How to Cook Sticky Rice the Easy Way and without a Steamer

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.

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Khao Na Gai: Chicken in Brown Gravy over Rice

Khao Na Gai (ข้าวหน้าไก่) is one of my favorite one-dish foods in the whole world. I can tell you all about my favorite Khao Na Gai joint in Phlapphlachai district which has been feeding grateful Bangkokians for almost a century, and how if there's one place worth schlepping your kids, pets, and parents across town for just a plate of Chinese-style chicken in brown gravy over rice for, it's this one. But I won't.

For once, I'll make a post short and free of tangents so you can focus on this comfort food. It's easy and costs very little money to make. The version presented here is also one of the simplest out there. Some people add shiitake mushrooms to the sauce. Some people add sliced bamboo shoot. Some insist on topping it all off with a fried egg. I don't. I never have. The beauty of Khao Na Gai is in the tender marinated chicken and the rich, flavorful gravy redolent of Chinese rice wine and sesame oil. The browned and crisped Chinese sausage slices are optional. The sliced jalapeño and fresh cilantro leaves, on the other hand, are not, if you ask me.

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Cucumber Relish for Satay: Ajat, Ajad, Achad (อาจาด)

Since it took me 10 minutes to make a bowl of this flash-pickled condiment, I thought the writing of this post was going to take 30 minutes at the most. I would snap a few pictures of the cucumber relish, post them on here, write a couple of paragraphs, and move on with my life. Boy, was I wrong.

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Sardines in Tomato Sauce Salad Thai-Style - Yam Pla Kra-Pong (ยำปลากระป๋อง)

I drafted a short post on canned sardines in tomato sauce (ปลากระป๋อง) earlier this year during the time when the city of Bangkok went through one of the most heart-wrenching turmoils in her 228 years. Then I decided against it and, instead, wrote a different post to dedicate to the country and people that I love. This sad little post had since then been sitting in my draft folder, pouting, seething, ... forgotten.

I can't even fully recall why I chose to blog about canned sardines. Perhaps it had something to do with the the state of emergency being declared in Bangkok during that time and how my friends and family over there wiped the shelves of their neighborhood 7-11 stores clean in preparation for a Y2K-sized catastrophe. I don't know.

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Thai Crispy Fish with Green Mango Salad - Yam Pla-Duk Fu (ยำปลาดุกฟู): In Memory of the Pla Called Duk

This unique salad is one of those things that make me go, "Man, this is why I love Thai food!" The combination of a crispy, airy nest of fish meat and a tart, sweet salad of fresh green mango just cannot be beat. There are so many textures and flavors going on; yet they all work together so beautifully you can't help but thinking that whoever first thought this up sure was bright. Beer drinkers nationwide would probably want to have that person sainted also for, this Thai crispy fish with green mango salad has got to be one of the most loved classic "drinking foods" of all time.

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Challah with Spiced Apple-Raisin Filling for Rosh Hashanah

I am certainly not the only non-Jew whose life revolves around the ancient Semitic, especially Jewish, languages and cultures. But sometimes I wonder. Do other people get a curious glance whenever they show any familiarity with all the High Holidays on the Jewish calendar? Do they get a tight-eyed, sustained stare when they involuntarily blurt out things like, “Hey, tomorrow is Rosh Hashanah!”

After all, I’m just stating fact; it’s not like I’m telling them about my imaginary Eastern European grandmother.

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Thai Roasted Eggplant Salad with Shrimp (ยำมะเขือยาว) and Therapy Sessions over Rice Milk with Khun Tuad

This is one of the relatively old-fashioned dishes which are becoming more and more difficult to find in Thailand these days. Your chances of finding this salad at Thai restaurants outside Thailand that cater primarily to westerners are also somewhat slim. It's a shame. Roasted eggplant salad represents a whole other side of the traditional Thai cuisine which, in my incredulously subjective opinion, belongs to a higher, more sophisticated class to which the like of Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, or Raad Naa, don't even come close. So when my reader, Mary, requested this recipe, I was more than happy to oblige.

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