Thai Street Food at Home

[bucknaway]

Is there any Thai street food that you enjoyed so much that you learned to cook it yourself?

I LOVE the Pad Thai and the Fried Rice from the Street food carts that I learned to use their style and technique to prepare a fast friend rice or Pad Thai meal at home. Its almost to the point that I don't have to read my recipe for ingredients and instructions. There are a few things that I can't find here that they have on the carts but I am happy with the results.

I am trying to find a simple but good recipe for the rice soup (Breakfast soup)

I asked a Thai friend of mine who has a little restaurant how to make Thai Tea and he tells me he uses Nescafe instant tea and adds milk.....

[Beachlover]

Well done, Buckie... Pad Thai and fried rice is a great start.

Now if you really want to impress a Thai, try and make pad prik khing (spelling?) (crispy caramelised pork belly) or prawns wrapped in betel leaf with lime, ginger and god knows how many other ingredients.

:scratch:

[MiniMee]

try and make pad prik khing (spelling?) (crispy caramelised pork belly)

Pad prik khing (literally: fry; chilli; ginger) is a red curry paste used in stir-fries, usually with chicken. It dont think it translates as 'caramelised pork belly'.

[Narakmak]

If you like spicy, cook some pad krapow. I did all the time in the U.S. Thai flavored tea is what you need and then you add the condensed milk. Either by mail order in the U.S. or in the closest Thai markets or even general Asian markets. Markets in Silver Spring, Md. definitely have it.

[Beachlover]

try and make pad prik khing (spelling?) (crispy caramelised pork belly)

Pad prik khing (literally: fry; chilli; ginger) is a red curry paste used in stir-fries, usually with chicken. It dont think it translates as 'caramelised pork belly'.
Yes I know... though most people I know prefer it as a pork dish.

[cdnmatt]

Street stall food? Honestly, most of it is extremely easy to make.

But no, I don't really eat much Thai food, because many dishes (especially street stall dishes) aren't very big on veggies. You don't see many Thai dishes beaming with broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, carrots, etc. I tend to cook lots of Asian food though, mainly just because if you're cooking for one, it's way easier to cook up a healthy and balanced dish with Asian food versus Western food.

For example for a balanced Western meal say you have a pork chop, some potatoes, steamed veggies, and maybe a small salad. That's four bloody thing you have to cook. Whereas with Asian food, you can easily cook up for example, chicken stir fry with cashew nuts, snow peas and bell peppers -- one pan, 20 mins from prep to eating, and you have everything you need -- chicken, veggies, garlic, ginger, cashew nuts for a bit of fiber, and some steamed rice for starch.

[Smiles]

" ... Street stall food? Honestly, most of it is extremely easy to make ... "
Geez, I wonder why?

Easy-to-make (or difficult) is the charm and pleasure of Thai street food and is one of the exquisite treats of living in this country.

This couple with their kitchen-on-wheels pass by our home every day, and although I don't buy lunch from them every day I think three times a week would be the average.
This is BBQ'ed chicken on little wooden skewers and the secret to it's delicious tenderness and taste is their excellent marinade. These two are the best ... and I've had Lao-style chicken with sticky rice ('khao nieaw'), fresh cucumber, and spicy papaya salad ('som tum') all over Thailand. We are lucky!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rvj80SBL5Hw/T4bHIeHwpZI/AAAAAAAAFGI/8-te1zeiHM0/w800-h600-no/khaoniew-chicken1.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3sY3RtLk_IM/T4bHIswFLBI/AAAAAAAAFGQ/LmGWu9-QR6o/w800-h443-no/khaoniew-chicken2.jpg

The dish below ('khao mun gai') is a classic Thai breakfast or lunch. Pretty simple really, but the secret is the chicken slow boiled for a long time in a broth early in the morning. Served on top of rice and accompanied by a bowl of the same broth and a drizzling of spicy sauce on top. The sauce is a home made recipe and the variety of tastes you'll find it in is very wide ... I have my personal favourites and could eat it every day.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hVEtxLgoVbI/T4bHHObhHmI/AAAAAAAAFF4/hXzShtRFVWM/w800-h600-no/khaomungai3.JPG


Usually this dish is not found on wheeled carts (the broth-cooking pails are just too big to haul around), but the stalls are all over the place, usually outdoors. You can tell a khao mun gai place easily by the three or four chickens hanging from their necks inside a glass case.


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Wy4FekC6m4M/UaolUa6YeXI/AAAAAAAAGJw/k09dHYVjngk/w500-h531-no/khaomungai1.jpg

One of my all time favourite khao mun gai joints is at a small outdoor restaurant underneath the On Nut skytrain station in Bangkok. Hua Hin has a number of really good places as well, but we always end up heading for On nut whenever we are in Bangkok.

[Nirish guy]

I love khao mun gai and it's almost my staple diet ( especially with a hangover) as it's nice and plain and doesn't kill my stomach later ( assuming I haven't gone nuts with the spicy chilli sauce stuff all over it before hand! I usually end up going back for seconds of the Broth as it's really tasty and great for making you break a bit of a sweat but yet very refreshing too. But what is it with sticky rice as anytime I'm with a Thai guy at a food stall and they order it for themselves and I say "yes and for me too" they look amazed and delighted as if I've just tried so really exotic delicacy of theirs, I mean it's JUST rice after all and nothing we all haven't tasted at home , or perhaps they don't know that ? - but still very nice it is too ! Damn all this talk of food and Smiles pics is making me hungry now ! :-(

[cdnmatt]

the charm and pleasure of Thai street food and is one of the exquisite treats of living in this country.

I don't know, the only time I eat the street food nowadays is if someone is visiting, and they want to eat at a stall as if it's a tourist attraction, or something. Then they can go home, and let everyone know how you can eat like a king in Thailand for $3/day.

You actually proved my point for me though. If you're looking for long-term living, and healthy & balanced meals, Thai street food isn't the way to go. You can't say a bunch of boiled chicken, served on top of a cheap strain of steamed rice with some sliced cucumbers is a healthy meal. Neither is say "krapow moo sap", minced pork thrown in a wok with some garlic, chillis, basil, and a bit of soy sauce and sugar, served on rice. I mean, it's $1/plate, so you get just that -- $1 worth of food.

On the flip side, here's some better Asian dishes you can do at home:

Beef and Broccoli:
http://www.filipino-food-lovers.com/site-images/beef_broccoli/beef_broccoli1.jpg

Chicken and Cashew Stir Fry:
http://www.domesticadventure.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/chicken-cashew-brocolli-pepper-stir-fry1.jpg

Chicken, Pineapple, and Broccoli
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/p480x480/149488_518653398176723_614919710_n.jpg

And the list is endless...

[Nirish guy]

I am trying to find a simple but good recipe for the rice soup (Breakfast soup)

http://www.thaikitchen.com/Recipes/Soup ... -Soup.aspx (http://www.thaikitchen.com/Recipes/Soups/Breakfast-Rice-Soup.aspx)

There you go, straight off google and claims to be "easy" to prepare.

[dab69]

[imghttp://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/bugs/water_bug/water_bug.jpg[/img]

[Smiles]

Don't leave out a single ']' or your joke is worthless. :blackeye:


http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/bugs/water_bug/water_bug.jpg

[newalaan2]

Is there any Thai street food that you enjoyed so much that you learned to cook it yourself?
NO. For 3 reasons. First I couldn't reproduce the exact tastes. (2)- The great thing about regular visits to Thailand is that I anticipate and look forward to certain things, like the street food and I like to have that exclusive to Thailand visits. and (3)-I don't tire of street food when there, like KowManGai which I think I might do if I ate it at home too.

Some great pics in this thread......juices flowing already!

[Narakmak]

You can get the same tastes with some dishes like Pad Thai and Pad Krapow. The Thai ingredients are widely sold in the U.S. Thai fish sauce is Thai fish sauce anywhere.

[anonone]

Krawpow is one that I have never been able to reproduce back in the US. The "Thai" basil sold here just does not taste the same. I assume due to the climate where it is grown.