Scientific name: Lactuca sativa Linn. This Lettuce is always present in Thai cooking. We usually eat them with other vegetables with the Spring Rolls or Laab. We can also add them in the noodle soup with bean sprouts. We need lettuce in the most common dish like green salad or joining the other vegetables and Read more…
This is one of the greatest seafood dishes I can make with the short time and little ingredients or hassles. The Garlic and Chilli and sweet basil compliment the aroma, while the roasted Thai Chilli Paste ( or Nam Prig pao) with its spice, will excellently execute this most wonderful dish that I only need Read more…
This Gaeng Pa is one of the spiciest curries there is. It’s not only chili hot from the curry paste, but also the spiciness from the wild ginger, green pepper and also the holy Basil. Sometimes I am keen on the spices and I will make this one. But you don’t have to worry; you Read more…
Scientific Name: Bassella alba Linn. In Thailand, this vegetable is known as the vegetable of rural people , because they grow wild as a green climbers. I learned to know about them after I finished my college. For some reason I was not aware of them in my childhood. Pak-Plang is how we call this Read more…
I have to confess this is my weakness and the only reason I could not become a vegetarian. I know it fat, but it taste so good, especially if you can marinate the meat overnight. This is how I marinate also chicken and pork shoulder for barbecuing and it’s always well consumed by my friends Read more…
This is another dish of spicy salad that you will also get from Papaya Salad Restaurants. We make similar salad from different base ingredients. It could be green papaya, cucumber,green mango, long green bean or others. This was my fast lunch. I had it with crispy omelet and steamed rice. You see, it is a Read more…
I was in the supermarket and found this package of ingredients readily on the shelf. There are many different packages of ingredients for other dishes as well. Normally I would not care for this at all, but on second thought, I really want to try this out. The whole package includes all the ingredients, except Read more…
A friend of ours (an Indian chef) was telling me he was in love. Being married himself, I was in awe, but then he said, with Tom Kha. It turned out they were trying out Tom Kha for the first time. Originally he is the big fan of Tom Yam, now he seemed to have Read more…
This is the inexpensive mushroom that available all year round, even in winter. It is widely used in the Restaurants because they keep longer than Straw mushroom and they can replace each other in dishes. You will see them in Tom Yam or Tom Kha or in Stir-Fry with mixed Vegetables. People in the North-east Read more…
This eggplant is often use in many Thai dishes, either in Curry or spicy Stir-Fry with meat or joining the assorted fresh vegetables. They come in different colors, some a bit pale green and some darker shade of green. The important is the taste. The Thai eggplant taste a bit sweet when eaten fresh. Some Read more…
Scientific name: Eryngium foetidum Linn. This parsley looks very similar to the western parsley especially when they bloom, but they are a bit tougher; having stronger texture and their aroma is also a bit different from the western parley. We usually have them in small pot for the home consumption. It is easily grown and Read more…
Before Fish Sauce and Shrimp Paste could reach the rural area or distance provinces, the salty sauce that people used in salting their food is salt and this Pla-Ra. This Salty fermented fish is a kind of preservation that we use as the sauce for salting, for example in Green Papaya Salad. In North-eastern dishes Read more…
This is another North-eastern favorite dish of mine. This is the easier version that I had observed many people making,so I dare claim this is authentic. My friend who joins me for lunch told this taste like how her mother made it. Personally I think my grandmother’s version was best and even though I know Read more…
This drink is one of the greatest experiences we had in Kerala, South India. It was a welcome drink of a hotel we stayed in the Backwaters. After a long day of traveling, we reached our destination and this drink woke me up from all my tiredness. After I had this drink I feel awake Read more…
This is my favorite soup that I rarely get good one outside home that I considered good enough. This is an authentic procedure that I will sacrifice my time for it. This soup is what we made for a mother that had freshly given birth to a baby, because all the vitamins from the vegetables Read more…
Chinese celery is used often in Thai spicy Salad, in steaming with the fish and in the stew. The taste and smell of all different types of celeries are mostly similar to each other, but I feel the smell of Chinese celery is a bit more intensive. The bigger type of Celery has a little tougher Read more…
‘Ceylon Spinach’ is known as the vegetable of the rural people in Thailand. There are many rural dishes that use Ceylon spinach. Though I learned to know about this plant not too long ago, they are quite famous for their vitamins and their fiber content. The fiber content of ‘Ceylon spinach’ is good for cleansing Read more…
We usually buy coriander in small bunch. Sometimes the bunch includes other herbs like spring onion and mint. We can use all parts of coriander in cooking, both stalk and leaves are good in garnishing the dish. The roots are mixed with garlic and pepper is the use in marinate the meat for grill or Read more…
This Steam Pork Sausage is from the Vietnamese people. They have established themselves a few decades ago in many provinces in lower North-eastern Provinces in Thailand. Also in my town, there are some well known Vietnamese influenced Restaurants. This Steamed Pork Sausage had become well appreciated souvenir from this Province, Ubon Ratchatanee. This sausage is Read more…
Scientific name: Auricularia Auricula Judae This is funny looking mushroom. Thai people call them mouse ear mushroom. There are available both fresh and dried. If you bought them dried, before cooking you need to soak them in water until they are tender. We can use them in many different dishes. Most often you can see Read more…
One Member of the big bean family is this strange looking winged bean. Not only the pod is square-looking, but also the seeds inside are covered in the four angled capsules. Like most of the beans, the plant is short-live whine that need some support to climb on. They bear light violet flowers and bear Read more…
Another one of the important crops from the Northern Provinces of Thailand is Lychee. This fruit originated from Southern China more than a thousand years ago. It is believed that the Chinese Merchants brought this fruit to Siam in early Rattanagosin Period, app. 200 years ago. In earlier day, lychee is concentrated around Bangkok neighboring Read more…
This is a thick sauce made from Oyster, Soya Sauce, Sugar, Starch and other preservatives. We use oyster sauce in many dishes, especially all the quick Stir-Fry with Meat or Vegetables or in the creamy thick fried noodle sauce. Because there is starch in the mixture when you add oyster sauce in the quite watery Read more…
This is the sauce made from a kind of anchovy marinated with salt and fermented over the year in container. The fish meat and the salt made the flavor: fishy and salty and in the end the mixture will be filtered and blended. Fish Sauce is the basic ingredient in Thai cooking, like the Soya Read more…
In the olden days where there were no good connections between village and the town, no electricity or refrigerator and no supermarkets. Laab or mince meat salad was prepared only for the big family gatherings. For example the relatives came from far away to visit, to celebrate the end of the harvest season, the engagement, Read more…
Like onion, which is found in all the food cultures, spring onion also found in many many dishes in Thai cooking, except Curry. I love them added with Coriander to garnish the Laab or being sprinkled over the noodle soups or other dishes. We eat them fresh as vegetable or cook them with the meat/fish/chicken Read more…
This is how I love to eat the cowslip flower, in the clear soup with mince pork. This soup is very easy to make and you still have the original taste of this flower. It is well loved among the kids too because the flower turn soft easily in the soup and they taste a Read more…
This flower belongs to the fragrant and edible flower that grows in South-east Asia, China and India. The shiny green wine will climb on the fence with the heart shape leaves spreading around. Bloom in small green flower in a bunch and when they bloom the color will be a bit of yellowish green. You Read more…
This is the sweetest of the sweet fruits available in Thailand. Originally from Southern China, this Dragon Eye fruit (as the Chinese called them) are widely cultivated across Thailand, but the Northern Provinces seem to be the center for the farmers that cultivate longan. There are factories to process this fruit and export to China Read more…
This Beans Sauce or what I call salt beans is from the Chinese influence. The Chinese are great in preserving beans in many different ways that they get all the beans in the different taste and become many more different dishes and elaborate sauces and etc. One can do a lot with these beans sauces. Read more…
I think some of you will notice that I love shrimp as just how many shrimp dishes are there on this blog. Thailand is among the largest exporters of farmed shrimps – fresh, cooked, processed or frozen. It is fortunate or maybe unfortunate for me now that the price of these fresh shrimp is cheaper Read more…
There are big varieties of Soya Sauce available in the market. This one shown in the picture is my favorite brand that I use for seasoning i.e. as an ingredient. Others are for different purposes. This Soya sauce here is the so called light Chinese soya sauce. It’s a bit more salty than the black Read more…
This fruit is found in many countries across Asia. They are well loved, not only for their vitamins, but we also believe in their auspicious effects. For Example Chinese believe that Pomegranate is a sign of fertility, so they usually give this fruit as a wedding gift for the bride. In North-eastern Thailand it is Read more…
This is how I try to cook the mushroom in the healthy way: not too salty, not too fat, and not too spicy. Adding the whole chili without breaking them mean you can share this dish with a child. If you feel like eating a bit spicy you can take a bite to the chili. Read more…
This Dish looks similar to Stir-Fry Stink Bean with Shrimp, but it is not stinky or bitter at all! Fresh green winged beans are crispy and taste wonderful with the shrimps. This is another alternative of what you can do with winged beans. Hope you like it. Ingredients Serves 2 Notes Fresh winged Beans 2 Read more…
This salad has become a little hard to get nowadays in most Thai Restaurants, except a few authentic ones. The essential is the grilled long green eggplant. And that is the crucial taste here; it is the sweetness and a little burning smell of the eggplant that makes this dish so wonderful. The Salad Sauce Read more…
This is the first cultivated Mushroom that I learn to know because my family cultivated this mushroom when I was a child. At that time, we use the straw of the Rice plants soaked in water and then make a small bed of straw, add cow dung and the mushroom powder, cover the pile with Read more…
This long green bean could be cooked in many different dishes or we eat them fresh along with Laab or spicy papaya salad. I love to steam them with other vegetables with the marinated fish. My father usually grows them in his garden and for the better taste he will pick them only when they Read more…
One of the most common vegetable in Asian kitchens is this Morning Glory or some people call them water spinach. You will find them in Stir-Fry with oyster sauce, in noodle soup or along with other vegetables in the hot pot. Morning Glory is easily grown and available everywhere inexpensively. They are also famous for Read more…
This is one of the cultivated Japanese mushrooms that become popular in Thai kitchen a couple years ago. One of the reasons is the healthiness of the mushroom itself and the other is the taste that is similar to our beloved Hed-Pluag or termite mushroom. But because they are cultivated, we could get this Yanagi Read more…
This is another one of Japanese mushroom that I often use in cooking. I love their shiny white round needle caps. That is the reason why we call them Hed KhemThong in Thai ( Golden needle mushroom). This fine mushroom tastes sweet on its natural taste, but they will wilt so quickly, so no need Read more…
This is one of the best mushroom that could be found in the supermarkets first and after that in the fresh markets. This Mushroom was first introduced in Thailand by the Japanese Restaurants. The Japanese people usually fry them in butter, but we use them in many dishes, like soups or stir fry. Thai Farmers Read more…
This is the simplified version of Steamed Curry. We normally steam the mixture in banana leave’s folded as container. The base ingredient could be fish meat, seafood or pork, Shrimp is easier for me and this is my first time trying out this recipe and I have to say it is really easy and tastes Read more…
Even though we may not set up a grill in small apartment, that doesn’t stop me from cooking the food from my childhood. This is the simplified version of Mog Pla Gaew that we will wrap the ingredients in banana leave and grill. This is an easier version. I cook the fish and the herbs Read more…
One of the things I often make is this fish dip sauce for myself at home. I love to eat it with fresh vegetables and lot of hot steam rice. This is what we call poor people food because steamed small mackerel is, for a long time, considered food for the poor like eggs and Read more…
This is just to show you how we fry this steamed mackerel that we would give to the children with steamed rice for a meal. We also will eat this fry with Shrimp paste, along with vegetables or we can use them later for making various dishes. You can keep this steam mackerel for about Read more…
There are a few different types of cucumbers in Thailand. This one is the most favorable one that we use most often. You can find them in Sweet and Sour Stir-Fry, stuffed with mince meat in a clear soup dish. We also eat them fresh in Dip Sauce with other vegetable.
One of the Basil leaves, found in Thai kitchen, which easily found anywhere either in fresh markets or supermarkets. The Aroma of this basil will be very special that you will either love it or hate it. This basil will be use in a lot in North-eastern food. In Central Thai food, you will see Read more…
This is one of the most popular dishes in Thailand because you can get this papaya salad anywhere in Thailand, North, West, East or South. Originally from Isaan or Northeast this dish has become favourite Thai dish for people around the globe and here is the easiest way to make it. There are many other Read more…
Pak Ga Yaeng – ผักขะแยง ผักกะแยง ผักพา
Scientific Name: Limophila aromatic (Lamk) Merr. I wonder how many people on the street of Bangkok will know about this leaves. Yes, if one knows, he or she will surely come from the north or North-east of Thailand. Because this plant will grow on the rice fields in rainy season and die when the harvest Read more…