Fruit Salad – Thai Girl Style

It has been (too) long since I updated my last post in Thailandmusings.com, and I think everyone probably wonders why Golf hasn’t posted her recipe anymore. “Where is Golf?”. Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

Chicken Tandoori – Thai Girl Style

Part of the population in Thailand is Muslim people…especially in Southern Thailand. In around where my high school is we have a lot of Muslim people who live there and when I was young one of my best friends was Muslim too. So that’s why make me used to Muslim food so much. Read more

Popularity: 15% [?]

Stir-fried Pumpkin with Egg & Pork

Hi Everyone!!!

Did you miss me? Sorry it took me so long to post again…since January I’ve been working overtime a lot so make me tired and no time to post anything at all. Now I’m back and will find Thai recipe for you guys and also talk about Thailand some more Golf style! Read more

Popularity: 21% [?]

Learn to Cook Thai Food at the Blue Elephant Cooking School

Bangkok is home to several cooking schools and if cooking is one of your hobbies or loves then it will be well worth it for you to check out one or more of the cooking schools. One of the top programs is the Blue Elephant Cooking School. One great benefit of taking a class with them is that they will pick you up and drop you back off at your hotel.

 

Located in the heart of Bangkok, opposite the Surasak Sky train station, the Blue Elephant Cooking School is housed in a stunning century old mansion where you will discover and experience the culinary wonders of Royal Thai Cuisine.

It takes just under four hours for the Blue Elephant Cooking School chefs to have you cooking like a pro. The restaurant has morning and afternoon cooking classes during which you will be taught to produce a four-course meal.

There are staff members on hand to avert disasters, and everyone graduates with a Blue Elephant certificate, souvenir apron and box of herbs to help demonstrate your new skills back home.

Itinerary

• You will be welcomed with a fresh Thai herbal drink and discuss with the chef the 4 course meal that will be prepared by you during the class.
• You, along with other members of the cooking group, will take a ride by Sky Train (Saphan Taksin) to the Bang Rak morning market. There is no market visit for the afternoon session.
• The instructor will advise and guide you in discovering and selecting Thai fruits and vegetables and the multicoloured spices!
• Then it is time to take a ride back to the Cooking School on the Sky Train.
• Arrive at the Cooking School where a refreshing drink and towel is waiting for you.
• You then move to the theory class, when the instructor will present a cookery demonstration of the dishes that you will have to prepare!
• Each student will receive a booklet with the recipes of the day.
• It is now time to roll up your sleeves and lay your hands onto the cooking utensils at the Practice Room.
• Each student has his own table and wok. Assisted by the instructor you will learn and experience the culinary technique of Thai cuisine.
• You will have to prepare four dishes.
• Now you can taste and enjoy your own culinary creation in a friendly Thai setting at the Blue Elephant Restaurant.
• The class will be followed by a meal in our delightful restaurant sampling your own cooking as well as additional Thai dishes.

Fortunately for me I am married to Golf and her Thai cooking is superb. If you love Thai food like I do then it is definitely worth your time to check out a cooking school like the Blue Elephant next time you’re in Bangkok. It’s something that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Popularity: 65% [?]

Som Tum or Som Tam (Thai Papaya Salad)

Som Tum or Som Tam according to Thai dictionary means a kind of Thai food salad made from fruits such as payaya etc. pounded and combined with ingredients, sour taste and for some locality calls “Tum Som”.

Som = orange or to have sour taste
Tum/Tam = to pound

Som Tum is a highly popular food for Thai people especially in northeastern Thailand (Issan). Som Tum is a Thai common central language but for Issan people they call Tam Buk Hoong because Buk hoong is the Lao/Issan word for papaya. Som Tum from Issan people have so many varieties because they will use so many kinds of vegetables or fruits for making Som Tum like papaya, yard-long beans, raw banana, banana blossom, star gooseberry, cucumber, pineapple, tamarind etc. Besides there are so much variety in Som Tum itself too like I’m going to give you some idea about them now.

Som Tum Thai – not add salted crab (Bpoo kem/Bpoo Dong) or pickled fish but add dried shrimp and roasted peanut instead. The taste will be more sweet and sour. Some people like to put salted crab into too so we call Som Tum Thai Sai Bpoo.

Som Tum Bpoo – add salted crab instead of dried shrimp and roasted peanut, get a little salty taste from salted crab.

Som Tum bpla-ra – add pickled fish instead of dried shrimp, very popular in Issan area.

Tam Sua – add Thai fermented rice vermicelli instead of papaya, this one also quite popular in Issan.

Som Tum Lao – add Thai olive

Other than that at the present some place also add another material like roast neck pork, horse crab or pickled mussel.

Som Tum is also just like the second main dish from sticky rice for Issan people, can eat every time and every meal. The one of common civilization of Issan people is if they’re making Som Tum they will call the neighborhood for joying. They have the word that say eat alone not so tasty like jointly with others.

In Thailand we will be able to find this Thai dish really easily because it is a very simply food and you can get it anywhere, either from restaurant or even vendor shop beside the street. It is held that Som Tum is the favourite food for everyone.

Traditionally Thai people will have Som Tum with sticky rice as a meal accompanied with vegetables and also roasted chicken (Gai Yang).

Som Tum is one of my favourite dish while I was in Thailand too. I don’t know why I didn’t crave for this dish so much while I’m here though. Maybe because I couldn’t find any place in here that they can make a good Som Tum just like when I got from Thailand. Or either I have to make it myself but you know every time I will end up disappointing myself…because I couldn’t make it so tasty like what I used to get in my motherland. It’s the right recipe, but just something not right or missing I don’t know why …maybe just not the same atmosphere I think. Anyway Richard and everyone I apologize if sometime in the future you will get to try the original Som Tum in Thailand that will have a better taste than my Som Tum recipe.

Som Tum Thai recipe (2 serving)
- 1/2 cup raw papaya, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup carrot, peeled and shredded
*or can use 1 whole cup of papaya but this one will get more varities and the color*
- 2 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in water and drain
- 3 yard-long beans, cut into 1 inch length
- 1 medium sized tomato, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 5-6 Thai hot chilies (Phrik Khee Nuu)
- 1 tbsp roasted peanut
- 3 tbsp palm sugar
- 3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp tamarind juice

Pound the chilies with garlic thoroughly in a mortar, follow with dried shrimp and pound again just for softly. Add yard-long beans, papaya, carrot into the mortar. Pound to be crushed.

Add tomato and roasted peanut, and use a pestle and a spoon help to mixed up together in the mortar.

Season to taste with palm sugar, Thai fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind juice into the mixture, stir well. This step you can try and see if anything you want to add more…some like more sweet, some like more sour.

And finally you will get Som Tum Thai serve with sticky rice (if you have) or can have like a snack with fresh vegetables like Chinese cabbage, cabbage, yard-long beans. Or some people will have it with roasted chicken and cool beer depending on your suitability.

Popularity: 25% [?]

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