Khanom Badin: Thai-Muslim Butter Cake (ขนมบดิน)

By on June 13, 2012 in She Bakes, She Explores, She Thais, She Veges


Here’s the plan: I’m going to shamelessly romanticize a cake in this post. I’m going to say that a cake is not always just a cake – as in the culmination of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar – but that a cake can be more than just a cake. I’m going to tell you about one particular cake and how it’s not just a cake but something meaningful enough to change someone’s direction in life. Then I’m going to turn around and tell you that this is a cake that, after all is said and done, is a delicious cake.

Please let me take you to a lesser known corner of Bangkok whence this cake comes while you’re trying to grasp the gibberish profundity that is the previous paragraph. Here, gimme your hand. You look a little discombobulated. Continue Reading →

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Fruit Dips, Thai Style

By on June 4, 2012 in Featured Posts, She Deglutenizes, She Drizzles and Smears, She Stocks a Thai Pantry, She Thais, She Uncooks, She Veges


Quite a few readers have written me regarding Thai-style fruit dips saying how they wish there wasn’t any dried fish or fish sauce involved. Actually, the way the comments were worded is a little more interesting, a weird cross between disbelief and curiosity with a tiny, tiny tinge of disgust. I don’t blame them; I know how that feels. When I was invited to my first American thanksgiving dinner, I swallowed hard — and not in a good way — when I saw roasted turkey with gravy sitting between a pile of candied yams with broiled marshmallow topping and a quivering blob of fruit jelly called, “cranberry sauce.” I, of course, grew more accustomed to that combination and even came to like it. But, admittedly, the first encounter was pretty rough.

Our view regarding what should and shouldn’t be is all conditioned by culture. Tart green mangoes and a sticky dip containing fish sauce, palm sugar, and dried shrimp together are to most Thai people what apple pie and vanilla ice cream are to most Americans. In other words, fish and fruits work for us.

But if you don’t like it, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Besides, there are other Thai-style fruit dips that don’t have fish products in them. Please allow me to introduce to you the most common three that go very well with tart fruits. Continue Reading →

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Pan-Fried Chive Cakes (ขนมกุยช่ายแบบสี่เหลี่ยม)

By on May 21, 2012 in She Deglutenizes, She Drizzles and Smears, She Fries, She Steams, She Thais, She Veges


One of the most commonly seen street food items in Bangkok is these chive cakes. As opposed to their (almost always) round, filled cousins that are sold in both steamed and steamed-then-pan-fried forms, these square chive cakes are always pan-fried until the exteriors are crispy. Both varieties are often found right next to one another. They’re also served with the same spicy, sweet and sour dipping soy sauce.

My favorite kind of Chinese chive cakes is the round, filled kind. I also like them steamed and not fried. But since I have not been able to perfect a recipe for that type of chive cakes (not much luck with many of the recipes out there including my mother’s), this has got to do for now. Continue Reading →

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