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 for less than $4. Now, I wonder what we will buy for our lunch next Friday. If you want to know, then just come back next Friday to see! All of the food seen here was bought in Paknam at stalls on the street.
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.
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.
Every Friday from now onwards I will be sharing with you what we eat at lunchtime! Well, at least some pictures. I have had so many letters from people asking if we can feature some of the street food from Paknam. So, hopefully this will be the first of a regular series of food blogs showing some of the cheap and delicious food that we can buy here. 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.
ฝอยทอง
It is not often that I get a chance to see Thai desserts being made in person. So, I was particularly thrilled at the weekend to see some demonstrations of how to make a few of my favourite Thai sweets. The one I want to show you today is called Golden Threads, or foi thong in Thai. It is not strictly speaking a Thai dessert as it was believed to have been introduced by the Portuguese over 400 years ago. However, the Thai have made it their own now. The basic ingredient is egg yolk which is gently cooked in a syrup of water and sugar.
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It all looks quite easy to make but I am sure you need to practice a lot to get it just right. First the eggs are separated and then the yolks are beaten in a bowl. This is then placed in the refrigerator until it is needed. A syrup is then made with a mixture of sugar and perfumed water. This is done in a large wok. The egg yolks are then put into a funnel with two small holes at the bottom. This is then swung above the wok in a circular motion.
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As soon as the egg yolk hits the hot syrup it starts to cook. It only takes about 1 minute before it is ready. The lady then used a knife to cut the strands in four places. She then used what looked like knitting needles to collect these threads. She then dipped them into another syrup solution which gave it a gleam and then placed it on the tray. A very interesting dessert indeed.
raat naa
One of the first Thai meals I really enjoyed when I came to Thailand was this one - rat naa. It not only tasted good but the name was memorable too. I remember writing home and telling people that I had eaten a Thai dish made from rat (I was young back then). And not forgeting of course the other delicious meal made from cow pat (khao pat). Anyway, this meal is basically noodles served with a thick gravy containing kale (Chinese broccoli) and pork. However, I once had a version with seafood. The type of noodles is up to you. In the picture above you can see that I chose sen yai (the wide noodles). But, I sometimes have mee grob (deep fried noodles) with this dish to make a change. You can see that noodle in the picture below.
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The recipe for rat naa varies a lot so some people, like myself, will cross town just to find the perfect version. Actually, I don't have to travel far as my local rat naa food shop is at the top of Tetsaban 4 Road where my school is located. It is easy to tell this is a popular shop as there is always a line of Thai people waiting to buy. There are two shops in my soi that cook rat naa. They are Ok but not perfect. So, I have to cross Sukhumwit Road to buy my noodles in gravy. A word of warning, if you go to my favourite shop then make sure you are very hungry. A normal serving costing only 25 baht will easily fill a big bowl. They give you a lot of gravy unlike other shops. For an extra 5 baht you can order special but don't do that unless you can eat for two people!
The recipe for rat naa that I want to share with you today is for food shops. The ingredients here are enough for 40 plates and apparently will only cost you 150-200 baht.
The main ingredients are:
Mix the pork with the light soy sauce, ground pepper and one tablespoon of sugar cane. Leave to marinate for one hour. Mix together the noodles and dark soy sauce. Add one tablespoon of oil to a wok. Once it is hot, add the noodles and fry until it is ready. Take out and place on a plate. Add the remainder of the oil to the wok. When it is hot, add the garlic and fry until it is fragant. Add the fermented soybeans and stir as you fry. Add the sliced pork and fry for a little longer. Then add the kale and stock. Season with sugar cane and fish sauce and give it a good stir. When it is boiling, add the corn flour which has been mixed with water. When it is ready, serve.
One thing that you should know is that when you add the fish sauce, the dish may develop a strong smell. Don't worry. The smell does not reflect the taste at all.
2 tablespoons toasted rice
½ lime
1 teaspoon ground dried chili pepper
2 green onion, sliced
1 teaspoon fish sauce
½ bottle bamboo shoots
The bamboo shoots for this dish come is a bottle or jar that indicates bamboo shoots in/with bai yanang leaves. The shoots are partially shredded. But you will need to shred it all the way through to produce independent strands. Boil the shredded bamboo shoots in water or its juice. Remove from heat after boiled.
Add sliced green onion, fish sauce, ground dried chili pepper, lime juice and half of ground toasted rice. Mix well and place on a serving plate. Sprinkle the rest of the ground toasted rice.
Add more chili pepper, if you like it hot. If you find that you overseason the dish, add more ground toasted rice to tone down the seasonings.
Serve with sticky rice.
