Green curry with pork (แกงเขียวหวานหมู gaeng kieow-waan moo)

Fried bamboo shoots with egg (ผัดหน่อไม้ใส่ไข่ pat nor mai sai kai)

Chicken fried in garlic (ไก่กระเทียม gai gratiam)

Spicy Squid Soup (Tom yum pla meuk)

Fish curry (ข้าวแกงป่าปลาทรายขาว khao gaeng pa pla sai kao)

Vegetable soup with chicken (แกงจืดกะหล่ำไก่ gaeng jeut galam gai)

Deep fried fish cakes (ทอดมันปลา Tod man pla)

Vegetable soup with glass noodles (แกงจืดวุ้นเส้น gaeng jeut wunsen)

It is not always that easy ordering street food in Thailand. Even if you know what you want, you might find it difficult communicating with the cook. That is where these two new iPhone apps come in handy. They are Thai Food Flashcards ($2.99) and Thai Food Guide (99 Cents). Use these flashcards to decide what you want to eat and then show the picture to the owner of the food stall or restaurant to see if they can cook it for you. Follow the links for reviews and more information over at my iphone blog.

Spicy stirfried green beans (ผัดพริกถั่ว pat prik tua)

Sausages (ไส้กรอก sai grok)

Glass noodles with pork (อบวุ้นเส้นหมู ob wunsen moo)

Spicy pork salad (ลาบหมู laab moo)

Fried chicken on rice (ข้าวมัน ไก่ทอด khao man gai)

Stir fried pork with basil (กระเพราหมูสับ gra-prao moo sap)

Macaroni soup (มักกะโรนีน้ำมู)

Green Curry with squid stuffed with minced pork (แกงเขียวหวานปลาหมึกยัดไส้หมู gaeng kieow waan pla meuk yat sai moo)

Stir-fried vegetables (ผัดผักกะหล่ำปลี pat pak galam plee)

Fried spicy fish (ปลาดอรี่ราดพริก pla doree rat prik)

This is mussels fried in a batter with egg (hoi tod). It is very crispy which is the way I like it. Normally it is a bit gooey and undercooked. Best eaten with Sriracha spicy sauce. The shops that sell Hoi Tod often also cook Pad Thai.

If you enjoy eating Thai food like myself then you probably have dozens of Thai cook books at home. Another kind of book that I have is for Bangkok restaurant reviews. However, what I am most interested in these days is Thai Street Food. Luckily, there are a few good books out there on this subject. Most notably the beautiful book by David Thompson: Thai Street Food. I have already bought that massive book from amazon.com as well as another wonderful book called Bangkok’s Top 50 Street Food Stalls by Chawadee Nualkhair.

Although I love these two books, they are not exactly the kind of book that I have been hunting for. The former devotes a lot of space to recipes and the latter to restaurant reviews. What I have always wanted is the ultimate guide to Thai street food. I am sure other people feel the same. Most people only eat a rotation of about four or five different dishes. This is mainly because they are nervous about ordering something new or unknown. What has been desperately needed is a guide to buying street food.

Well, the wait is now over. Mark Wiens from eatingthaifood.com has just launched an extensive ebook called “The Eating Thai Food Guide” which you can download now from his website. I had already started writing and photographing my own Thai Street Food book. But, I think that Mark has done such a comprehensive and thorough book on how to order Thai street food that there is probably no longer a need for me to continue. I have been reading through his book the last few days and it has just about everything, if not more, of what I would have put in such a book.

Any good food guide must have pictures. And plenty of them. I am not talking about the studio shot pictures that we usually see in the cook books. I mean food pictures shot on location. The Eating Thai Food Guide is filled with colourful pictures on every page. Mark gives you a number of suggestions of meal combinations that you can order as well as information on individual dishes. He has also done pictorial lists of the most popular Thai street food as well as his own personal favourites. If you are an expat living in Thailand, a tourist visiting the Kingdom, or a foodie that has already fallen in love with Thai food, then I highly recommend that you download the Eating Thai Food Guide today. You won’t regret it.