People often ask me what I eat for breakfast and whether it is the same as Thai people. For myself, I cannot eat anything spicy for breakfast. It is just too early in the day. I much prefer to eat a breakfast that I grew up on. That is egg and bacon on toast or corn flakes. Also, some marmalade or marmite on toast and a cup of coffee. Maybe a glass of orange juice too. I know some Thai people that just eat whatever was left over from the night before. However, a traditional breakfast dish in Thailand is "johk" ( โจ้ก ). This is a thick rice soup with pork. In the above picture you can see that a bowl costs only 20 baht (50 cents) and that it costs an extra 5 baht for an egg.

This rice soup is quite similar to another one called Khao Tom. But, the latter is more of a soup, whereas johk is closer to porridge. The rice is cooked in chicken broth (above left). At this stall, you can see that she has prepared the mince pork already, shaping it into balls and cooking it in boiling water for about five minutes. The rice is poured into a serving bowl and the pork balls added together with some liver and kidney. If you like she will also crack an egg into the soup which ends up being only partly cooked. Shredded ginger (bottom left) is added as garnish.

If you are Thai, maybe you would like to tell us what you eat for breakfast. I wonder what monks eat for breakfast? I'll have to ask Phra Nattawud.

I promised you a few weeks back that I will let you know about some of the cook books I have for cooking Thai food. Well, here is my first selection. Actually, the first one by David Thompson I don't have yet. I just this second ordered from amazon.com! I had seen it here in Thailand at Asia Books. But it was really expensive. Amazon has a 37% discount at the moment. As I was buying other books online I went for it. It is not your usual cook book, but over its 672 pages it does go into great detail about Thai food. It is the ideal book for people who are serious about Thai cooking.

Two other books I use a lot are "Thailand: The Beautiful Cookbook" and "It Rains Fishes". This is mainly because they don't just give recipes. There is a lot of background writing about each of the recipes selected. The former book is probably more of a coffee table book as it is quite large! My other well read book here is the paperback size book from Lonely Planet called "World Food Thailand". Again, this goes a long way to helping you appreciate food in Thailand. Although it has some recipes, it is not really a cook book. Treat it like a guidebook to Thai food!

Don't you just love living in Thailand? Well, I do! I actually feel sorry for the people who enjoy Thai food but don't live here. Not only is it possible to get some of the best food in the world just around the corner, but we also get it delivered to the front door! A couple of weeks ago, I told you about the Ice-Cream in a Bun guy that announces his arrival with the ringing of his small bell. This afternoon I had a visit from the lady that sells khanom thuay which is called "steamed pandanus cake" in English.

In the picture above, the hawker is scooping the cakes out of the porcelain cups onto a tray. You can just see that the cake (more like a jelly) consists of two distinct layers. The green bottom layer is made up of rice flour mixed with some mung bean flour, pandanus juice, sugar and coconut milk. The white topping is made from rice flour, salt and coconut cream. It is the pandanus juice that gives this cake its distinctive colour. The green leaves are blended with water and then the resulting green juice is strained out.

The bottom layer of this cake is cooked first in a steamer for about five minutes. Then the top layer is added and then steamed for another five minutes. It is then left to cool before serving. This great snack only costs 10 baht for a tray. I wonder who will come down our little lane tomorrow?

I was walking through Paknam Market this afternoon when I came across a hawker selling moo sateh, otherwise known in English as Pork Satay. I love this snack though I must admit that, for me, the main attraction is the sauce!

If you want, you can also buy satay beef or satay chicken, but in Paknam Market they only seem to sell satay pork. You might be wondering at this stage why the pork has a yellow tinge. Well, that is to do with the turmeric. Actually, turmeric is a deep orange colour originally, but it turns curries, soups and some rice dishes yellow when cooked with them.

In this case, the cook pounds together galangal, lemon grass and turmeric until it is a fine paste. (You might remember the first two ingredients from the Tom Kha Gai (chicken coconut soup) recipe that I talked about the other week.) Other ingredients are then added which include roasted coriander seed, roasted cumin seed, ground pepper, salt and the ever present sugar. Then it is mixed in with the pork and left to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

There is now one sauce and one relish to prepare. You can see these in the photograph below. On the left hand side are the ingredients for the cucumber relish. This is made up of (from top left) cucumber, shallots, chili and a generous amount of vinegar. This vinegar has been pre-cooked with a pinch of salt and a generous helping of our friend sugar until the latter two dissolve. This is then left to cool.

On the right of this picture is a bowl of the very delicious satay sauce. This is also prepared in advance before the hawker sets up her stand. This is made with coconut milk, red curry paste and ground roast peanut. This is cooked together and then seasoned with sugar (again) tamarind juice and salt. (You probably guessed by now that Thai people have a sweet tooth!)

I love this dish, however, the only problem is deciding whether it is a snack or a meal! If it is the latter than it should be on my Top 10 Thai Street Food list (see one of the first drafts here.) Anyway, it is very cheap. It only costs 2 baht for each stick. The next time you are in Thailand, don't forget to try some.

Every country has their own Old Wive's Tales. A list of things you shouldn't do. Thailand is no exception. Some of these seem crazy on the surface but most have hidden good reasons. You will still hear some of these being said today in some Thai families.

* Don't eat a double banana because if you are a woman you will give birth to twins.
* Don't eat before your elders because in your next life you will be born as a dog.
* Don't eat food without rice because you will get rickets.
* Don't eat salt under a tree because it will make the tree die.
* Don't eat other people's food without permission because it will make your throat swollen.
* Don't eat the leftovers from your child because it will make the kid naughty.
* Don't eat before a monk because you will become a bad ghost.
* Don't eat corn when you have the flu because it will give you a higher fever.
* Don't eat all of the rice during your evening meal because you should leave some for the elves.
* Don't eat cold rice with hot rice because you will lose your way easily the next time you go out.
* Don't eat egg when you have cut yourself because it will make it worse.
* Don't eat chicken feet because it will give you bad handwriting.
* Don't eat chili sauce in the mortar bowl because if you are a woman you will give birth to a child with big lips.
* Don't eat turtles because it will make you walk slowly.
* Don't eat dog because the dog's spirit will possess you.

There will be more to come over the coming weeks.

Source: Translated from "Boran Oo-bai" by Sanom Krutmeuang

I know a lot of the readers of these blogs love Thai food so I decided to treat you to some pictures of food I eat here in Thailand. I was at a restaurant last night called Paknam Seafood Restaurant. It is just around the corner from us on Sukhumwit Road. There were four of us, so we ordered five different dishes:

ผัดผักรวมมิตร - pat pak ruam mit
stir-fried vegetables

I always order a stir-fried vegetable dish. This goes with most dishes. It is quite easy to cook. I do a version of this at home a lot. In this dish, there is kale, baby sweetcorn, spring onion, carrots and mushrooms. It is probably advisable to pre-cook the kale in hot water first. Then heat up a wok and fry the garlic until golden brown. Add the vegetables. Season with oyster sauce, sugar, pepper and salt. Very simple but effective.

ไก่ผัดเม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานต์ - gai pat met ma-muang him-ma-paan
fried chicken with cashew nuts

I quite often order this dish. It is very delicious. You can see in the picture above that the chicken is deep fried and crispy. Other restaurants just lightly fry the chicken. To cook, fry some garlic in the wok until golden brown. Add the chicken. Like any Thai dish, make sure it is already cut bite sized because Thai people don't use knives when eating. After the chicken is cooked, add onion, cashew nuts, fried dry chilis, and one green pepper (or red pepper if you like). Season with fish sauce, dark soy sauce and salt.

ปลาหมึกผัดไข่เค็ม - bla-meuk pat kai kem
stir-fried squid with salted egg

This is the first time I have eaten this dish so I don't really have much to say. It was my guest's choice. As you can see, there is squid, red chilil, green pepper and carrot. And of course salted egg!

ต้มยำกุ้ง - tom yam gung
lemon grass soup with prawns

This hot and sour prawn soup is always a favourite. However, I think it is safe to say that every restaurant I have been to use a very different recipe. Some of them are clear soup, others white, and as you can see, this one is red. I like it hot and spicey. The main ingredients are prawns, mushrooms, red chilies, coconut flesh, galangal (related to ginger family), lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, and is seasoned with fish sauce and lime juice.

แกงเขียวหวานไก่ - gaeng kiaw waan gai
green curry with chicken

This is green curry with chicken but you can have pork or beef. Just tell them what meat you want to add. Apart from the green curry paste and coconut milk, the main ingredients are eggplants, red chilies, kaffir lime leaves, sweet basil leaf and seasoned with fish sauce and palm sugar.

Firmly in my Top 10 for Thai Street Food is Pad Thai, otherwise known as Thai fried noodles. The ingredients that make up this dish include: egg, beansprouts, dried shrimp, garlic, tofu, salted Chinese radish and crushed peanuts.

You can find pad thai being made almost anywhere. However, be warned. The recipe does vary. Try to avoid the pad thai that has been "mass produced" and is seen for sale for only 10 baht at temple fairs and places like Khao San Road. For best results, watch it being made fresh. The pad thai stand around the corner from me opens at about 5 p.m. and is open until late. A large plate from her costs 20 baht (see picture above). An extra sized helping (called pi-set in Thai) costs only 5 baht more.

In the above picture, you can see the ingredients waiting to be added. From left to right: tofu (beancurd), dried shrimp and salted Chinese raddish/turnip. At the back, in the plastic bag, you can see the rice noodles.

First to be added to the wok are the noodles. These are stir-fried for a few minutes. Next is added the dried shrimp, tofu and minced Chinese raddish. Again this is mixed and stir-fried for a few minutes.

The ingredients are now pushed to one side and an egg is cracked into the wok. She cooked the egg for a minute or so before breaking it up and mixing it in with the noodles. Finally a sprinkling of chopped chives and a generous layer of breansprouts are placed on top. This is not mixed in with the noodles. It is now ready to serve. The finally layer is the ground roasted peanuts. She placed all of this into a container with some spring onions, half a lime and a little plastic bag containing chili and sugar.

Although pad thai is cooked just about everywhere, people will cross to the other side of town just to get their favourite recipe. My favourite is on Taiban roundabout. Very delicious and worth the extra effort to cross town. It is easy to spot the more popular hawkers as there is always a long queue!

I have never attempted to cook this dish as it is so readily available. However, here is the recipe if you want to have a go at home:

Stir-Fried Thai Noodles Recipe

Ingredients:

8 oz (250 g) rice noodles (sen lek)
3 tablespoons oil
3 garlic cloves (kratiem), minced
1/4 cup dried shrimp/prawns
1/4 cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) fish sauce (nam pla)
1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) sugar
2 tablespoons tamarind juice (ma-kaam piag)
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup fried tofu
2 tablespoons dried unsalted turnip, cut into small pieces
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup 1-in (2.5-cm) lengths chopped chives
1/4 cup (2 oz/60 g) ground roasted peanuts
1 cup bean sprouts

Garnish:

1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/2 cup chopped chives
1/4 small banana blossom, cut into strips
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

How to cook:

1. Soak the rice noodles in cold water for 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet until hot, then add the oil. Add the garlic and dried shrimp, and stir-fry. Add the noodles and stir-fry until translucent. It may be necessary to reduce the heat if the mixture is cooking too quickly and the noodles stick.

3. Add the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind juice and paprika. Stir-fry the mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the tofu, turnip and egg.

4. Turn the heat to high and cook until the egg sets, stirring gently. Thoroughly combine the mixture, and continue cooking over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until most of the liquid is reduced.

5. Mix in the chives, peanuts and bean sprouts. Place on a serving dish, arrange the bean sprouts, chives, banana blossom and lime attractively and serve.

SERVES 4

Information from: "Thailand the Beautiful Cookbook".

I will write about my favourite cook books soon. I just bought a really nice one from Asia Books. I will try and find out whether it is available at amazon.com. In the meantime, you can visit the Thai Food archives at enjoythaifood.com.