Saturday, October 14, 2006

Khao Khao Mu



In my last post, I mentioned the Bic C food court because they have an interesting soup called Tom Yum Sukhothai. Well, the food court has another interesting dish that I have not seen at another food court in town (yet).

One of my favourite comfort foods is Khao Khao Mu (stewed pork on top of rice). Every food court has this ubiquious dish, which is served with pickled vegetable or kale cooked in the pork stew and with a side of a hard boiled egg.

But, this is where the Big C food court makes the khao khao mu interesting, instead of the regular hard boiled egg, they serve it with deep fried tofu triangles slowly stewing in the pork stew.

I have no idea how long they normally stew the pork, but this dish is so good because the pork is tender and the pork stock poured over the rice is heavenly. A very fulfilling meal.

The meal is only 35 baht (94UScents or 75 centimes)

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Tom Yum Sukhothai



Thailand has so many great soups, you probably can eat a soup everday for the entire year and never have the same one. There is one soup that is quite yummy. It is called Tom Yum Sukhothai. What is amazing about this soup is that it is made of exactly 12 ingredients. The sign on the counter proudly advertises this gastromnomic fact (that's how I actually knew about it).

The 12 ingredients are 1) pork (slices & minced), 2) crushed peanuts, 3) string bean, 4) chilli, 5) preserved ginger, 6) sugar, 7) msg, 8) minced garlic, 9) lime, 10) basil, 11) sen-lek and 12) chicken broth. The soup woman has all the ingredients pre-prepared in bowls so that the chore of making them will not take too long. She adds some chicken broth to the mixture and pours it over the sen-mee noodles.

The blend of all the ingriedients make this soup unique, but it is still a tom yum; therefore, it is has a nice balance of sour, sweet, tangy and spicy. But another factor that makes this soup so interesting are the different textures as well such as from the green beans or the peanuts.



You do not find this soup often in food courts, but I did find one. It is the food court on the 5th floor of the Big C department store & Metropolis Cineplex, across the street from the newly renovated Central World Plaza.

The soup only cost 35 baht (93 US cents or 74 centimes). You get so much for so little.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Khao ga-phrao gai khai dow


There is one Thai dish that I can eat everday. It is what I consider as my 'comfort food'. It is one of the tastiest and most simple dishes to make. I am one of the worst cooks on this earth; therefore, I would rather go out and eat this dish than make it myself. Believie me, I have tried and it has always evolved into something worth not eating.

This dish is khao ga-phrao gai khai dow (fried minced chicken with basil toped with a fried egg with rice). When I am alone for dinner, I normally walk to Major Cineplex on Sukhumvit soi 61 to Rice Bowl on the third floor. This is where I can get this very simple and tasty dish. After the delicious meal, I catch a film. How easy is that?

What makes this dish so good are the basic ingredients; minced chicken (can use minced pork), fresh chillies, thai basil leaves, garlic, oyster sauce, pinch of sugar. Stir fry all at once, fry the egg and accompany with a small dish of nam pla phrik (chillies in fish sauce).

This dish cost only 50 baht ($1.33 or 1.06 euros). The simple things in life are always so nice.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Duck noodle

Near my office is the shopping mall called Emporium which is on Sukhumvit soi 24. On the fifth floor is the food court where you can have semi-cheap food. I say semi because I think Emporium food court is more expensive than other food courts in town. The food in the Emporium food court is 'ok', I think there are other food courts that have a better selection or better taste, but one of my favourite food stalls in this food court is the one that offers the 'Cherry Duck' nooodle soup.


I have no idea what a cherry duck is, but whatever it is, it is very good. The duck is cooked in the broth that is very rich in flavour. Hints of five spice, anaise, soy, pepper, and duck essence. The egg noodle is of fine quality which is cooked perfectly and heated in the duck broth before serving. You can choose to have blood cubes added to the soup, but I always decline.

At 55 baht ($1.46 or 1.15 euros), it is getting on the expensive side, but I do not mind because it is truly good.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Lunch Time



I am lucky to be working on Sukhumvit soi 33. I have a huge variety of choices to indulge myself for lunch. I can walk to the hi-so shopping mall Emporium for lunch, or walk over to soi Villa (mini Japan town) for the wide selection of Japanese restaurants, or eat on the street all around the area.

Let me introduce you to the street food near my office. Like any busy person, sometimes there is no time to have sit-down meal for lunch. So, thank goodness for the street food. Not only is it convenient, no only is it cheap, but thank the heavens it is also yummy.

My first introduction is 'Som-Tam woman', she makes a wonderful som-tam (papaya salad) in front of my building (how convenient is that?). The perfect blend of taste that make a great som-tam. Sour, sweet, tangy, and spicy. I have no idea how she does it. She makes it while talking to me, no measuring, just from feeling and seeing. Amazing. The som-tam always turns out perfect.



I always choose som-tam Thai, which means the most basic som-tam. If you are adventurous, you can choose the som-tam pu (with marinated crab). My friends always have stomache problems after eating the som-tam crab, but they cannot resist it because it is so good.



Som-tam consist of fresh green and julienne papaya, it is put into a mortar and then she adds lime juice, fish sauce, liquified palm sugar, garlic, roasted peanuts, dried shrimp, long green beans, cherry tomatoes and topped off with Thai chillies and a pinch of msg. Then she lightly pounds all the ingredients together.

I always have to have her roasted chicken with the som-tam (but you can choose the roasted fish as well). The chicken is amazing, always nicely roasted outside but very moist inside.



The sauce that accompanies the chicken is also fantastic (have no clue what it consist of). And the final part to complete my simple lunch is sticky rice.



All for only 65 baht ($1.73 or 1.34 euros). Absolutely amazing.