THAI STICKY RICE AND MANGO DESSERT

Sticky rice is enjoyed in the east as in the west. Although treated differently, they are usually made into comforting desserts. 

BEEF RENDANG

You'd think that warm climes would equate to cooling food but it is quite the opposite. When in Asia, we eat hot food even in the sweltering heat.

THAI STYLE PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE

It is time to prepare for the Chinese New Year and I want to use up the leftovers from the Christmas past. Frozen peas, frozen corn, frozen ham, frozen prawns spell fried rice. I would have made yang chow fried rice but we happened to have a pineapple so I decided to make pineapple fried rice for a change.

FISH SAUCE CHICKEN WINGS

Fish sauce is an ingredient that people either love or hate. The smell is a bit overpowering but the flavour, in tempered amounts, might just be the very thing that would wake up the flavour of any savoury dish. If you have yet to be converted, do read on.

The ubiquitous fish sauce is the tasty agent that sets these wings apart. Recipes that greatly vary from each other are popping up in a lot of food sites and I was just intrigued. After reading the recipe for Ike's Vietnamese fish sauce chicken wings (popularized by the Pok Pok Restaurant in Portland, Oregon), I just had to make it.

THAI STYLE STIR FRIED CHICKEN WITH BASIL

I was still enjoying the last vestiges of summer when I heard the countdown for Christmas. Chunks of time seem to have disappeared and I can't remember what happened between the beginning of summer and now. I know that I can't think or move fast enough to make up for lost time but I can surely plan spending every bit of time wisely from now on.

THAI STYLE BEEF SALAD

My teenage daughter had dinner with some friends at a Thai restaurant recently. She loves Thai food and was looking forward to the meal as well as the company. She ordered Thai beef salad and thoroughly enjoyed but said it was a bit too hot for her taste. We are all fans of Thai food but can't hack the heat sometimes. It is the birds eye chillies that they use that can leave bit of sting on the tongue.

CHICKEN AND PRAWN PAD THAI

Pad Thai is the perfect epitome of Thai cooking. It is sweet, sour, salty and spicy. It is so delicious and has become ever popular and readily available in most places, even in the ready meals section of the supermarket. Now this is when things go wrong. If food becomes so popular, it becomes commercial and starts to veer away from the essential flavours that it is supposed to have. This is the reason why I'd rather cook pad Thai myself even if I know that I'll never be able to do it as well as the Thais do. At least I know that the end result will be to my liking.

THAI STYLE GREEN CHICKEN CURRY

Thai green curry has become quite a phenomenon in the West. That creamy, aromatic and deceptively mild looking curry dish in restaurants packs a punch and gets your mouth in a fierce burning grip in seconds. Although I love the flavour, I can't bear the heat.

THAI STYLE MUSSEL PANCAKE

Not the usual pancake from IHOP. This is a savoury and exciting pancake with mussels. This pancake has all the exciting flavours of the Orient. The best feature is a whole egg in the middle. Eggs feature a lot in Oriental cuisines, often in fried form. Everything seems nicer when served with eggs. Fried eggs are so seductive when the liquid yolks ooze out, don't you think so? If in doubt, just add fried eggs. That seems to be the running culinary motto.

TOM YUM (HOT AND SOUR PRAWN SOUP)

I have been busy the past few days and was caught unaware that the deadline for posting a Filipino dish for the Kulinarya Cooking Club is today. Apologies to the club. The theme for this month is sinigang which is a sour soup, generally speaking. It is soured by  any ingredient of choice depending on the region the cook comes from: tamarind (the most popular), tomatoes, guavas, green maggoes, pineapple (my favourite). The main ingredient can be beef, pork, chicken, fish or prawns. A variety of vegetables goes in which results in a very tasty bowl of goodness. 

SWEET PORK WITH LEMON GRASS AND CINNAMON

I love Asian stews with brown sauces. Even before tasting them, I know that they will have the characteristic taste of soy sauce. In the Philippines, we are rather reserved with the addition of aromatics. In other Asian countries, however, there is a pleasant surprising twist in a lot of dishes.

THAI STYLE FISH CAKES

I like Thai food a lot. The combination of flavours are very well balanced even in simple dishes such as fish cakes. These fish cakes has all the essential flavours of Thai food: sweet, salty, sour, hot.