She broke up a relationship – this Pa Yai. Okay, fine, so that’s not exactly how things went down. But, yeah, this nocturnal Bangkok street food vendor with a huge cult following was indirectly involved in what eventually led to a fermented pork-related breakup.
I’m going to assume you want to know the story. Here it is. Continue Reading →
Sometimes, I feel like all the brilliant friends I am fortunate to have, but perhaps don’t deserve, should be the ones writing this blog. My friend B very recently allowed me to share her Khao Na Gai recipe with you. Then a few weeks ago, my friend L showed me the only way he had been making perfect Thai sticky rice for the past several months. It’s done without a steamer.
I’ve tried this method many times since then, mostly just to prove him a misguided heretic. But in the end, I, too, have willingly joined the cult of splatter guard. And the post I had written and kept in the draft folder on 5 ways to perfectly steam sticky rice has suddenly been rendered obsolete. Continue Reading →
Though Miang Kham (เมี่ยงคำ), the so-called one-bite salad with sweet and sticky sauce (there’s a recipe for it in Simple Thai Food), has rightfully hogged all the limelight all these years, it should be noted that it is by no means the only dish in the family of miang (เมี่ยง) wherein various tiny little things are anointed with a sauce and wrapped up in a leaf to form one perfect bite. Just as anything can be turned into a yam (ยำ), a spicy salad with fish sauce and lime juice as the main seasoning, pretty much anything can be turned into a miang.
Let your imagination take flight. Think of what makes a good combination of flavors and textures and go for it. Your job as a miang maker is to create a place where the different ingredients not only bring out the best in one another but also, together with the sauce, form a unified whole that is so good you don’t want to remove any components or add more to the mix. When you’ve got that situation going on, you know you have a good miang — something to set in front of a group of friends, inviting them to put together with their hands one bite after another of a composed salad.
This is one of the miangs I like. I hope you do too. Continue Reading →
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Introducing THE EPESTLE
Bury Me in Nam Phrik: Mike Sula’s Exploration of Thai Relishes (Plus Salted Soybean-Pork Rind Relish Recipe)
Food and Cooking in Thai TV Dramas, Love Destiny, 17th Century Siam, and Crispy Noodle-Wrapped Pork Dumplings
A Simple Thai Dipping Sauce
Northern Thai Rice Noodle Soup with Pork Ribs, Dried Cotton Flowers, and Tomatoes (Khanom Jin Nam Ngiao)
How to Prepare Rice Vermicelli (Khanom Jin) from Dried Noodles
How to Prepare Pomelos for Thai Pomelo Salad
