Sour and Spicy Mackerel

This is a continuation of our Friday Food blog. We are back after the holidays last week. Every week we bring you photos of the food that we are eating in the Paknam Web offices. If you didn't know, Paknam means "river mouth" in Thai and that is where we are located. Paknam in Samut Prakan is the point where the Chao Phraya River enters the Gulf of Thailand after meandering through Bangkok. The first on our menu today was a variation of our favourite "tom yum". As you probably know, this is more commonly eaten with shrimp though I also like the chicken version. The main ingredients are lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and shallots. To be honest I didn't eat this one as I am not keen on fish. The dish cost 30 baht which is just under US$1.

Northern Thai Noodle Curry Soup (khao soi)

This is one of my favourite dishes from Northern Thailand. I always eat when I go to Chiang Mai. There are some places here in Central Thailand where you can buy this noodle curry soup, but you might not find it to be as authentic. Whenever I go to book fairs at Queen Sirikit Convention Center I always buy khao soi in their fast food center. This one was bought on Srinakarin road about 15 minutes from my house. The noodles used are quite distinctive. They are a bit like egg noodles but more curly. They give you two versions - the soft boiled noodle inside the curry and the crispy fried one on top. This is a coconut curry mixed with a curry paste. This dish comes with pickled cabbage and shallots. This was 30 baht. Not the best I have had, but always welcome.

Spicy Roast Pork Slices (nam tok moo)

This is a popular dish from Isaan, the north-east of Thailand. The name "nam tok" means waterfall which refers to the juices that drip from the meat and is then used in the dish. You can either get beef or pork. The meat is mixed with chilies, lemon juice, red shallots and roasted rice powder. Some people might find it a little spicy but it is a good dish for 30 baht.

Steamed Egg (kai tun)

This is a basic side dish which goes well with anything too spicy. It is basically steamed egg topped with some minced pork. This was only 15 baht.

Pumpkin in Coconut Milk (fak tong kaeng buat)

This is enough good Thai dessert that uses pumpkin as the main ingredient. To make, you need to mix sugar, salt and coconut milk together and cook over a medium heat until the sugar has all dissolved. Then add the sliced pumpkins and cook until done. When nearly done, pour in some coconut cream. This can be served either hot or cold though I prefer if it is chilled. This is only 10 baht.

These Friday lunches are starting to get expensive for the four of us. This one was just under US$4. Street food is averaging about 30 baht a dish now. Desserts are usually cheaper.

Pork Curry with Morning Glory

This is the continuation of our weekly Friday Lunch Menu in the Paknam Web offices. Every Friday we are bringing you photos of the Thai Street Food that we eat. Our budget for four people is about $5. Our first dish today is "gaeng tay-poh moo" which is basically morning glory in a red curry with fried pork. I don't eat this one that often but still enjoy. In fact, I enjoy most coconut curries. This one was only 30 baht.

Northern Thai Green Chilli Dip

We have been doing these weekly food blogs for seven months now. I have shared with you most of my favourites. In order to provide you with a variety I need to also show you some of the food I am not so keen on. This Northern Thailand dish called "nam prik num" is one of them. I am sorry, I am not really keen on anything that uses fermented fish as the main ingredient. Though apparently they like it up north. It is often eaten with vegetables or, as in this case, with crispy pork skin. Which again I wasn't that thrilled about. The main dish was 20 baht and a bag of crispy pork skin was also 20 baht.

Northern Thai Spicy Sausage

Sausages in Thailand are not the same as we have in most Western countries. I am not talking about the synthetic sausages that you get at places like 7-Eleven. The street food sausages are from Isaan and Northern Thailand. These are either beef or pork and have extra fillings such as sticky rice, minced ginger and pepper. This one is from the north and is called "sai aua". The ingredients of this one is different to other Thai style sausages. It contains pork, kaffir lime leaves, and a mixture of sauces including dark soy sauce, fish sauce and light soy sauce. This is then marinated with a chilli paste. The sausages are served with sticky rice, pickled ginger and small hot chillies. This was only 20 baht.

Shrimp Nugget (hoi jor)

This dish, called "hoi jor" is a good side dish which is always worth ordering if you are at a restaurant. The main ingredient of this one is shrimp. The mixture is wrapped in soy bean sheets. This is then first steamed and then later deep fried. This cost 35 baht which put us over budget this week a bit.

Glossy Coconut Dessert (ma-prao kaew)

The dessert today is "maprao kaew" which is basically sweet dried coconut. I don't like dried coconut that much and as usual this was a bit too sweet. The cost was 30 baht.

Rice with Red pork (khao moo daeng)

Around town you will probably often see some red pork hanging in the glass cabinets of the roadside food vendors. This goes with both rice and noodles. This popular dish is rice with red pork. If the vendor is lazy, the pork would have just been brushed with red food colouring before roasting. However, traditionally they marinate it in a mixture of tomato paste, dark and light soy sauces, and sugar. This is then barbecued. The sliced pork is placed on the boiled rice together with cucumber and a halved hard-boiled egg. The sauce that is poured amply on top is a main feature. This is made up with pork stock, light soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and rice flour. Not too exciting but a good standby meal if there isn't much else to eat. These days it costs at least 30 baht.

Rice with Crispy Fried Pork Belly (khao moo grop)

This is an alternative to the first dish. Instead of red pork, it uses the more crispy fried pork belly. You don't get an egg with this one but you get the same red/brown sauce. Again this one was 30 baht.

Chinese Fried Chicken on Rice

This dish is certainly in my top ten of street food in Thailand. It is quite common. There are two versions. Boiled chicken, and this one which is fried chicken. This is my favourite. A bit like eating at KFC but at a fraction of the price. The rice is boiled in chicken stock which gives it a better flavour. The dish comes with a bowl of chicken stock and chili dip which is also sweet. This has now gone up to 30 baht. I always ask for special by saying "piset".

Khanom Leb Meu Nang

Our dessert today was good as usual however I wouldn't rush to buy again. It is called "leb meu nang". It is made up of a mixture of rice flour and cassava flour. This is made into a kind of dough and then shaped to look like thin fingers. These are then placed in boiling water. When it floats it is ready. It is then mixed with grated coconut and salt. The first dip is coconut boiled with salt and then mixed with rice flour. The second dip is a mixture of stir fried sesame seeds and sugar. For only 10 baht, this Thai dessert is worth trying.

Fried Fish in Chili Paste

My favourite dish on the Friday Lunch Menu today is this one, the "pla tod rad prik gaeng". Basically fish fried in chili paste. Very simple but also very tasty. The chili paste includes shallots, garlic, lemon grass, minced galangal, shrimp paste and red curry paste. This was only 20 baht. Really a side dish though.

Bamboo Shoot boiled with pork bones

I guess this is then the main dish. I like bamboo shoots with red curry. However, this dish was very bland and unexciting. There was a lot of this left over so we only bought it for you to see. Luckily we had a couple of repeat dishes of stir-fried vegetables and pork and an omelette which interestingly had a little bit of coconut milk. The bamboo shoot dish was 30 baht.

Rice Noodles in Coconut Milk Sauce

Despite the colour, this dish was actually interesting. It is called "mee kati" which literally means "coconut noodles". This was a vegetarian version that had bean curd, egg and bean sprouts. But you can also have chicken or pork. Everything is basically cooked in coconut milk. This includes shallots, fermented soybeans, sugar, tamarind juice, bean curd and dried chilies. Half of this is then removed and the thin rice noodles is cooked in the remainder. The leftover sauce is then used as a dip. I did enjoy this but I think it would have been better if it wasn't so pink. This was only 20 baht.

Glossy Sticky Rice

You cannot really go wrong with any Thai dessert that uses sticky rice. The green colour comes from our old friend the pandanus leaves. This is mixed together with sugar and coconut cream. Then it is boiled until it becomes a thick mixture. The sticky rice is then mixed in. Very tasty and only 2 baht each.

Duck Red Curry (kaeng pet bpet)

One of my favourite Thai dishes is the red curry with duck. It is also sometimes served with pineapple. This dish is quit expensive in the restaurants. This is a street food version which we bought for 25 baht. It tastes good, but as far as meat goes, you get what you pay for! I usually add my own meat to help it go further. The red curry is often served with cherry tomatoes and also eggplants. These are like oversized peas and are rather hard.

Khee Lek Curry

This is a strange curry dish. I have had eaten it on several occasions but I will never buy for myself. The main ingredient are the leaves of the "khee lek" tree. As you can see, it has been liquidized in a food blender! Other than that, it has red curry paste, coconut milk and is seasoned with fish sauce and palm sugar. It was supposed to have beef as well. But, basically, what you can see at the top of this dish is all we got! Again, what do you expect for 25 baht. Actually, we were the winner of a lucky dip. I found a shrimp in this dish too! Not sure where that came from unless there were two versions. A warning to people who might be vegetarians. I have actually seen food vendors pick out the meat from a cooked dish to serve to a vegetarian customer!

Stir-fried Cauliflower with Shrimp

You cannot really go wrong with a stir-fried vegetable dish. I always order at least one for all meals. This one is basically cauliflower and shrimp. I usually season my stir-fried vegetable dishes with oyster sauce. But this one had fish sauce instead. As Thai people are sweet toothed, they always add some sugar to most dishes. This was 25 baht.

Mung Beans in sugar Syrup

I am not really that keen on any beans - in particular mung beans. But, I guess you can make anything delicious if you add a sugar syrup to it! A few spoonfuls was enough for me. If you want to cook yourself, just soak the mung beans in water overnight and then cook on a medium heat until tender. Then just add lots of sugar! This was only 8 baht.

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Sorry for the lack of blogs recently from myself. We have been very busy moving and upgrading websites and servers. I haven't done any travel blogs for a while as I have been working hard every weekend. Hopefully I will be back blogging again next month.

Noodles on the Boat

Boat Noodles is probably one of the most famous noodle dishes. Despite its name, it is not always served on the canals, however you will often see that land based noodle stores still have a boat on display. This dish can be either pork or beef. The most popular noodle is probably sen lek. This version you see here has beef with morning glory. There are no noodles which are optional. The soup can vary quite a bit though it is never that simple like other noodle soups as it has spices. Another notable ingredient is quite often pigs blood. The dish is often served in small bowls for less than 20 baht.

Tom Yum Fried Rice

This next dish is a bit of a strange hybrid. It is cross-between fried rice and the popular tum yum soup. Though this version doesn't have the soup. The basic ingredients are all the same. Like lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, red shallots, straw mushrooms and even my favourite, chili jam (nam prik pao). Unlike normal tom yum, all the ingredients are chopped up fine so that you eat all. It was good but I felt it was a little dry. My other favourite tom yum hybrid is egg noodle tom yum. This fried rice with seafood was 25 baht.

Stir-fried Prawns and Sponge Gourd

This is a simple side dish which is easy to make. You need to peel and wash the gourd and then cut up into bite size pieces. Fry some garlic in a wok and when it is golden brown add the gourd. Season with fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce and stock. Add the shrimp and keep stirring. This was only 25 baht.

Black Beans and Tapioca Balls

Our dessert today was "tua dum saku biak" or Black Beans and Tapioca Balls. As in many Thai desserts, it had thick coconut milk and plenty of sugar. I am afraid I wasn't too keen on this dessert. But, at least I tried. This was only 10 baht. The next time you are walking the streets in Thailand don't be shy to try something new. Thai street food is not that expensive and is worth experimenting.

Stir-fried Thai Flat Beans (kung pat sa-tor)

The Thai flat beans used in this dish are common in Southern Thailand. It is called "sa tor". This healthy dish which helps to increase your appetite has two versions. One with shrimp paste and this one with curry paste. Other major ingredients include pork, shrimp, garlic and shallots. It is seasoned with fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. This is a good side dish well worth buying to eat with something else. This cost us 30 baht.

Coconut Milk and Fermented Soy Bean Sauce (tao jiao lon)

The main ingredient of this is a mixture of coconut milk and fermented soy bean sauce. It also has chopped shrimp and pork and shallots and chillies. It is seasoned with sugar and tamarind juice. The fermented soy bean makes this a little salty. It is usually served with fresh vegetables such as cabbage and cucumber. This dish only cost 25 baht.

Fried Prawn and Squid in Curry Sauce (pat pong kari talay)

I really like the "pong kari" curry powder dishes. My favourite is the soft shelled crab curry (pu nim pat pong kari). Be careful when you order the hard shelled version as it can get quite expensive and is not very good value for money as you cannot eat everything. This version uses seafood such as fried shrimp and squid. I am never that keen on seafood like squid but I enjoyed the curry. I have never tried to cook this but might have a try some time. You basically fry the seafood with some curry powder. Then you add a mixture of milk, chilli paste and an egg. Add some oyster sauce and then chopped onion, spur chili and spring onion and season with pepper. Not a bad dish for 25 baht.

Banana in Syrup (kluay kai cheuam)

Our dessert today was delicious as usual. As you know, I don't normally like bananas, but Thai desserts with bananas are often very tasty. For this one, water is mixed with some sugar and put in a pan to boil. Then some lemon juice is added. The heat is then lowered and peeled bananas are put in the pan and allowed to simmer for about five minutes. The topping is some coconut milk which has a dash of salt. This was 25 baht.