the rice with a pinch of salt and some pandanus leaves. You need to stir often unlike when cooking normal rice. It is then seasoned with soy sauce, pepper, spring onion and coriander. The dish I had this morning contained minced pork shaped into small balls. But, it could also have sliced kidney, liver, chicken or even fish. It is up to you. Before serving they sprinkle shredded ginger on top. As I am not a fan of so much ginger, I usually say "mai dtong sai khing". However, for authenticity of the picture, I had to sprinkle it on top today. Like I said, an egg is an extra 5 baht. This is partially cooked already but is basically still raw. They crack it into the thick rice soup just before serving and the heat from the rice will complete the cooking process for you.
Another common snack for breakfast is pa thong ko which is basically deep-fried dough. A kind of Chinese version of donuts, though the taste is plainer and it can be very oily. It is best to buy these freshly cooked while they are still crispy. Also check the condition of the oil used for cooking. If it is very black then that is a sign it has been used too often. There are several versions though the one pictured above is considered the original. It starts as long strips of dough that is cut into shorter lengths. Two pieces, of different lengths, are stuck together with water before being dropped into the hot oil. Thai people refer to two lovers being inseparable as like "pa thong ko". You can either eat this with your coffee or cut it up into pieces and stir it into your "johk" which is what I did this morning. You can also have it with a green custard or drink together with soy bean milk. But, that is mainly the evening version which I will talk about another day.
In Thai: โจ้ก (johk) ปลาท่องโก๋ (pa thong ko)
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 06
By Richard Barrow
Fri Feb 8, 2008 at 18:20:07 Words: 480 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food Send feedback »
Spicy Minced Meat with Herbs (larb moo)
This is the continuation of our Friday Lunch Menu where we show you that Thai Street Food is not only cheap but can also be very delicious. Our budget for four people is about US$3. Today we had larp which is a kind of salad. The recipe has been around for hundreds of years. There are different versions of it in different regions of Thailand. Quite commonly it contains minced pork or chicken like in this one. The Isaan version has raw meat but I prefer to have this cooked version. The seasoning includes lemon juice, fish sauce, sugar and mint. There are also finely sliced red shallots. The key ingredient that makes this a larp is the roasted rice powder. This is uncooked rice which is roasted and then finely grounded. It is usually served with raw vegetables such as cabbage, snake beans and cucumber. I enjoyed eating this dish which had a distinct lemony taste. This dish cost us 25 baht.
Red Curry with Pineapple and Mussels (Kaeng Khua Subparod Sai Hoi)
I have seen different versions of this dish. More commonly it is wax gourd and chicken. But this version has pineapple and sea mussels. The spices that are used to make the coconut curry include dried chillies, minced galangal, minced lemon grass, shallots, garlic and shrimp paste. This is pounded in a mortar until finely grounded. I liked the curry a lot as well as the sweet pineapples. But I am not that keen on the sea mussels! But it wasn't too bad. The price was 20 baht.
Stir Fried Morning Glory with Pork and Shrimp Paste
Of all the dishes today this one was the one I disliked the most. The pork and morning glory was good. However, I think the cook went a bit overboard with the shrimp paste. The taste was very strong so I could only eat a little. This dish cost 20 baht.
Chicken Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai)
I have shown you pictures of this one before. It is by far my favourite and I often order at restaurants. However, as this one was only 20 baht you basically get what you paid for. There wasn't too much chicken and the taste wasn't as strong as it should be. The key ingredients, apart from the coconut milk, is the galangal (which is very good for your health) and lemon grass. However, I couldn't find any galangal though I could taste it. Maybe they recycled it for another dish! It was still delicious and well worth the money. But, in the future I think I will only eat this dish in a restaurant.
I am thinking next week we might go a slightly different direction and switch from lunch to breakfast! Let's see. Come back next week to thai-blogs.com to see what Thai food we will eat.
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 05
By Richard Barrow
Fri Feb 1, 2008 at 20:44:03 Words: 630 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 8 feedbacks »
Minced Pork and Tofu Clear Soup
This is the continuation of my weekly Thai Lunch that I am documenting on thai-blogs.com and enjoythaifood.com. Our budget is always about 100 baht which we are able to do because we buy Thai Street Food and then bring back to the office to share. The first one today is a clear soup which compliments very nicely anything else that might be a bit spicy. In Thai it is called Gang Jued Tao Hoo Wun Sen. I have seen some variations that use eggs, but more commonly, the dish is made with tofu. It is a basic soup that has cilantro root, garlic and pepper. The minced pork balls are then cooked in this boiling stock. It also has wun sen which is the transparent noodle. At the end it is seasoned with fish sauce which is the Thai way of adding salt. Chopped spring onion and cilantro leaves are sprinkled over the top. This dish was 20 baht but could cost you nearly $1 elsewhere.
Steamed Fish Curry (haw mok pla)
I am never that keen on seafood, but haw mok pla is one of my favourite seafood dishes. This one was bought down the market for only 20 baht. This is made with serpent-head fish, though you can also find pork or chicken versions if you don't like seafood. But, give this one a try as I am sure, like me, you will love it. In the picture, you can see that the meal is presented in a banana leaf bowl (hence the name). The leaves have changed colour as they have been in a steamer for about twenty minutes. To make, add the curry paste to one cup of coconut milk in a mixing bowl. Add some fish sauce and stir well. Next add an egg and season with fish sauce. Another cup of coconut milk is added slowly while you continue stirring for a further twenty minutes. At the end, stir in briefly chopped basil leaf, coriander, and kaffir lime leaf. This mixture is then scooped into the banana leaf cups. This is then steamed over boiling water for about twenty minutes. Before serving, coconut cream is poured over the top. Very delicious. I have seen miniature versions of these dishes in restaurants. But, nothing beats the real thing from the street hawkers.
Thai Fish Cakes (tod man pla)
The next one can easily be eaten as an afternoon snack. If you have ever been to Thailand then you would surely know that Thai people like snacking all day. This one is a curried fish cake. However, it is not as spicy as you might think. Don't be fooled by the green ingredients in the fish cake. This is not green chili as I used to think. It is in fact finely sliced long beans! You will also find finely shredded kaffir lime leaf. This makes it a little sour in taste. The ingredients are mixed in a bowl and then made into small patties. This is then deep fried until golden brown. This dish cost 25 baht. Again, I am not fond of seafood but this is one of my favourite roadside snacks.
Sticky Ricky with Ripe Mango
The final dish is a Thai dessert and is a favourite for most foreign visitors. It can be quite sweet at times, so don't pour too much coconut cream on the sticky rice. Of all the Thai desserts, you must try this one at least once. But a word of warning, it is very addictive and will expand your waistline.
Come back next Friday to see what we have on the Lunchtime Thai Menu. As always, please keep sending in your comments and suggestions either in the comment section below or as an email.
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 04
By Richard Barrow
Fri Jan 25, 2008 at 16:23:41 Words: 811 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 2 feedbacks »
Crispy Catfish Salad(yum pla duk foo)
This is the continuation of our weekly Friday Lunchtime Thai Menu. Every week I will be bringing you pictures of what we eat at lunchtime in the Paknam Web office. The budget for all of us is about 100 baht ($3) though I think we blew that budget this week. Everything you see here is Thai street food which surprises many people. Quite often, restaurants sell the same food, though at inflated prices. A lot of street food in Thailand is single dishes. For example, noodles, fried rice and Chinese chicken. However, most of the food that we have been buying is the kind that you share between your friends. This makes it more economical. We will try and give you some single dishes in the future.
The first one today is a favourite of mine in the local restaurants. It is a green mango salad with crispy fried cat fish. It also has peanuts, chopped red shallots and chillies on a lettuce base. The secret ingredient is the sauce and not everyone makes it the same way. A common one would be lemon juice, fish sauce and palm sugar. This dish is called "yum" in Thai which means salad. However, if they used garlic instead of shallots then it would be a "som tam" dish. This dish cost 25 baht from the night market in Paknam. It was good but I have had better.
Fried Coconut Palm shoot with Shrimp
The next one is a simple dish that uses the young coconut flesh and fries it with shrimp. The dish only cost 25 baht. So, at that price they didn't give many shrimps. So we bought some fresh shrimp ourselves and fried these up for this dish and the other one further down this page. In Thai this dish is called "pad yod mapao on kung".
Pork Belly with Five Spices and Boiled Eggs (kai pa loh)
This is a dish that you often see in food markets though in my mind it doesn't look appetizing. However, I sometimes buy it for two reasons. Firstly it is not hot and spicy and so goes well when mixing with meals that contains curry's. It also lasts several days so you don't need to eat it all in one day. There seems to be two versions. Sometimes you see them in big enamel pots with mainly pork and tofu with a few hard boiled eggs. This one is the opposite and the main ingredient is the eggs hence the alternative name "kai pa loh". The other version would be "moo pa loh". The taste of the soup is very distinctive and probably the reason that I like eating it. It is also quite nice cold. To make it, the pork is fried in golden garlic together with cilantro root and five-spice powder. Once cooked, chicken stock is then poured in and to this is added soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar. The hardboiled eggs are added last. One bag of this was only 20 baht.
Seafood Tom Yum (tom yum talay)
This is the famous hot and sour soup called "tom yum" in Thai which I have written about before. I normally eat with shrimp or chicken. But this is a seafood version which, to be honest, I am not so keen on. This dish cost less than $1 but we cheated a little and added a few of our own shrimps. You will find that although street food is often cheap, there isn't always a lot of meat. Sometimes, when we only have curry or soup left over, I will cook up some more meat the following day to add to whatever is left over.
Thai Dessert
We splashed out on dessert today though it was really worth it. This variety of sticky rice desserts was 40 baht from the market. It was topped with some coconut cream. I am sure I have talked about these deserts before in previous Thai food blogs. So, I won't go into any details now. But, I will do a special blog on Thai desserts in the near future as it is a popular subject. I just hope that I don't gain too much weight during the research! The things I have to do for thai-blogs.com! Before I forget, this meal cost a whopping 140 baht which is about $4. We will try and keep within budget next time.
Please post as comments any suggestions that you have for street food we could buy for next week's meal. If you have any questions, then please post them in our popular Thai Food Forums over at ThailandQA.com. We will be running a competition there soon to win a Thai cook book. This will be only for members so make sure you go and sign up today if you don't want to miss out on this competition.
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 03
By Richard Barrow
Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 18:12:13 Words: 656 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 5 feedbacks »
Hot and Sour Chicken Soup (tom yum gai)
This is now our third week of the Friday Lunchtime Thai Menu blog. Every Friday, we will be bringing you pictures of our meal in the Paknam Web office. Our budget is around 100 baht which is about $3 for all of us. The first dish was tom yum gai. This is a hot and sour soup with chicken. The famous one is with shrimp which I often order when taking guests to restaurants. The recipe is also similar to another of my favourite soups, tom kha gai. Though the one today doesn't have any galangal (kha). Basically, you bring some chicken stock to the boil and add lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves. Then add the chicken and mushrooms. You season to taste with fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. At the end, add cherry tomatoes and the chilies. When you order tom yum at restaurants, you need to say what kind you want. The choice is either "nam sai" which is transparent soup or "nam kon" which is thick soup. I prefer the latter because they add coconut milk to thicken the soup. That is the version we had today. Very delicious and one of my favourites. At the roadside foodstall near my house, this cost only 20 baht. Down the market it might be 30-35 baht.
Deep Fried Spring Rolls (por pia tod)
This next one is really an appetizer. It cost only 20 baht for six rolls. The dip you can see is one of my favourites. It is hot and sweet and is the same one we use for fried chicken. There are so many dips (nam jim) that you have to be careful that you use the right one. The spring rolls we ate today had minced pork, shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, mushroom and mun bean noodle (woon sen).
Glutinous Rice Fingers (khanom niaw)
Our dessert today was sticky rice flour with shredded coconut. It is sweet as it has palm sugar and caramel. The topping is popped rice.
Som Tam Fruit Salad (som tam polamai)
I have saved the best for last. Off all the varieties of som tam, this is most definitely my favourite after som tam tai. Most som tam stalls will make this for you as long as they have fruit. Actually, I am not sure why they call it "tam" as it is not pounded in the bowl like its cousin. Anyway, this one contains apple, guava, rose apple, shredded unripe mango, shredded carrot and cherry tomato. And whole roasted peanuts. When you do takeaway, they put the fruit in one bag and the sauce in another. Then you just mix together when ready. This cost 50 baht which is more expensive than the regular som tam. The sauce was very sweet but sour at the same time. It contains, water, sugar, lime, salt, garlic and chili. Normally I find one chili is enough for fruit salad. This sauce also had some dried shrimp. I love this very much. It can be a meal in itself. You can either eat it by itself or with sticky rice.
So, what should we eat next week? We could go back to the som tam shop as they have 15 different versions. We could almost do one per week for the next few months! If you are in Paknam, go to "Som Tam Dontree". They have two branches. One opposite the courthouse and the other on Sailuad Road near Krungthep Bank. Both are very large shops with several floors. They are good for variety. However, I like my som tam seller at the top of my soi for eating som tam thai. We have three sellers in our soi but he is the best. If you have any suggetions for next week's lunchtime menu, then please post them as a comment. If you have any questions about Thai food, then please visit our popular Thai Food Forums.
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Lunchtime Thai Menu 02
By Richard Barrow
Fri Jan 11, 2008 at 19:03:51 Words: 655 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 7 feedbacks »
Red Curry with Pork (gaeng pet mooo)
This is the continuation of my weekly Lunchtime Thai Menu. Every Friday I will be bringing you pictures of what we are eating in the Paknam Web office. My main purpose here, apart from trying to make you feel hungry, is to show what splendid meals you can have on the side of the road. Yes, that is correct, all of the dishes so far have been bought at stalls by the side of the road. Our budget for four people is about 100 baht which works out at about 75 cents each. As you can see, I am very generous when it comes to splashing out on food for the office staff! Last week we came in under budget at only 80 baht for the entire meal which was about $2.40 for four people.
The first dish is one of my all time favourites. I always like to have a coconut based curry in my meals. This one is red curry with pork. You can also choose, beef, chicken or fish. However, I really love with roast duck which is more expensive. This version also has plum tomatoes and pineapple. Unfortunately it is doubtful you will find this one for 20 baht by the side of the road.
Fried Mackerel with Shrimp Paste Sauce (nam prik kapi pla too)
This is a favourtie dish of Thai people. I live in a fishing town so it is readily available. The fish is pre-cooked and you just choose which vegetables you want and also the kind of sauce to go with it. Personally I am not too keen on fish and so this is not a favourite. I know plenty of Thai people who will eat just this for a meal.
Tom Yum with Banana Flower and Snake Head Fish
This is a variation of the popular tom yum spicy soup. I had Tom Yum with shrimp last night which is my absolute favourite. This is a different recipe. This has a bit of coconut milk though not as much as say tom kha gai. At first I thought the white pieces was shiitake mushrooms that had been sliced up. But this dish uses the banana blossom. In addition there is snake head fish. To be honest I didn't care for it much, but the others liked it.
Fried Mushroom and Pork in Oyster Sauce
This is quite a plain and easy dish to make that contains fried pork, button mushrooms and carrot and cooked in oyster sauce. There are so many variations of this dish. Do you like the sun rays affect with the shredded carrot? The staff are really getting into the swing of this food blog. Even though the food is ready made, we take a long time preparing the dishes for display and then photographing before we can even think about sitting down to eat! Good job there isn't much washing up to do at the end!
Omelette
The final one was an extra dish of omelette. For today's menu we actually went over budget as we had one extra guest visiting. So we broke the bank a little and spent a whopping $4.25 for the five of us. But, that is a considerable saving when you compare to how much a similar meal costs in a restaurant. Last night I went with some friends to a restaurant at "Bangsaen 2" by the Gulf of Thailand here in Samut Prakan. There was four of us and with four dishes, fried rice and beer it cost me 890 baht or $26. Obviously I don't want to spend that kind of money too often. And living in Thailand, you really don't need to spend a fortune to eat a King's meal. Just eat by the side of the road for some of the cheapest and most delicious meals in the Kingdom.
Come back next Friday to see what we will eat for our weekly Thai lunch!
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By Richard Barrow
Fri Jan 4, 2008 at 22:44:38 Words: 259 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 4 feedbacks »
Chicken and Bamboo Shoot in Yellow Curry
Every Friday from now onwards I will be working in the Paknam Web office instead of the school. So I thought I would share with you what we eat at lunchtime every week! Well, at least some pictures. I have had so many letters from people asking whether I would restart my Thai food blogs again. So, hopefully this will be the first of a regular series of food blogs. The first dish on the table was a variation of my favourite. I like chicken and bamboo shoots in green curry a lot. However this is a yellow version using turmeric powder.
Snake Head Fish with Fried Black Pepper
You can use just about any fish in this dish. as well as the fried black pepper, there is red chili and onions. You can also use red and green peppers.
Stir Fried Vegetable with Prawn
Always a good idea to have a dish of stir-fried vegetables. This one comes with fresh shrimp. So many variations. To get the bright colours, a good tip is to dip into boiling water for one minute before stir frying.
Fried Mushroom with Bean curd
The final dish is vegetarian and is a mixture of bean curd and mushrooms. There are several stir fried dishes that use bean curd and they are quite easy to cook yourself.
A very delicious meal. Now, I wonder what we will buy for our lunch next Friday. If you want to know, then just visit thai-blogs.com next Friday to see!
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Thai Miniature Candy
By Richard Barrow
Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 19:06:17 Words: 180 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 4 feedbacks »
When I was younger, I used to make miniature models from marzipan which could then be eaten. If you have been to Thailand then you may have seen the Thai version of marzipan. These candies are very glossy and use very bright colours. In Thai it is called khanom look chup. As you can see from this picture, they often make miniature vegetables - chili being a popular choice. They also do miniature animals. This is made by mixing mung beans with coconut milk and sugar. It is then cooked on a low heat until it becomes dry and you are able to mold it. After the sculpture is done, it is pinned to some foam with a tooth pick so that it can now be painted. To get the glossy effect, this is then dipped into a mixture of agar powder, sugar and jasmine water. This is a gelling agent. The sculpture is dipped into this solution at least three times to make a firm out layer. At this stall, a selection will cost you 40 baht which is about US$1.
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Or Tor Kor Fresh Food Market
By Richard Barrow
Tue Aug 1, 2006 at 23:32:54 Words: 339 words Category: Bangkok 5 feedbacks »
At the weekend I finally managed to find time to visit the Or Tor Kor Market which is opposite the southern entrance to Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok. I had heard some good things about this market and wanted to go and see for myself. I also wanted to get some more pictures for the photo album at enjoythaifood.com. The market is run by the Agricultural Market Organization (that is what the Thai initials Or Tor Kor stand for) and has recently had a makeover. The area is spacious and clean, and more importantly for photographers, it is bright. If you are looking for an easily accessible market in Bangkok then this one would be a great introduction. It has all the usual stalls of vegetables, seafood, meat, fruit and other products such as dried shrimp which probably came from the market I visited in Samut Songkhram. At one end of the market you will find a food court where you can buy ready made food such as the curries shown in the picture below. The are also a number of stalls selling Thai desserts which I just couldn’t resist. In fact we bought a lot of food.
We went to the market by car. It is very easy to find. We followed the sky train route up Phahon Yothin Road towards Chatuchak Market. We then turned left onto Kamphaenphet Road shortly after Saphan Kwai BTS station. The entrance to the market is just on the left. The easiest way for tourists to arrive is by the underground train. The Kamphaenphet MRTA exit (number 3) is literally by the front gate. If you are coming by Sky Train, then get off at Saphan Kwai BTS station and then you have a further ten minutes walk up the road and then turn left at the intersection. If you are here at the weekend then you can cross the road to the Weekend Market for a bit of shopping. Plenty of things to photograph here.
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The Thai Mealtime
By Richard Barrow
Mon Jul 24, 2006 at 22:40:36 Words: 283 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 2 feedbacks »
The following description of a Thai mealtime was written in the 1850’s by Monsignor Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix:
The Thai take all their meals seated on a mat or carpet. The dishes are enclosed in great bronze vases with a lid in a conical shape and adorned with red cloth. The dishes are cut in small pieces and the rice is placed aside and to the right in a great, widening bowl. On the left side, there is a basin with water in which floats another small basin to drink. The diners have neither spoons, nor forks, nor knives. They only use a mother-of-pearl spoon to take from the plates. For all the rest, fingers are sufficient for them. Only when they are satisfied do they drink pure water or a cup of tea. Drinking from the same bowl or cup is not shocking to them. Among the rich people, the husband usually eats before his wife who serves him at the table.The Princes and the King are only different from their subjects by the richness of the cutlery and the variety of dishes.
The dining hour is, so to speak, sacred for the Thai. One never bothers somebody who is eating; even masters themselves watch out not to interrupt the meal of their slaves. The time of a meal is also a time for silence. Even if one is with ten or twenty people to eat together, one barely hears a few words escape one or the other, so deeply engrossed are they in their business! Thus, their meals take only about a quarter of an hour. One must also remark that they never drink before or during a meal, only afterwards.
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How to Order Thai Food
By Richard Barrow
Fri Jul 21, 2006 at 23:16:27 Words: 140 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 3 feedbacks »
When people come to Thailand, one of the first things they want to do is to eat some genuine Thai food. The best place to do this is on the street. However, these places only have menus and signs in Thai and the vendors don’t speak any English. Of course, you could try and point to what you want to eat. But, what is that meat on the stick? Is it pork, chicken, beef or even crocodile? To help you order Thai food, we have started to do a series of illustrated articles on what words you need to use for each food stall. I have hundreds of pictures in my photo library of Thai food. When finished, this should prove to be very useful.
How to Order Thai Food
Thai Food Photo Album (over 800 pictures)
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Grilled Thai Chicken
By Richard Barrow
Thu Jul 13, 2006 at 23:27:31 Words: 74 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 2 feedbacks »
One of my favourite street food stalls in Thailand has to be grilled chicken (gai yaang). You sometimes see the chicken being grilled over a charcoal fire next to a som tam stall. The two go well together. With perhaps some sticky rice as well. You can see the guy here marinating the chicken with some yellow looking liquid. Each vendor uses their own secret ingredients. Here they are probably using some turmeric.
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Fried Durian
By Richard Barrow
Mon May 29, 2006 at 22:39:26 Words: 345 words Category: Enjoy Thai Food 8 feedbacks »
One of the most famous fruits in Thailand is the Durian. It is widely known as the “king of fruit” and you will either love it or hate it. It is a large fruit with a spiky casing which could so easily be used as a lethal weapon. However, it is the smell which some people say is more dangerous. Many hotels and taxis ban this fruit that many people say smells like an open sewer. Personally, I don’t care for it much. I must admit it is the smell the puts me off the most. I would prefer to eat something with a pleasant aroma. However, I love eating fried durian which you can see being prepared in the above picture. The durian is sliced thinly like potato chips (crisps) and then either fried or roasted or even both. The small bag of fried durian you can see in the picture costs 100 baht. I bought some on my recent trip to Rayong. This area of Thailand produces the majority of the durians in the country. If you don’t fancy eating the smelly fruit then try this fried version. It is very addictive, so one packet won’t be enough!
Here are some facts about the durian:
The Thai people call it “turian” instead of “durian”
Over 670,000 tonnes was produced in the first half of this year
Chantaburi, Rayong and Trat produce 56% of the country’s total production. The remainder comes from the south.
In the first quarter of this year, 16,200 tonnes was exported.
In 2004 several people died after eating excessive amounts of durian prompting the government to release health warnings
People are advised not to eat durian and consume alcohol at the same time
A 2 kilogramme durian contains nearly 1,000 calories
The best advice is to eat some mangosteen after eating durian.
If you are interested in Thai Street Food, then don't forget to read the archives at http://www.enjoythaifood.com. Now over 1000 sound clips and an equal number of food pictures!
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