Soy Sauces Used in Modern Thai Cooking and How to Make Your Own All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce

Throughout 2010 and beyond* you will see posts consistently, though not consecutively, published on this blog on how to equip your kitchen and stock your pantry with items that are sitting in the homes of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends in Bangkok as we speak as well as how to turn those ingredients into either 1. the dishes we eat over there, or 2. the dishes you can't get enough of at your favorite Thai restaurants outside Thailand, or both.

The goal is to get you acquainted with Thai/Southeast Asian ingredients so that you won't find them intimidating any longer, assuming that is presently the case. Then it's just a matter of knowing how to make the most of those ingredients in the realm of Thai cooking.

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Best Dinner Rolls - Old-Fashioned and Rustic

Ask 100 people to describe to you their ideal hamburgers, pancakes, cinnamon buns, etc., and you will most likely get 100 different opinions some of which are entirely incompatible and all of which are subjective. But isn't that the way it is with pretty much everything in this world? How, then, can we evaluate all these opinions and decide which one(s) we should allow to influence our position regarding the issue at hand?

Personally, when it comes to matters in which there is no clear right or wrong, I often find myself influenced by people who can aptly, logically, and eloquently outline the reasons behind their position. This is why it's kind of sad that some valid opinions in this world are dismissed because they are ineptly presented, oftentimes with the underlying belief that the louder or insistent one is, the more authoritative and, consequently, the more convincing one appears.

I'm not sure how aptly, logically, or eloquently I can state the reasons for my intense like of these dinner rolls. My guess is - not much. But would you kindly allow me to try anyway?

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Durian Flan คัสตาร์ดทุเรียน

Ah, durian. Can you think of any fruit that's more controversial and divisive? You either despise it or adore it.

Those who hate it, please avert your eyes (Now that you're here, may I interest you with some Thai or gluten-free recipes in the archives?). Those who can't have enough of it, please read on.

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Crispy Satay-Flavored Mushroom Cigars with Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, Charlie Brown, and I

Lucy: Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton. I could just lie here all day and watch them drift by. If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations. What do you think you see, Linus?

Linus: Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean. [points up] That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor. And that group of clouds over there ... [points] ... gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen. I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.

Lucy: Uh huh. That's very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown: Well ... I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.*




Since my buddy Mel of Gourmet Fury and I started co-hosting Beet n Squash YOU!, our monthly vegetable-themed food "fight," in November 2009, we have been dazzled by the ingenuity and talent that the participants have shown through their entries. Check out past records of our previous battles and you'll see what I mean.

I don't know about you, but sometimes that makes me a bit insecure.

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Thai-Style Coconut Milk Gelato ไอศครีมกะทิ ตามแบบไอศครีมทิพย์รส

Growing up, I lived in the same zip code as the most famous ice cream store in Bangkok, ไอศครีมทิพย์รส, that, for more than four decades, have sold all kinds of Thai-style ice cream, the most popular of which is the fresh coconut milk ice cream (ไอศครีมกะทิสด ). Every time our whole clan got together, we ordered from them by a truckload.

This mildly-sweet gelato is as close as it gets to that Thai-style coconut ice cream of my childhood. The texture is silky smooth and creamy. It never develops icy crystals and scoops easily right out of the freezer. I don't remember which of my aunts came up with this recipe, but it has been with us since before I was born.

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Buttered Napa Cabbage and Edamame: Announcing the Winners of Battle Napa Cabbage

This simple side dish consists of nothing more than lightly steamed slices of napa cabbage and shelled edamame. The vegetables are glistened with melted butter and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. It's one of those sides that are simple enough for a weeknight dinner, elegant enough for company, take minutes to make, cost very little money, go with just about everything, and allow you to really taste the vegetables.

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The Best Lemon Pudding Cake Recipe I have Found To Date

[My rant on lemon as a symbol and the chick that turned on King Solomon.]

You know that perfect lemon pudding or soufflé cake that is:

so ridiculously easy and very quick to make,

emphatically lemony,

neither too sweet nor too tart,

relatively low in fat but tastes like it contains tons of it,

self-separated into three delicious layers of spongy cake on top, custard in the middle, and thick, creamy, lemony sauce at the bottom?

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Napa Cabbage Salad with Thai Peanut Dressing and Crispy Glass Noodles

In college, a friend introduced me to a salad made of fresh napa cabbage, sliced thin, dressed in a tangy sesame-ginger dressing, and topped with toasted almond slices and bits of instant ramen noodles, right out of the package. This salad, a beautiful symphony of crunch and tang, was a hit among our group. Should you be interested in the recipe, I'm sure, it can be found online very easily due to the popularity.

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Mochitsuki 餅つき - Celebrating the New Year at Mitsuwa

While mochi (餅) is made and eaten all year round, the Japanese treat is made the old-fashioned way and consumed around the beginning of each new calendar year. Fortunately for me and other Chicagoans, Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington heights, Illinois, has a tradition of holding a mochitsuki (餅つき) or mochi pounding ceremony on January 1st. Since this fun ceremony is rarely done outside Japan, to be able to join in the fun at the largest Japanese market in the Midwest makes the New Year celebration even more delightful.

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