Corny snacks

Lately, I discovered that corn niblets can be a scrumptious after-lunch snack. Scoop them into a cup, pour some sour dressing in and add a sprinkling of sugar... yummy! Here, a young street vendor was seen running his ladle through a big pile of corn. As he mixed and thrashed them around, aromatic whiffs was sent drifting to the noses of passer-bys. 

Khai Yiao Maa Kra Pao Krop

Rice with Century Eggs & Crispy Basil Leaves 

Khai Yiao Maa, literally meaning horse urine eggs, is what Thais call their century eggs. I seriously don't think that century eggs are made by dunking eggs in horse urine, but it would be interesting to look up the origins of the naming. This was one of the latest dishes discovered in the Ram II neighbourhood before we moved out of it. This visually inviting dish is comprised of crispy fried basil leaves, pieces of century egg stir fried with pork and some corn, carrots and long beans. Lovely. 

Naem Nueang - Vietnamese rolls a la Thai

A generous dosage of the greens...

... with paper-thin, semi-translucent rice rolls and a bowl of special dipping sauce ...

... together with a plate of pineapple cubes, sliced cucumber, carrot and radish slices, dried banana wedges, garlic pieces, dried spicy chilli andddd fragrant pork cubes,

VOILA!

You will get Naem Nueang (แหนมเนือง), a kind of Vietnamese roll that Udon Thani is particularly famous for.

Cim Cum - the tasty hot pot

Udomsuk is one of mr;p's and my favourite dining place in Bangkok, and we usually go there when we want a better dinner or there's any occasion for celebration. Last week, we headed to Aroi Naenorn (Confirmed Delicious Restaurant) for some Isan specialties.

Cim Cum ranks high on my list of favourite Thai food. It is an Isan favourite that mr;p first introduced to me last year in Udon Thani. The flavourful soap concoction in the ceramic pot is slowly brought to boiling point by the charcoal underneath. One can choose between seafood, pork or mixed soup bases. We opted for the pork option. It comes with an abundance of raw vegetables (I can only name cabbages for now - some of which will give very strong flavour to the soup), an egg, a plate of glass noodles, and most importantly, naam cim (the chilli sauce concoction) for dipping all the food morsels.

Food court delights in Bangkok

Food courts in Thailand offer an easy and convenient amalgamation of the various street food delights. While taking a break from shopping at Pratunam one day, we headed to the food court located at the topmost floor of the Platinum Shopping Mall and a satisfying meal ensued. 

In Thailand, all sorts of meat can be strung onto the bamboo sticks, from chicken parts to squid. Muu Satii  หมูสะเตีะ (pork satay) is also a common delight in Thailand, and looks very much like the satays in Singapore and Malaysia.  Unlike its halal southern counterparts, pork is the meat most commonly used and this variant is tasty too! 

I always have a weakness for sweet things. Not knowing which dessert I should choose, I told the hawker to mix everything. In this bowl, there is a wonderful concoction of red beans, kidney beans, sticky rice, sago seeds, yam, tapioca niblets, and topped with a sprinkling of sesame seeds swimming in a sea of thick, creamy coconut gravy. Yummy. 

Khao Soi

When I first tasted Khao Soi (ข้าวซอย) in Mae Sai, Chiangrai, Northern Thailand, I decided that it was a cross between the laksa and mee siam (signature dishes in the Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore). It consists of flat egg noodles in a curry-like sauce, complemented with lime wedges, sliced onion, pickled vegetables and chilli powder. Meat such as chicken, beef or pork is also packed within the creamy coconuty soup, so be sure to specify your order, whether it should be Khao Soi Kai, Khao Soi Neur or Khao Soi Muu respectively.

It is one Thai dish that I often crave for, for it is not that easy to find it within mr;p's immediate neighbourhood when I am in Bangkok nor within Singapore (but Golden Mile does offer this dish of course!). Some accounts that I read pointed that Khao Soi is Burmese, or Yunnanese-Hui (Hui is a term that refer to Muslims in China) in origin, but it is certainly a Northern Thai specialty now.

Several farang bloggers have written about Khao Soi as well, read The Other History of Khao Soi for an interesting peek into the purported historical account.

So if any of you is heading to Northern Thailand soon, be sure to order this! It also goes by names of Chiangmai Curry Noodles, Burmese Noodles, etc.

Kung Chae Naam Plaa

If you like sashimi or raw seafood, this Thai dish will probably take to your palate well if you can also stomach the strong flavours of Thai fish sauce (naam plaa). Known as Kung Chae Naam Plaa - กุ้งแช่นำปลา (Thai: shrimps dipped in fish sauce), this dish is commonly found in Thai restaurants and is somewhat like sashimi a la Thai style. A must-try if you love the intense flavours of Thai cuisine.

The critical factor here, whether this dish will make or break, will have to depend on the freshness of the shrimps. Not only do fresh shrimps taste better, they are also easier on the stomach, you wouldn't want to hog the toilet after eating these shrimps, isn't it? And with the complement of the dipping sauce (naam cim) which consist of chilli, lemon juice, garlic bits and mint leaves, we are ready to go. Tuck in... or dip in!


mr;p first introduced this dish to me last December and i really like it. When i introduced this dish to Mum, she absolutely fell in love with it and requested to have it for our dinner three days in a row! We even had to order a second serving of kung chae naam plaa for one of the evenings because Mum ate so many of the shrimps before we could get to them. Meanwhile, Papa had a much harder time though. He was caught dipping one of the shrimps in the hot tom yam kung hotpot, and we all burst all laughing at that!