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.

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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!

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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”. [...]

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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! [...]

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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! [...]

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