Side Dish and Snack

Sweet Pork ( Mu Wan )

A sweet caramel tasting pork used as a side dish to rice, or where a sweetness is needed to counter a spicy chilli dish.

Ingredients
100 gms Fatty Pork (Thick Middle Bacon Cuts are Best)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
100 ml Water
2 Tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce

Preparation
1. Put the salt, sugar, dark soy sauce, and water in a pan.
2. Bring to the boil.
3. Chop the pork into small strips and add to the sweet sauce.
4. Cook until the sauce thickens and caramelises and the pork is cooked.
5. Serve as a side dish with rice.

Thai Corn Fritters ( Koa Pood Tod )

We eat corn in everything! You will find it in desserts for it sweetness, in soups and like here, in snacks. In Bangkok, in front of the university, there are many little food stalls to feed the hungry students, including corn fritter stalls. This is one of the few Thai dishes that isn't spicy.

Ingredient For 2 People
100 gms Corn Kernels (Maize)
1 Tablespoon Corn Flour
1 Tablespoon Wheat Flour
1 Tablespoon Cassava Starch
120 ml Water
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
200 ml Oil
Flat Frying Pan

Preparation
1. Mix all the corn flour, wheat flour and cassava starch together with the water in a mixing bowl. You can use a ready mix batter if you prefer.
2. Add the salt, pepper and corn kernels and mix.
3. Put the oil into the frying pan and preheat the pan over a medium heat.
4. When the oil is hot take a tablespoon of the mixture and drop it into the pan to make a circular fritter.
5. Fry it for a minute on each side until it is golden brown.

Pork Mince Omelette (Mu Sap)

If you think an omelette should taste of eggs, this recipe is a wake-up call. It has a strong meaty flavour with a slight spicy after-taste that is very different from a traditional 'eggy' omelette. Best of all, it's a very easy dish to make. A good way to serve this omelette is to cut it into squares, so that it can be shared between several people as a side dish.

Ingredients for 2 People
3 Large Eggs
75 gms Pork Mince
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
10 gms Coriander Leaves
10 gms Spring Onion (approx 1)
2 Big Red Chillies
100 ml Oil
1/2 Teaspoon White Pepper

Preparation
1. Chop the coriander, spring onion and chillies.
2. Whip the eggs in a mixing bowl.
3. Add the pork mince, light soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, spring onion, coriander, and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
4. Put oil into frying pan and preheat the oil.
5. Fry the eggs mix for 1 minute.
6. Turn the omelette over and fry the other side for a minute.
7. The omelette should be cooked and golden brown. To make sure its cooked squeeze it, and no liquid should come out.

Thai Potato Seafood Balls ( Man Farung Tod Sie Sea Food )

These are potato balls filled with seafood, breaded and deep fried. Eaten either as a side dish or as a snack, they're not at all spicy, so they're perfect for a children's menu. We eat them with sweet chilli sauce, but you may prefer ketchup or mustard.

Ingredients for 3 People
3 Large Potatoes
30 gms Shrimp Meat
30 gms Crab Meat
20 gms Chopped Onion
10 gms Chopped Carrot
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
40 gms Flour
1 Eggs (Whipped)
50 gms Bread Crumbs
Oil for frying

Preparation
1. Clean the shrimp, cut down the back of the shrimp and remove the black thread (the gut).
2. Peel the potatoes, cut them in half and boil them in water until cooked.
3. Mash the potatoes, and add salt to taste. (Note, do not add butter or milk!)
4. Peel and boil the carrots until cooked. Then chop the cooked carrots into fine pieces.
5. Chop the shrimp and crab meat and add the carrots, chopped onion, salt and white pepper. This will form the filling.
6. Each ball has the seafood mix in the center, then a layer of potato, and egg and breadcrumbs around the outside.
7. Prepare a bowl with the beaten egg, a bowl with flour, and a bowl with breadcrumbs.
8. Take a lump of potatoes, and form a 3cm diameter ball of potato in your hand.
9. Flatten the potato into a disc.
10. Spoon some of the filling into the center, and wrap the potato around the filling. Roll it in the palm of your hand to make a ball again.
11. Dip the ball in the flour to cover it. Then dip it in the egg, again make sure its completely covered with egg, then dip it in breadcrumbs. This mixture will make about 10 balls.
12. Preheat a deep fryer to hot (190 degrees celsius) and drop the balls into the hot oil to cook for 5-10 minutes. They are cooked when the breadcrumbs are golden.

Hot Pan Pork With Sesame Seeds ( Mu Ga Ta )

This pork dish is normally served in a sizzling metal hot plate. For the photograph we had to present it on a simpler plate, but when you serve it, get a stainless steel serving trays, a stand and some candles for the full 'hot pork' effect. To toast the sesame seeds for this dish, simply put them in a hot dry frying pan for a few seconds to brown them.

Ingredients for 4 People
300 gms Pork Meat (Fillet or Similar)
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1/4 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Water
1/2 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Toasted Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon Chopped Spring Onion
2 Tablespoons Oil
3 Garlic Cloves
Heated Serving Tray

Preparation
1. Chop the garlic and fry in the oil to release the garlic smell.
2. Slice the pork into strips and add to the frying pan.
3. Add light soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and water and fry it for 30 second.
4. Serve on a hot plate, sizzling. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and chopped spring onions.

Fish Hair & Mango ( Mamong Num Pa Wan Pa Duk Fu )

This is fish hair, actually it's fish meat made into fine hair like strands then deep fried. It is served traditionally with the sweet-sour mango & chilli sauce. You take a little of the crunchy fish hair, a little of the sour mango, mix it with your rice and eat. The best fish to use is oily fish, in Thailand we use a river fish 'Yam Baa duk Fu', but any similar oily fish can be used.

Ingredients
150 gms Fish
350 ml Oil
40 gms Chopped Sour (unripe) Mango
2 Red Chillies
2 Garlic Cloves
50 gms Sugar
5 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Water

Preparation
1. Grill the fish until cooked, remove the meat from the bones and mince the meat finely with a fork. It is important to remove every bone as you will find it very difficult to see the bones once you've made fish hair!
2. Put 3cm of oil into a large saucepan and heat until it's hot.
3. Add the fish mince and fry in the oil. Spread the fish out so that it doesn't form clumps.
4. Cook until it goes brown, and remove it from the oil with a strainer.
5. Place it on kitchen paper to soak off the excess oil.

Preparation for Sour Mango Sauce
1. Mix the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Add the fish sauce and salt, and continue boiling until the sugar has completely dissolved.
3. Turn off the heat.
4. Chop the garlic and mango and mix into the sugar sauce. Then serve.

Century Egg & Spicy Chicken ( Kai Yiew Ma Kar Prow Gay )

The black fried century eggs make this quite a stunning looking plate, but the eggs are not the main taste, the spicy chicken is. Eat this as a side dish to Thai rice, served with Thai sweet basil leaves.

Ingredients for 2 People
2 Century Eggs
70 gms Chicken Breast
5 Bird Chillies
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Oil
10 gms Thai Basil

Preparation
1. Peel and chop the century eggs into quarters as in the photograph.
2. Put the oil into the pan over a medium heat and fry the eggs pieces, turning them so they are cooked on all sides. Then set them aside on a plate.
3. Mince the chicken into a fine mince.
4. Chop the garlic and chillies together and put into the pan with the hot oil, and fry until the garlic begins to smell.
5. Add the minced chicken, put into the frying pan it with garlic and chillies and fry until the chicken is completely cooked.
6. Add the fish suauce, light soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce and basil and stir fry for 30 second.
7. Serve with the century egg garnish.

Stuffed Melon ( Gang Jeaut Gang yut sidn Ma Ra Sahray )

Windermelon is a pithy non-sweet melon used in Thai cuisine. If you can't get it, use unripe large courgettes, or for this recipe you can also use bitter melon which itself has a different taste, but works equally well. Another aspect of this dish is the seaweed used as a vegetable or garnish in the soup.

Ingredients for 2 People
300 gms Wintermelon
100 gms Chicken Breast
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon White Pepper
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Chopped Spring Onions
30 gms Carrots
1 Chicken Stock Cube
1 Teaspoon Sugar
400 ml Water
Coriander Leaves
Seaweed Paper

Preparation
1. Clean and chop off the top and the bottom of the melon then scoop out the inside.
2. Chop the chicken breast and mix it with garlic, salt, white pepper and spring onion and blend together to form a mince.
3. Boil the water & stock cube and sugar until the water is boiling.
4. Stuff the melon with the minced chicken and then add the stuffed melon into the boiling soup and simmer for 10 minutes to cook.
5. Peel and chop the carrot into bite sized pieces, put into the boiling soup and cook for 2 minutes. Add seaweed and coriander leaves and serve.

Pork Balls in Sweet Sour Sauce ( Look Chin Mu Pick & Nam Jeamp Ma Karm)

The sourness in this dish comes from the tamarind. In the back of the photograph you can see green vegetables, lettuce, mint, coriander leaves and other green vegetables. It's normal to eat this dish with a big mass of fresh salad vegetables like this.

Ingredients for Pork Balls
250 gms Pork Mince
1 Tablespoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoons White Pepper
2 Tablespoons Wheat Flour
100 gms Crushed Ice
Hand Blender or Food Processor
Water for Boiling
Cold Water
Wooden Skewers

Preparation for Pork Balls
1. Put the pork mince into the blender, add salt, white pepper and blend together for a few seconds. Add the crushed ice, tablespoon by tablespoon, and blend for a few seconds each time to mix it in.
2. Place a saucepan full of water onto boil.
3. Take a spoonful of the pork and smooth it out into a ball. I oil the palms of my hands and make the balls by hand, but you can also pass them between two teaspoons to make them round.
4. Drop the balls into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Then remove them and drop them into cold water. Finally remove them and leave to dry on a plate.
5. Ideally leave them overnight in the fridge, they will firm up.
6. Take the pork balls and skewer them on wooden skewers, the ideal method for cooking is a charcoal barbecue grill, but an oven grill or hot dry frying pan can also be used. You should cook the balls until brown, turn them repeatedly to cook evenly.
7. Place them on a plate.

Ingredients for Tamarind Sauce
300 ml Water
20 gms Tamarind Pulp
100 gms Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoons Chopped or Crushed Peanut
2 Tablespoons Chopped Coriander Leaves
1 Tablespoons Corn Flour

Preparation for Tamarind Sauce
1. Boil the water with the tamarind pulp, remove the tamarind pulp and squeeze out any juice it still has by pressing it inside a fine sieve, so that the juice goes back into the pan.
2. Add the brown sugar, salt and fish sauce and boil for 3 minutes.
3. Mix the corn flour with 3 tablespoons of water and stir into the saucepan. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
4. Add the crushed peanuts and chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Chilli Pork Wraps ( Kai Hur Mu Sup )

The eggs should form a fine mesh around the filling, but try as hard as I could, I couldn't get it looking as good as the master chefs of Thailand can, when they make this dish for the King.

Ingredients
4 Eggs
400 Pork Mince with Fat
50 gms Shrimp Mince
50 gms Chopped Onions
2 Garlic Cloves
10 gms Coriander Root
1/3 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns
3 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Sugar
A Little Oil
20 gms Coriander Leaves Chopped
5 Big Red Chillies Sliced

Preparation
1. Pound the garlic, coriander root and peppercorns together in a Thai mortar until they are finely ground.
2. Put a little oil in a frying pan, and preheat over a medium heat burner.
3. Fry the pounded garlic mixture in the oil for 5 seconds just to release the flavour.
4. Add the pork mince, shrimp mince, and sugar and fry for 1 minute until cooked.
5. Whip the eggs until frothy, put a flat frying pan over a low heat and add a little oil, then take off the heat.
6. For this we want to spread the mixture in lines, I used a spatula with 5 prongs. I dipped it in the eggs and drew the spatula across the pan to form 5 lines, then the other way to make a mesh. You can also you your fingers if the pan isn't too hot.
7. Cook very slowly and carefully.
8. Chop the coriander leaves and red chillies finely and mix into the pork.
9. Spoon the pork onto the mesh and fold over the edges to form a parcel.

Sweet Pork Balls ( Kanoom Kai Hoong )

Yes that is pork mince inside the fried balls. Yes that is sugar frosting on the outside. Yes I haven't made a mistake, that's how we eat them. This dish is not as radical as you might think, it's has the same flavours as sweet-sour meat dishes.

Ingredients for Filling
50 gms Yellow Beans
150 gms Pork Mince
20 gms Chopped Spring Onion
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar

Ingredients for Balls
240 gms Sticky Rice Flour
120 gms Rice Flour
Warm Water
Oil for Deep Frying
200 gms Sugar

Preparation
1. Soak the yellow bean in water overnight.
2. Steam the beans for 15 minutes (I place a little foil in the steamer and steam them on that).
3. Pound the beans to a pulp.
4. Fry the pork mince to cook it, add salt, sugar and spring onions and stir-fry.
5. Mix in the yellow bean paste and make into small balls of approximately 1 1/2 cms diameter.
6. Mix the two flours together, add the warm water slowly, mixing as you add it.
7. Pinch off balls from the mixture, approximately 3cms in diameter.
8. Flatten the balls, add one of the pork bean balls in the middle, fold up the pastry around the outside and pinch the steam closed.
9. Roll the ball between the palms of your hands to make it more round.
10. Heat oil to 180 degrees celsius.
11. Fry the balls until brown.
12. Heat 100ml of water with 200gms of sugar in a saucepan until the water thickens, but don't let it go brown.
13. Let it cool a little until the sugar starts to crystalize. Then add the balls and stir them around to frost the balls. Careful it will be hot.

Cinnamon Soup with Egg ( Pa Lo Khai )

A very unusual soup, slightly spicy with the taste of cinnamon. The eggs make it a very filling meal rather than a soup, often served with rice to pad it into a full meal. This is something of an aquired taste, if cinnamon flavored boiled eggs are not for you, you may prefer to try one of the more common Thai dishes first and work up to this.

Ingredients for 2 people
1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon
4 Boiled Eggs
4 Piece of Brown Dry Tofu
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Pepper Corn
1 Tablespoon Chopped Coriander Leaf
1 Teaspoon Dark Soya Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soya Sauce
1 Level Teaspoon Salt
2 Level Tablespoon Sugar
1 Chicken Stock Cube (Or Vegetable Stock for Vegetarian)
200 ml. Water
1 Teaspoon Oil

Preparation
1. Pound the garlic, pepper corns, and coriander together in a pestle.
2. Remove the shell of the boiled eggs.
2. Put the water to boil and add the stock cube in a boiling pan.
3. Heat a frying pan, add the oil and the pounded garlic, pepper, cinnamon and coriander mix and fry.
4. Fry lightly until the garlic is softened.
5. Add the dark Soya sauce, light Soya sauce, salt, and sugar and stir it to mix it.
6. Add the whole boiled egg in fry them for a second to take on some of the flavours.
7. Put the fried ingredients into the boiling pan containing the chicken stock & water.
8. Cut the tofu into bite sized pieces and add to the boiling pan.
9. Boil for 10 minutes and turn heat on low for a gentle simmer for a further 30 minutes.
10. Leave it for cool then serve warm.

Crunchy Pork & Broccoli (Mu Gop)

Mu means pork, Gop means crunchy and as you'd expect the main part of this dish is the crunchy pork. It is normal to use thick strips of bacon, or similar cuts of pork with the skin still present. However not everyone likes the crunchy skin, so you may prefer to remove it. The pork can be prepared ahead of time.

Ingredient for 2 people
150 gms Fatty Pork
200 ml Water
1 Teaspoon Salt
100 gms Broccoli
4 Red Chillies
2 Garlic Clove
1 Tablespoon Light Soya Sauce
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoon Oil

Preparation of Crunchy Pork
1. Add the salt to the water and bring to the boil.
2. Add the pork to the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Take it off the heat and leave the pork to dry. You can prick the pork all over with a fork, it will help to make it crunchier.
4. Once it is dry, deep fry in hot oil.
6. The finished pork should be very very crunchy.

Preparation
1. Chop the garlic and fry it in a hot frying pan for a few seconds to release the garlic fragrance.
2. Chop the crunchy pork into bite sized strips, and put it in the frying pan with the garlic.
3. Add light soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar, and stir fry it for 1 minute.
4. Slice the red chilles in halves and the broccoli into florets and add those to the stir fry.
5. Fry for a few minutes longer, to just lightly cook the broccoli.
6. Serve with hot fragrant rice and optionally, the chilli sauce below.

Preparation for Chilli Sauce
1. Chop a red chilli finely, and chop a garlic clove finely.
2. Put those in a bowl together with a single slice of lemon.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce.
4. Thats it, a spicy chilli sauce - this is a common condiment, if the dish isn't spicy enough, you can add a teaspoon or two to your rice.

Spicy Caramelized Eggs ( Kai Look Kui )

This is a side dish of quails eggs in a spicy sugar-caramel sauce. In Thailand we normally use larger duck or even chicken eggs, but for the best ratio of sauce to egg the smaller quails eggs are perfect.

Ingredients for 2 People
7 Quail Eggs
Oil for Frying
3 Red Chillis
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Teaspoon Chopped Coriander Leaves
1 Tablespoon Chopped Onion
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Sugar

Preparation
1. Boil the eggs for 5 minutes, remove them and place in cold water. Peel off the shell and cut in half.
2. Put oil in the frying pan and fry the quail egg halves until they are brown, remove and put on the serving plate.
3. Slice the chilli and the garlic and put in frying pan with 1 tablespoon oil, fry for a minute to release the flavours.
4. Turn the heat to medium, add the light soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and vinegar and fry until the sugar caramelizes and the sauce thickens and becomes brown.
5. Pour the sauce over the eggs.
6. Add the raw chopped onion over the eggs, together with the chopped coriander leaves.

Rice Paper Pork Parcels ( Guay Tiaw )

These are a steamed snack with vegetables and pork wrapped up in a rice paper packet and steamed. They can be served hot as a starter or cold as a snack. You can see from the photograph that we eat this with fried garlic, it is a good idea to make a batch of fried garlic to be used as a condiment. If you like spicey food drop half a chilli into each parcel as you make them - it will create a burst of hotness as you bite into it.

Ingredients for Family
200 Pork Mince
100 gms Cabbage
100 gms Carrot
100 gms Bamboo
50 gms Glass Noodle
2 Egg
4 Shitake Mushrooms
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Teaspoon Ground White Pepper
5 Tablespooons Light Soy Sauce
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
4 Tablespoons Peanuts
A Little Oil
30 Sheets Rice Paper
Grease proof paper

Preparation
1. Soak the glass noodle and shitake mushroom for 10-15 minutes.
2. Take shitake mushroom and chop finely mix with the pork mince, garlic, and carrot and blend. A food processor is ideal for making this filling.
3. Chop the glass noodle, cabbage, and bamboo into small pieces and add to the mix.
4. Crush or chop the peanuts and add those. In Thailand we pound them in a Thai mortar.
5. Add the pepper, salt, soy sauce, and oyster sauce and eggs into the mix.
6. The mix of vegetables, eggs and pork will become the filling.
7. Soak the rice paper in water for 3 minutes to soften it, do not soak it too long or it will disintegrate.
8. Take a large flat plate and smear oil on it, you will assemble the parcels on this plate and the oil will prevent them sticking.
9. Prepare your steamer by covering the bottom with grease-proof paper, take a knife and cut through the slots so that the steam can go through the paper to reach the food.
10. Drop a lump of the filling into the centre of a sheet of rice paper and fold over the edges into a neat parcel.
11. Put the parcel in a the Chinese steamer, steam it for 8-10 minutes. Do not oversteam the parcel, the rice paper will become too wet if you do.

Glass Noodle, Pork & Nut Spicy Salad ( Yum Woon Sain )

This is another 'gop-gam' style dish, a small spicy dish designed to be eaten with beer or whiskey to cut through the alcohol. Its bulk comes from glass noodle and nuts, with pork mince and spicy onion salad to add the strong flavours.

Ingredients for 2 People (Medium Hot)
100 gms Pork Mince
100 gms Glass Noodle
50 gms Peanut
20 gms Bird Chillies
1 Spring Onion
1 Sprig Coriander
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
200 ml Water
2 Garlic Cloves

Preparation
1. Boil water in the saucepan, add the salt and chop the garlic and add it into the pan.
2. When the water is boiling, add the pork mince and glass noodle and simmer for 4 minutes. Then pour out half of the water.
3. Chop the chillies, spring onion, and coriander into a pot with glass noodles.
4. Toast the peanuts in a dry frying pan to bring out the flavour.
5. Add the fish sauce, sugar, lemon juice, and peanuts and then mix.

Fried Sesame Balls ( Ka Noom Hur Ror )

These balls are a doughy fried snack with a slightly sweet taste. It's quite tricky to get the deep fat frying oil the right temperature to match the size of the ball you're making. Too hot and the outside will burn before the inside gets cooked. Too cold and they soak up oil. The best way to strike a balance is to heat the oil to 170 degrees Celsius, try frying a practice ball until it's brown, then cut it open to see if it's cooked!

Ingredients
150 gms Wheat Flour
1 Egg White
50 gms Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teapsoon Baking Soda (Raising agent Soda + Citric Acid)
1 Tablespoon Water
1 Tablespoon Pork Oil (Pork Lard)

Preparation
1. Sift the flour, with the baking soda (use a packet raising agent, it normally also has citric acid in it) and salt.
2. Mix in the pork lard.
3. Whisk the egg white until frothy then mix with the sugar.
4. Add the egg white & sugar mix, together with the water to the flour.
5. Mix it to a soft dough which will froth due to the baking soda.
6. Heat the oil to 170 degrees Celsius.
7. Leave the dough for 5 minutes till expand.
8. Oil your fingers with a little cold vegetable oil, take a little of the dough in your hand and roll into a ball and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
9. Drop it into the oil, you will find it easier to do that without getting burned if you use a spoon to lower it into the oil.

Sticky Rice Balls with Fish Stuffing ( Koa Neiw side pa Kuor )

This is perfect picnic food, the sticky rice forms good easy to eat balls, and the fried fish filling adds the flavour. These are very easy to eat, leaving no mess. In the photograph above, you can see where I've broken open one of the balls, so you can see the flaked fish inside.

Ingredients
150 gms Cooked Sticky Rice
80 gms White Fish, (Cod Haddock Hake etc.)
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Tablespoons Light Soya Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Preparation
1. Put the oil into the pan over a medium heat.
2. Clean and chop the fish into steaks, fry until any water has been cooked off and the fish is dry. Remove the bones and flake the fish while it's still in the pan.
3. Add salt to the pan, add light soy sauce and black pepper
and fry continue to fry the fish until it is brown.
4. Take 30 gms sticky rice in your hand, flatten it to a disc, put a spoonful of the fish meat into the centre and fold the sticky rice over it to form a ball.

Sticky Rice Egg Cakes ( Koa Neiw Peank Choup Kai )

These look like pancakes, but are sticky rice patties with egg soaked in them. They can be fried or barbecued and make a delicious and very easy to make snack.

Ingredients
300 gms Steamed Sticky Rice
2 Eggs
1 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1/3 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/3 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teablespoons Oil

Preparation
1. Whip the eggs with the salt, pepper, and fish sauce.
2. Put oil into a frying pan over a high heat.
3. Take a handful of sticky rice and flatten it out to a circle. For frying they should be about 2cms thick.
4. Dip the rice into the whipped egg, and fry in the hot pan, turning every 30 seconds until cooked.

Breaded Fish & Herbs ( Pa Tod Grorb Samunprai )

Inside the breadcrumbs there are herbs such as lemon grass and fish meat. It's not really a fish cake, the dominant flavour is the citrus taste from the lemon grass. As you can see from the photograph, I normally eat it with sweet chilli sauce.

Ingredients
200 gms Fish Meat
2 Tablespoons Chopped Lemon Grass
2 Garlic Cloves
1 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Chopped Coriander Root (Or Leaf)
2 Tablespoons Corn Flour
1 Egg
100 gms Breadcrumbs
Oil for Deep Frying

Preparation
1. Chop the fish meat into bite sized pieces then clean and dry them.
2. Pound the garlic with the black peppercorns and chopped coriander until they are finely ground. Add this mix to the fish pieces.
3. Also add the fish sauce, together with the light soy sauce and lemon grass. Leave to marinade for 15 minutes.
4. Put the corn flour and egg and whip together.
5. Heat the oil to 180 degrees Celcium.
6. Add the fish pieces to the egg mix to coat it, dip it in the breadcrumbs.
7. Drop the breaded fish into the hot oil and cook until brown.
8. Serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Pork Peaks ( Nam Prick Sord Side )

A delicious boiled pork dumpling, served with lots of fried garlic. It's traditionally made in this peak shape (as you can see from the photographs), which is why I called it 'pork peaks' in English.

Ingredients
Filling:
50 gms Pork Mince
50 gms Chopped Onions
4 Garlic Cloves
1 Tablespoon Dried Flaked Chilli
1 Teaspoons Salt
1/2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Shrimp Paste
3 Tablespoons Oil

Outer Layer:
100 gms Sticky Rice Flour
50 gms Rice Flour
2 Tablespoons Cassava Starch
50 ml Water
Water for Boiling
Cold Water for Cooling

Preparation
1. Preheat oil in a frying pan.
2. In a blender, mix the pork mince, onion, salt, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, shrimp paste, and flaked chilli together. Blend to form a smooth mince.
3. Fry until cooked, then set aside to cool.
4. To make the rice dough, mix the rice flour, sticky rice flour and starch together. Add 50ml water and mix and knead until its smooth paste.
5. Take a small piece (about 30gms) of the dough, roll it into a ball and flatten in the palm of your hands.

6. Spoon some of the pork mixture into the centre, then fold up the edges and crimp it. If the dough sticks to your fingers, dust your hand with a little cassava starch.
7. To cook, boil a saucepan of water, drop the pork peaks into the pan. They only take a minute or two to cook, and will float up to the surface when cooked. Once cooked, remove and drop into cold water for a few seconds, then remove and allow to drain.

Leaf Chicken Rolls ( Maing Guy )

The kanar leaves (also spelt 'kar na') are an important part of this meal, they add a bitter crispness to contrast the chicken. If you cannot find kanar leaves in your local Asian grocers use a bitter lettuce leaf instead. I like to use fresh peppercorns in this recipe, so that I can leave them in the fried mixture and eat them as part of the parcel.

Ingredients
150 gms Chicken Breast
4 Garlic Cloves
10 gms Green Peppercorns
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Oil
Kanar Leaves

Preparations
1. Chop the chicken breast, put in a blender, add the garlic and blend until they are nicely minced, as you can see from the photograph.
2. Preheat oil in a frying pan. Fry the chicken mince until it's half cooked.
4. Add the fish sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir fry for 2 minutes, then add the green peppercorns.
5. Clean the kanar leaves, and dry them.
6. Place some of the mixture on the kanar leaves, roll them up and serve immediately.

Steamed Vegetables & Spicy Dip ( Nam Prick Gapi Puk Lork )

A very traditional Isan Thai dish, a selection of steamed Thai vegetables with a spicy fish dipping sauce. It's very typical food, but something of an aquired taste.

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Shrimp Paste
2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Warm Water
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
5 Bird Chillies
5 Small Green Aubergines
10 gms Dried Shrimp
3 Garlic Cloves

Preparation
1. This is about as easy as recipes get. You place all the ingredients in a Thai mortar and pound them until they are all ground together. This sauce can be kept for months.
2. Steam the vegetables until cooked.
3. Serve.

Rice Balls & Pickles ( Kao Shu Shi Cloog Ngar Dum )

Another sushi influenced recipe, rather than eat pickled ginger (as the Japanese do), in our house we prefer to eat Thai mixed pickled vegetables. Pickled Thai vegetables can be made by mixing sliced green cabbage, spring onions and chillies with salt and the water that sticky rice is soaked in. It is then left for 2-3 days in hot temperatures to sour them. It's a bit of fuss, but you can just buy them in tins!

Ingredients
200 gms Fragrant Rice ( or Sushi rice if you prefer )
2 Tablespoons White Wine
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1-2 Teaspoons Sugar
1/3 Teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Black Sesame Seeds
Mixed Thai Pickled Vegetables

Preparation
1. Mix the fragrant rice, white wine, vinegar, sygar and salt. Leave for 20 minutes.
2. Take lumps of the rice, and press into cubes.
3. Cover with black sesame seeds.
4. Serve the rice cubes with the soured vegetables & wasabi.

Sliced Pig Ears ( Hu Mu Palo )

Pig ears are a very underrated part of the pig. They have a soft meat and plenty of fat for taste. Here's how we prepare them in Thailand as a snack to eat with beer or whiskey.

Ingredients for 4 People
200 gms Pork Ears
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 Tablespoons Salt
75 gms Sugar
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
10 gms Chopped Coriander Leaves
400 ml Water

Preparation
1. Cleaning the pork ears remove any hairs, chop into 4cm chunks for cooking.
2. Boil the water in a sauce pan with the salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar.
3. When the sugar and salt are dissolved add cinnamon into water.
4. Add the pork ears into the pan and simmer slowly for 1.30 hur.
5. Slice the pigs ear thinly to serve.

Serve with
Spicy Sour Sauce
Alcoholic Drinks

Ingredients for Sauce
5 Bird Chillies
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Teaspoons Sugar
2 Teaspoons Salt
2 Tablespoon Vinegar

Preparation
1. Pound the garlic with the chillies until they are well broken up.
2. Add the salt, sugar and vinegar, and pound it slowly just to mix.
3. Serve in a bowl, or over the sliced pigs ears.

Vegetable Stuffed Pork Balls ( Mu Yut sind Puk )

These deep fried balls are made from pork mince around a vegetable filling flavoured with Thai flavours such as oyster sauce. I eat these with pickles, or you can serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Ingredients
100 gms Pork Mince
50 gms Chopped Carrot
30 gms Chopped Onion
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper
Breadcrumbs
Oil for deep frying

Preparation
1. Mix the pork mince with fish sauce, light soy sauce, salt, and white pepper then leave for 10 minutes for the pork to soak in the ingredients.
2. Into a blender, put the chopped carrot and chopped onion then blend until they are finely diced.
3. Take a piece of the the mix pork mince, about 25gms worth. Flatten it in your hands, spoon the vegetables in the middle and fold up the edges into a ball.
4. Steam them for 10 minutes. The leave them to dry.
5. Heat the oil to 190 degrees celsius.
6. Roll the balls in breadcrumbs, deep fry them just for 30 seconds, just to brown the breadcrumbs.