Courses Archives: One-Plate Meal

Fried Rice with Cured Pork (ข้าวผัดแหนม)

By on November 15, 2015 in She Deglutenizes, She Fries, She Thais, Uncategorized

Fried Rice with Cured Pork
Five years ago, I brought naem to your attention. Since then I’ve shown you how to make a pork rib version and a beef short rib version of it. I’ve sneaked into the kitchen of a restaurant in Chicago that serves a crispy rice salad featuring this cured meat. I’ve dragged my rear end to a street stall in Bangkok in the middle of the night to bring you another version of said rice salad with naem. Most recently, I’ve also shown you how you can add naem to a Thai-style omelet. So I’ll assume you’re familiar with this type of cured pork* that’s heavily consumed in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. If not, please read this post. Continue Reading →

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Creamy Egg Crepe on Rice (Khao Khai Khon ข้าวไข่ข้น)

By on April 17, 2014 in She Deglutenizes, She Fries, She Thais, Uncategorized

Creamy Egg Crepe on Rice
A new friend whom I met during my most recent trip back to Bangkok was sitting on my lap as we were going through the first few pages of The Little Prince together. This was 4-year-old Jade’s first exposure to the French classic and her sparkling brown eyes were transfixed on the pages as I was reading off them. Soon we got to the famous part where the narrator recounts the time during his childhood when he drew a picture of a boa constrictor who had swallowed an elephant and how the adults all thought it was a drawing of a hat.

“Nuh-uh,” Jade closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly. “This is not a boa constrictor with an elephant in his tummy.”

“But, Jade, that’s what the narrator is telling us,” I said. “That was what he had in mind when he drew it.”

Jade turned around to look me in the eye. “He was kidding, Leela,” Jade uttered a faint sigh. “Don’t you see? That’s khao khai khon!” Continue Reading →

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Rice-Pumpkin Porridge with Garlic Shrimp and Pumpkin Seeds (ข้าวตุ๋นฟักทองใส่กุ้งกับเมล็ดฟักทอง)

By on November 9, 2013 in She Deglutenizes, She Simmers, She Thais, Uncategorized

Rice Pumpkin Porridge with Garlic Shrimp and Crispy Pumpkin Seeds
This is a grown-up version of what’s supposed to be my favorite baby food. I was a pretty quiet baby, but my mom used to tell me that whenever she fed me this, I started ‘talking’ a lot. She took it to mean I liked it.

I love this dish as an adult and make it often. The salty garlic shrimp balances out the sweet rice-pumpkin porridge. The pumpkin seeds add some crunch to what would otherwise be a texturally dull mush. Vegans can use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and salt instead of fish sauce and skip the shrimp or replace them with mushrooms.

I can’t say anything about whether you’ll get more talkative after you eat this porridge. But if that happens, perhaps you and I (well, the baby version of me, anyway) have more in common than previously thought. Continue Reading →

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