Thai Restaurant Menu - 01

I know a lot of the readers of these blogs love Thai food so I decided to treat you to some pictures of food I eat here in Thailand. I was at a restaurant last night called Paknam Seafood Restaurant. It is just around the corner from us on Sukhumwit Road. There were four of us, so we ordered five different dishes:

ผัดผักรวมมิตร - pat pak ruam mitstir-fried vegetables

I always order a stir-fried vegetable dish. This goes with most dishes. It is quite easy to cook. I do a version of this at home a lot. In this dish, there is kale, baby sweetcorn, spring onion, carrots and mushrooms. It is probably advisable to pre-cook the kale in hot water first. Then heat up a wok and fry the garlic until golden brown. Add the vegetables. Season with oyster sauce, sugar, pepper and salt. Very simple but effective.

ไก่ผัดเม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานต์ - gai pat met ma-muang him-ma-paanfried chicken with cashew nuts

I quite often order this dish. It is very delicious. You can see in the picture above that the chicken is deep fried and crispy. Other restaurants just lightly fry the chicken. To cook, fry some garlic in the wok until golden brown. Add the chicken. Like any Thai dish, make sure it is already cut bite sized because Thai people don't use knives when eating. After the chicken is cooked, add onion, cashew nuts, fried dry chilis, and one green pepper (or red pepper if you like). Season with fish sauce, dark soy sauce and salt.

ปลาหมึกผัดไข่เค็ม - bla-meuk pat kai kemstir-fried squid with salted egg

This is the first time I have eaten this dish so I don't really have much to say. It was my guest's choice. As you can see, there is squid, red chilil, green pepper and carrot. And of course salted egg!

ต้มยำกุ้ง - tom yam gunglemon grass soup with prawns

This hot and sour prawn soup is always a favourite. However, I think it is safe to say that every restaurant I have been to use a very different recipe. Some of them are clear soup, others white, and as you can see, this one is red. I like it hot and spicey. The main ingredients are prawns, mushrooms, red chilies, coconut flesh, galangal (related to ginger family), lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, and is seasoned with fish sauce and lime juice.

แกงเขียวหวานไก่ - gaeng kiaw waan gaigreen curry with chicken

This is green curry with chicken but you can have pork or beef. Just tell them what meat you want to add. Apart from the green curry paste and coconut milk, the main ingredients are eggplants, red chilies, kaffir lime leaves, sweet basil leaf and seasoned with fish sauce and palm sugar.