Since Golf has started her own Thai food blog I don’t get the benefit of her writing here anymore (fortunately I still get the benefit of eating her cooking), so I haven’t had any new Thai recipes to share in quite a while. So I thought maybe I would bring back and oldie and a goodie. Everyone loves fried chicken and this Thai take on fried chicken is awesome. So if you’ve seen it before maybe you want to try it again and if you missed it before then here is your chance to add a great recipe to your arsenal.

Last time you’re already known the recipe for boil rice and this time I’m going to show you the recipe for everyone in your family. One of my favorite dish and it’s going to be one of your family favorite dish too. We call “Peek Gai todd” in Thai.

Peek Gai = chicken wing
Todd = fry

(2 servings)

• 10 chicken wings
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped garlic
• 1/3 cup Thai Rice Flour
• 3 tbsps Thai fish sauce
• 1 tbsp coriander root, chopped finely
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• * 1/2 tsp Thai seasoning powder (Rod dee) – you may skip *
• 4-5 cups cooking oil, for deep-frying

Cut the wings into halves and put in the big bowl. Pound coriander roots, garlic and pepper finely to obtain a smooth paste, add into the bowl with wings. Follow with rice flour, fish sauce, seasoning powder and mix well. Marinate the wings with all ingredients for 1/2 day or over night in the refrigerator (I usually let it sits for over night because it will get a great taste).
When you’re ready to fry please take the wings out from the refrigerator and let them sit in the room temperature for about 10 minutes. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot, deep-fry the wings until brown and cooked through (8-10 minutes). Remove from the oil and drain. Serve with rice or boil rice.

Everything in this recipe not that difficult to find and really easy to prepare, but just the only thing that I couldn’t find in here or either from Thai grocery’s online is Thai seasoning powder. You can try to find it in an ethnic grocery store such as Thai, Vietnamese or Chinese, but if you can’t find it then it’s ok to skip it.

Please drop me a comment if you try this recipe…I would be glad to share.

And before I leave, next Wednesday I will present how to the make the spicy dish “Neua Naam Tok” or spicy grilled beef. If you love spicy food you won’t want to miss it…

Popularity: 14% [?]

Continue Reading

Pad Thai is probably the most well known of all Thai foods. It is a mixture of noodles, meats and seasonings and is unlike any other noodle dish I have had. You can find it on almost any street in Bangkok and it’s very cheap to boot, usually costing about 20-25 baht per serving. It’s also fun just to watch the ladies make the Pad Thai, especially those in the Khao San Road area where everything seems to become a show.

Pad Thai is typically not made at home by Thai’s, but is rather a snack to be had when out shopping or running errands. This is Golf’s recipe taken from her experience living in Bangkok and brought to our American kitchen. I can attest that it is very similar to Pad Thai that I have had in Bangkok and the islands. Eat this right after making it as it does not seem to reheat well at all, the noodles become very dried out (though still delicious). I hope everyone that tries this enjoys it as much as I do and I hope even more that you get to have the real thing from a street vendor in Thailand some day.

Pad Thai (serves 2)
2 cups thin rice noodles, soaked for 5 minutes
1/4 cup (about 1 ounce) pork minced
5-6 med. shrimp, shelled and de-veined
1 egg
1 cup (4 ounces) bean sprouts
3 spring onions, chopped
1/2 TBS chopped shallot
1/2 TBS chopped garlic
1 1/2 TBS chopped salted Chinese radish (if can find)
1 tbsp (or more to taste) thai chilli powder
1/4 cup ground peanut (unsalted)
2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 TBS fish sauce
2 TBS tamarind juice or vinegar
2 TBS water
4 TBS cooking oil

1. Fry shallot and garlic in 2 TBS of oil over medium heat until fragrant (about 2 minutes).
2. Add noodles and water, stir until tender. Add sugar, fish sauce and tamarind juice to season. Stir everything together, then push the noodles to the side of the wok.
3. Add 1 TBS of oil to the same wok, add pork, prawns, salted Chinese radish, and chili powder. Saute until the pork and prawns are done, add noodles together and mix well, then push everything back to the side of the wok again.
4. Put the last 2 tbsp of oil into the wok, break the egg in and stir until done. Add noodle mixture to the egg and mix well, then add the bean sprouts and spring onion.
5. Stir until everything is done.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle peanuts on top. Serve immediately.

Let us know what you think and if you have questions please feel free to ask away, I’ll pass them along to Golf.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Continue Reading

I want to take a moment today to introduce Golf’s new Thai food blog – Awesome Thai Food. You may have seen some of her recipes posted here on Thailand Musings before and some of them have been very well received. Now that she is off work for the summer we both thought it was time for her to head off on her own with her awesome Thai recipes and so the new blog has been born.

You’ll notice there isn’t much content yet, but don’t let that discourage you. Golf has been working very diligently researching, writing recipes down and most importantly (from my perspective) cooking! Some very delicious dishes have been made over the past few weeks and all will be shared.

In addition to simple recipes there are great photos detailing the process of making each dish from beginning to end. And if that’s not enough, Golf will be adding not only recipes, but will be teaching about all the great local Thai ingredients from fruits and vegetables to herbs and spices.

So please, take a minute to head over to Awesome Thai Food and leave a comment there for Golf (she loves hearing from her readers) and subscribe to her feed so you won’t miss a single great recipe. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Continue Reading

Bangkok Street Food Offers Up Loads of Good Taste

If you love to eat and you’re headed for Bangkok then you’re in for a treat. Seriously, I’ve eaten all over the world and the street food in Bangkok is my choice for the best anywhere [...]

Popularity: 8% [?]

Continue Reading

Yesterday was my favorite day after I have to worked 6 days in a row and that includes working on the weekend too.
I really dislike working on the weekend, especially when you have to deal with stupid lazy people.
So I decided to treat myself and Steve on my day off with a special dish “Tom Yum Khoong”. [...]

Popularity: 9% [?]

Continue Reading

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?”. [...]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Continue Reading

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: 59% [?]

Continue Reading

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: 28% [?]

Continue Reading

I got to know a Thai girl who has lived here for 5 years. She invited us to her house which is 15 minutes away from our place. She cooked 3 dishes of Thai food for our lunch on that day. They’re fresh spring rolls (for an appetizer), Som Tum and also Thai beef Salad. We really enjoyed them and had a great time with her family.

Especially Thai Beef salad made me think about Thailand a lot. And surprise myself too that I didn’t think about this recipe at all until I got a chance to try from her place. It might be because of every time when I make grilled beef I will think about Neua Naam Tok only and didn’t realize that grilled beef can also make Thai beef salad too.

The recipe of Thai beef Salad is almost exactly the same as Neua Naam Tok. So if you’re the one who is crazy about Neua naam Tok just like us I’m pretty sure you will love Thai beef salad also.

Thai Beef Salad recipe
- 200 grams beef top round
- 7-10 Fresh Thai Chili (Phrik Khee Nuu) depending on how hot do you want…
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup coriander, coarsely sliced
- 1 tbsp spring onion, coarsely sliced
- 1 sweet onion, cut into wedge
- 1 medium sized tomato, sliced
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce
- 1/4 tsp sugar
fresh vegetables : lettuce, cabbage

Wash the beef and grill over medium heat until medium rare. Slice into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a mixing bowl. Pound finely Thai hot chilies and garlic and add them in the mixing bowel. Follow with sweet onion, tomato, coriander and spring onion.

Season to taste with Thai fish sauce, lime juice and sugar, toss well to combine. Arrange on a serving dish. Garnish with lettuce and cabbage and then serve.

Alright I hope you’re enjoy with Thai Beef salad and like I said take it easy with spicy taste. And will see you sometime this week with the recipe for Som Tum…make a reply for Richard who asked for this recipe. So Richard I will get back to you as soon as I can…see you!

Popularity: 29% [?]

Continue Reading

Thai food is known around the world as spicy beyond compare. My wife Golf has been kind enough to add to Thailand Musings by sharing her wonderful authentic Thai recipes with us and as a small thanks I am doing a Thai recipe roundup for her tonight. But not just any Thai recipe roundup, no these are the top 5 recipes rated in terms of hotness. I guarantee they will have you running for the water pitcher (unless of course you’re Thai).

The five recipes below are arranged from spiciest to most mild, but even the mild recipe will be spicy for most people. Recipes can be altered to some extent to make them more or less spicy by changing the amount of chili’s you add, but you run the risk of compromising the authentic Thai flavor.

Give them all a try and then come back to let us know what you thought. I know for me I was hardly able to eat Laab Gai 18 months ago and now I beg her to make it. Spicy food may be an acquired taste, but I think once you acquire that taste it becomes almost an addiction.

So, here they are without further ado…the top 5 Thai recipes hotter than global warming from Thailand Musings. I am not responsible for any pain you may experience through trying these recipes.

Laab Gai (Thai Spicy Chopped Chicken) – Thai’s have many variations of Laab, this one is made with chicken and is not for the faint of heart. Make sure you serve with plenty of rice and water.

Neua Naam Tok (Thai Spicy Grilled Beef) – One of my first and still favorite spicy Thai dishes this will knock you’re socks off. I love the combination of shallots and lemongrass with the chili and smoky flavor of the barbequed beef.

Naam Prik Ong (Thai Tomato Chili Sauce) – This is not meant to be eaten by itself, but should be served with white rice (preferably jasmine) and fresh vegetables such as cucumber or long beans.

Lon Dtao Jieow (Coconut Soup with Fermented Soybeans) – For those that like coconut (like me) this soup is great. Just be careful – if you breathe in while sipping this soup the chili aroma hits your lungs like a whiff of fire. Coughing is guaranteed to follow.

Khao Man Gai (Thai Steamed Rice with Chicken) – This recipes comes last as the most mild of the spicy dishes and if you make it as written it is pretty mild with just a slight kick. Of course you can always add more chili’s to kick it up a notch!

Thai Chili’s – This is not a recipe, but rather a short guide to Thai chili’s. Knowing a bit about what you’re eating sometimes enhances the eating experience.

Popularity: 47% [?]

Continue Reading

Because I’ve been working like crazy and now finally I’ve just have time for myself to post the Thai recipe now.

Khao Man Gai is one of the favourite dish for Thai people and when you’re there you can get this dish like 25-30 baht from many street vendors. When I was there I have 2 favourite Khao Man Gai places that sell awesome Khao Man Gai. Both of them are mostly like a vendor shop nearby the street. So if you’re not a Thai residence probably you won’t find them unless somebody tell you or take you there.

One was close to the apartment (in Rama IV Rd.) where I used to live while I worked at BNH. This one they open quite early in the morning and usually by 9-10 o’clock will be all gone. So if I wanted it I have to make sure I get up early enough. Another one is in Thanon Dinso (close to Sao Ching Cha) where I had my English class. This one I found unexpectedly but for the food is just like a top-flight restaurant.

They boil the chicken themselves, the chicken gets really tender and they also make a wonderful sauce. Everytime I was there I will order extra sauce. And for the sauce will cost like 5 baht for each small tiny bowl. Unfortunately in here I couldn’t find any Khao Man Gai even Thai restaurant in my town. That’s why I have to try and make Khao Man Gai myself in case I was craving it again! I think I did a pretty good job and if you follow my recipe you can have Khao Man Gai just like in Thailand.

Khao Man Gai Recipe ( 2 servings)
- 2 pieces chicken breast or thigh
- 1 1/2 cups Thai Jasmine Rice
- 3 crushed coriander roots
- 2 coriander roots
- 1 coriander plant, leave only
- 3 cloves crushed or pound garlic
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 4 cups of water
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 2 sping onion, finely sliced
- 1 slice of mature ginger (pound lightly)
- 1 tbsp mushroom flavored soy sauce

Khao Man Gai’s Sauce
- 4 tbsp fermented soybean
- 6 tbsp mushroom flavored soy sauce
- 4 tbsp vinegar
- 2 tbsp fresh hot chili (Prik khee nuu)
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp peeled garlic, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp mature ginger, finely chopped
- 2 coriander roots

- Wash chicken, wait until dry and sprinkle with salt all over.

- Place the chicken in a pot, add 4 cups of water, 3 crushed coriander roots, cook over medium heat. Wait until water starts to boil then add the ice cube 4-5 cubes(add everytime when the water starts to boil and all together will take about 30 minutes or so until the chicken done and cook thoroughly). And please make sure to skim off any broth to get the clear broth.

- When the chicken cooked well, take them out from the broth and paint the skin with vegetable oil (for protect from dry skin). De-bone and cut into thin slices. Strain the broth and set aside.

- Now we’re going to make rice. Wash the rice with water before cooking, rinse about 2-3 times, drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Saute garlic until fragrant and turns golden brown. Add the rice, 2 coriander roots, ground black pepper, stirring well and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer the rice to an electric rice cooker, pour 2 1/4 cup of chicken broth over the rice, add one piece pound lightly slice of ginger and cook until the rice is done.

- While waiting for the rice we can start making the sauce for Kao Mun Gai. Put all ingredients for the sauce except fermented soybean in the blending machine. Blend until everything is mixed thoroughly then stop, add fermented soybean and start blending again about 5 second. Serve with the chicken rice. This sauce has a combination taste of a little bit salty, sour and also sweet. And you can keep in the refrigerator about a month if you can’t eat it all at once meal.

- Normally I serve this dish with a chicken broth too. So you can just heat the broth until it starts to boil again. Add 1 tbsp mushroom flavored soy sauce and add finely sliced sping onion.

- Spoon the rice onto a serving dish, arrange the chicken slices at the side or on the top, garnish with coriander leave. Serve with the sauce, chicken broth and sliced cucumbers.

Alright I hope you enjoy with Khao Man Gai style Golf. Please let me know what you think about it by put some comment for this and will see you next time with Yum Neua – Thai Beef Salad.

Take care…

Popularity: 16% [?]

Continue Reading

Thai food is world renown for it’s diversity, excellence and flavor…not to mention it’s spiciness.  What many people do not know is that Thai food has not always been this way.  Prior to the 16^th century the food of the common people and royalty in old Siam consisted primarily of plain rice, fish and fresh vegetables.  So what is it that caused such a flavor explosion in Thai food?

Throughout most of Thailand’s history the Thai people had eaten their indigenous fruits and vegetables such as bananas, taro, sugar palm, mango and Thai oranges.  There were no domesticated animals up to the 17^th century, even though the pig had been domesticated in western Asia sometime around 6000 BC so any meats came from wild animals, fish and shellfish.

These meats were primarily grilled and food was cooked in clay pots.  There was no fried or stir fried dishes until the wok was introduced to Thailand from China in the 16^th century.  Primary dishes included yum (salads) and kruang jim (dips) which can still be seen as a mainstay in Thai cuisine today.  Spices were mostly added to food to mask gamy flavours from wild meats or bitterness from some vegetables.  In addition, fish was made into nam plaa (fish sauce) and kapi (fish paste) to add flavour to the plain foods.

All of this began to change in the 16^th century as the outside world discovered Siam and Ayutthaya became the commercial and political center of Asia.  At that time it seemed that all roads, both land and water based led to Thailand.  Traders and merchants came from all corners of the globe, beginning with nearby China, India and Malaysia, and later expanding to include travelers from Europe who arrived via the sea lanes.

As you can imagine these merchants and travelers brought with them the foods and cooking methods of their homelands, since many foods and spices were alien to Siam at that time.  Caravans would set up on the outside of Ayutthaya and sailors would be anchored in the river outside the city for months at a time waiting for the winds to turn and send them home.

As the merchants and sailors were cooking the foods of their homelands the delicious fragrances would be borne on the winds for all to smell and undoubtably drew the attention of the Thai’s.  One can imagine them asking about the wonderful smells and tasting new spices, fruits and vegetables from the visiting travelers.  And after tasting these intriguing new dishes they would logically ask about the recipe and ingredients.  Over time these new dishes would become incorporated into the Thai cuisine that we know and love today.

Northern routes brought the Chinese to Thailand and with them came tea, dried fruit, the wok and bamboo steamer, rice noodles and the concept of sweet and sour flavours together.  The Thai’s expanded that even more by including spicy and salty as well to form the current well known Thai dishes.  From the west came Indians, and later Europeans, carrying curries, coffee and spices.   Thailand’s nearby southern neighbors contributed betel nuts, satay and massaman while eastern Thailand was influenced by Lao cooking and less so by Vietnamese and Cambodian cooking.

 The arrival of the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese in the 17^th century created a huge impact on Thai foods.  Europeans brought the onion and shallot to Thailand which are now irreplaceable in Thai cuisine.  Merchants also brought garlic, peppercorns and chili’s which were surprisingly unknown in Thailand prior to this.  Other common Thai ingredients introduced at this time include lychees, papaya, watermelon, pineapples and cashews.

Europeans also introduced the white potato, corn and wheat to Siam at this time.  Along with the new foods, Europeans also brought new cooking tools and methods of preparation.  For example, the Portuguese and Indians introduced the addition of coconut milk to curries, which is now famous in Thailand and they also added tomato’s and eggplant.

Thai food is some of the most delicious and complex foods in the world.  Because of Thailand’s central location in Asia they were able to collect the best of the foods and cooking techniques of many lands and peoples.  They then took these as there own and made them uniquely Thai, combining sweet, salty, sour and spicy in sometimes amazing combinations to make some of the best tasting food one can find.  So next time you eat a Thai dish remember that it took many hundreds of years and the contributions of many lands to make Thai food what it is today…absolutely delicious!

Golf has already given us many of her Thai dishes to enjoy.  I’m wondering if there’s any specific Thai foods that you want to know how to make?  Or any recipes you can share with us.  Leave us a comment and let us know.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Continue Reading

Neua Naam Tok (Thai Spicy Grilled Beef) is really popular in the shops around roadside in Bangkok. And normally when Thai people order Som Tum (Papaya Salad), grilled chicken and sticky rice will have this dish beside along with them most of the time. Alright now I’m ready to present Neua Naam Tok recipe for you.

Neua Naam Tok Recipe

(Serves 2-3 people)

200-300 grams beef london broil or top round
1/4 cup coriander, coarsely sliced
1/4 cup spring onion, coarsely sliced
1/4 cup mint leaf, coarsely sliced
1/4 cup lemon grasses, thinly sliced
1/3 cup shallot, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Thai chilli powder
1 1/2 tbsp roasted Rice Powder
3 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce
4 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp seasoning powder(Rod Dee) or if you can’t find can use 1/4 tsp sugar
1 cucumber, sliced

Wash the beef and grill over medium heat until medium rare. Slice thinly into bite-sized pieces and transfer to a mixing bowl. Follow with coriander, spring onion, mint leaf, lemon grasses and shallots.
Season to taste with fish sauce, lime juice, seasoning powder(sugar) and chilli powder, toss well to combine. Add ground roasted rice and toss lightly again. Arrange on a serving dish and serve with cucumber sliced and rice.

Neua Naam Tok is the first favourite choice when me and Steve starve for spicy food. When I make this dish for both of us, Steve will ask me always “please put chilli powder more”. And of course for me definitely use chilli powder more than just 1 tbsp…And this will give you some idea if you’re the one who crazy about Thai spicy food, you can add as much as you want…

See you next Wednesday…with eggs menu! [...]

Popularity: 8% [?]

Continue Reading

Seems that on Monday in central London 3 streets were shut down and homes evacuated for 3 hours while police searched for a possible biological terror threat. The cause of this commotion? A Thai restaurant, the Thai Cottage in Soho, was burning chillies to make Nam Prik Pao.

Now if you’ve eaten Thai food before you know that the spiciness of some dishes is legendary. Lots of cold Singha or Chang is in order to cool the fiery heat of the Thai chillies. Nam Prik Pao is a dip made from chillies, garlic, shallot and shrimp paste. The chillies for Nam Prik Pao are deliberately burnt to release the oils and give the chillies a smoky flavor.

I’ve experienced this first hand when Golf makes Nam Prik Pao and can vouch for the fact that when you are first exposed to chillies being burnt it will make your throat, nose and eyes burn. The first time I cam home and she was making this a coughing fit immediately ensued and I thought my eyes would melt from their sockets. This was from a small handful of chili’s being burnt. The Thai Cottage was making 9 pounds of burnt chillies! No wonder the smell and smoke from these caused a bit of a commotion.

Maybe from now on I need to contact my neighbors and warn them before we make Nam Prik Pao. I certainly don’t want to be mistaken for a terrorist because of my spicy tastes

Popularity: 27% [?]

Continue Reading

As much as I love Thai food there was one dish that, when I first heard about it, had no draw for me at all. It’s kao tom – literally “rice soup” and also known as boiled rice by some. Yeah I know you’re thinking the same thing, boiled rice sounds sooooo appetizing.

So, it was with some trepidation and the image of a gruel like bland substance in my mind that I first went out with Golf in search of boiled rice.

And you know what? kao tom is NOT anything like what I would have imagined. Yes it is a soup, generally from chicken or pork stock, and it is full of rice, but it is so much more too.

Boiled rice is a combination of soup stock, rice, ground chicken or pork, coriander and (my favorite part) fried shallots. It is warm and filling and savory and even though the the Thai’s eat it for breakfast, but I’ve found it’s good anytime – morning, noon or night.

Golf has promised to share her boiled rice recipe here soon and I highly recommend you give it a try, it is fantastic!

Popularity: 34% [?]

Continue Reading