Jason over at Isaanstyle.blogspot.com has sent Joy’s Thai Food blog a lot of traffic over the couple years we’ve been in existence.

If you haven’t seen Jason’s blog, head on over. He is an Australian guy teaching in Thailand’s Northeast – the Isaan region. He writes from the point of view of a foreigner coming to terms with all that’s different between western and eastern ways. He writes a LOT. He has a ton of photos.

You may not agree with him when he rants – but then that’s your choice… he really gives exceptional coverage of what it’s like to live in Ubon Ratchathani among Thais.

Cheers Jason!

Vern & Joy

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Sawasdee Ka!

We decided to give away one of our eBooks for free when you purchase the original 101 page Thai food ebook.

Order Joy’s Thai Food Recipe Ebook here!

If you don’t know what an e-book is, it’s simply a Word file with photos and nice formatting converted into an Adobe PDF format that you can read on your computer, PDA, phone, or maybe even your watch. It makes the files easy to read on electronic readers too – you may have heard about Microsoft’s and Amazon’s new readers. They are e-book readers designed specially for reading e-books.

We are giving away a sample PDF file of the first 11 pages of Joy’s Thai Food Recipe eBook below. When you order you’ll receive 2 more free ebooks as well as a Buddhist pendant for your necklace and either two Buddhist bracelets or stickers.

Joy’s Thai Food Recipe E-book Sample, 11 pages, fully illustrated, fully FREE! This is to give you an idea what you’re getting. But there’s more…

If you order the above book you’ll get 2 more eBooks free:

• Joy’s Top 20 Thai Desserts eBook – 42 pages of the best desserts Thailand has to offer!
• Thai Photo Journal – a personal look at some of the amazing Thailand experiences we’ve shared.

and, a Buddhist pendant to wear on your necklace…

and, two woven Buddhist bracelets or stickers (you choose)…

Order here!

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Here is another post we did at one of our other sites (ThaiPulse.com). It’s Vern’s explanation of Som Tam!

Som Tam: What is it?

If you want to see Joy’s Som Tam recipe in another language click link:

Som Tam in French

Som Tam in German

Som Tam in Spanish

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หมกปลาซิว Mok Pla Siw (Fish and herbs wrapped in banana leaves)

Prepare:

2 cup very small fish (As small as you can find)
5 red chili peppers
5 dried red chili peppers
5 cloves garlic
5 red onions
1 handful basil (ใบแมงลัก)
2 tbsp. fish sauce
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 tbsp. minced galingale
1 handful cut scallion (1 inch long)
2 handful cut dill (1 inch long) I like this one so I added a lot
1 tbsp. slice lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 tbsp. Pla Rah (fermented fish sauce)
Banana leaves

Cooking Instructions:

1. Ground chili peppers, red onions and garlic all together.

2. Clean the tiny fish very well and put in a big bowl.

3. Add fish sauce, sugar, pla rah, minced galingale, lemongrassm kaffir lime leaves, basil, dill and scallion.

4. Taste it. If you like how it taste then wrap it in banana leaves. If not, add more Pla Rah. At this step, you don’t have to make artistic banana wrap. haha Just do anything to keep it whole the food. Maybe use toothpick.  

Ah! I forgot you can use foil paper (for food). That would make it easier, huh? But banana leaves will give a unique smell though, if you would like to try.

5. With banana leaves, you can grill on fire. With foil paper, cook in microwave for 5-10 minutes.

6. Other option, add everything in a clay pot. It will also have a distinctive smell.

7. Serve with sticky rice.  

 

It is Isaan Style food and a farmer recipe from my mom. When you worked hard on the farm, in the heat, this recipe will increase your appetites.

Have you ever been offered to eat the whole fish by Thai People? Whole fish.. I mean its meat, its bones and its head. That’s how we eat it. The whole thing, especially a tiny fish would be easy to chew and swallow. I ate like that as well! because I am Isaan! Hahaha

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Bamboo Salad ซุปหน่อไม้

Bamboo Salad
ซุปหน่อไม้
Soup No Mai

Prepare:

2 cups boiled and scraped Bamboo
1 cup Bai Ya Nang (Look at my post here to see what kind of green leaves I use)
http://trythaifood.thaipulse.com/2007/01/thai-isaan-food-recipe-ho-mok-gai-sai.html

1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. Pla rah (fermented fish sauce)
1 tbsp. roasted sesame (then ground it finely, blow out the burnt dust)
2 tbsp. Khao Bue-ah (soaked uncooked rice)
1 tsp. dried chili pepper powder
2 tbsp. mints
2 tbsp. Sliced red onion
1 tbsp. chili peppers (ground)
2 tbsp. Sliced coriander
2 tbsp. Sliced scallion
1 tbsp. Sliced parsley

Cooking Instructions: 

 

1. Boil the bamboo and scraped it with fork. Cut it short about 10cm.

2. Finely ground Khao Bue-ah with Bai Ya nang. Add 1 cup of water and squeeze until you get green juice.

3. Wash scraped bamboo again with clean water and place into the pot.

4. Add green juice, salt, pla rah juice and chili pepper. Boil it with medium heat until it’s boiling.

5. After that, turn off the fire and wait until it’s cool off.

6. Next, add coriander, scallion, parsley, sliced red onion and dried chili peppers. Mix well.

 

 

The juice in this recipe should be a little thick and should not be too much.

Top with roasted sesame and mints. Serve with sticky rice and eat under the big tree by the rice fields.

Hehe can you imagine that picture?? That’s what we do… ;P

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Crispy Mandarin Duck in Isaan Sour and Spicy Salad, Laab Bped Tod Grob

Laab Bped Tod Grob
(Crispy Mandarin Duck in Isaan Sour and Spicy Salad)
ลาบเป็ดทอดกรอบ

Prepare:

1 mandarin duck (1kg.)
5 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup sliced lemon grass
1/2 cup kaffir lime leaves
1 tbsp. chili powder
3 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. fish sauce
3 tbsp. fried or roast peanut
7 dry chili peppers (fried)
1/4 tsp. sugar
4 tbsp. roasted uncooked rice (ground finely)
Any vegetables you like

Cooking Instructions:

1. Clean the duck very well. Cut the meat part that attached to its skin. Boil it in boiling water cut it a bite size and rest them drain in a filter.

2. Heat the pan on medium flame. Fry red onions, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, one after each one. When they get crunchy, remove from the pan and leave it drain in the filter.

3. Next, in the same pan, fry the boiled mandarin duck. When it turns gold and crunchy, remove and leave it drain.

4. Now, in a big bowl, add chili powder, lemon juice, fish sauce and mix well. Add fried red onion, lemongrass, kaffir lime leave, peanut, fried dry chili peppers and roasted uncooked rice.

Making it taste more or less sour and spicy are up to you. Balance the taste with sugar. Arrange fried mandarin duck on the plate and dress the spicy and sour salad on top.

Put fresh vegetables on a side, any kind that you like. I would love to have cucumber, long string bean, cabbage, winged bean for sure, and eggplants. Laab Bped Tod Grob is one of my favorite recipes from Sisaket. You can either grill the duck or fry before you mix with Isaan spicy and sour salad.

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Pork Ribs in Isaan Style Soup in Thai, Gang Si Krong Moo Phak Boong

Pork Ribs in Isaan Style Soup
Gang Si Krong Moo Phak Boong

แกงซี่โครงหมูผักบุ้ง

Prepare:

300 g. soft pork ribs
2 cup cut morning glory (Phak Boong)
1/4 cup fermented fish juice (Pla Rah)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
5 cup stock from pork bone
3 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. concentrated tamarind juice
1/2 tbsp. palm sugar
2 kaffir lime leave

Prepare the paste:

1 tbsp. minced galingale
4 tbsp. finely cut lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
4 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. minced turmeric

Cooking Instructions:

1. Ground galingale, lemongrass, garlic and turmeric together and rest them in a cup.

2. Boil fermented fish juice (Pla Rah) in a pot. When Pla Rah is boiling, turn off the fire and pour it on the filter to take just the juice part.

3. Next, heat the pan on medium fire. Add vegetable oil and fry the paste that we prepared from step 1. When the paste has aromatic smell, add stock from pork.

4. After that, add pork ribs. Lower the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Add morning glory, fish sauce, salt, tamarind juice, palm sugar and Pla Rah. Mix well.

5. Make the taste sour and salty. When it is boiling again, throw kaffir lime leaves and turn of the fire.

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Tom Yum Pork, Isaan Style, Tom Sab Moo

Tom Yum Pork, Isaan Style

Tom Sab!! Moo

ต้มแซบหมู

Prepare:

1 cup pork, Choose soft bone and the rib about 600gram2 tbsp. sliced young galingale
1 group lemongrass (sliced 1 inch)
3 tbsp. cut red onion
5 kaffir lime leaves
5 crushed coriander roots
2 pickled garlic (sweet)
3 crystal sugar
7 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. minced chicken breast
6 tbsp. lemon juice
3 tbsp. dried chili powder
3 tbsp. roasted and finely crushed uncooked rice
1/4 cup sliced scallion
1/4 cup sliced parsley
1/4 cup sweet basil

Cooking Instructions:

1. Clean the pork very well. Cut it to the bite size.

2. Add water to 1/2 of the pot. Boil the pork on medium heat until it’s boiling. After that use low heat and cook the pork for 1 hour or until the pork rib get soft.

3. While you are cooking the pork, in a different stove, use low fire to heat the pan. When the pan is hot, throw galingale, lemongrass, red onion, kaffir lime leaves and coriander root and roast.

4. Remove them from the pan when it has aromatic smell and crush them altogether.

How to make roasted and finely crushed uncooked rice is also the same. We just throw handful of uncooked rice into the hot pan and keep stirring. Wait until it gets yellow then remove and crush it with mortar.

5. Now get back to the boiling pot. Add the roasted and crushed galingale, lemongrass, red onion, kaffir lime leaves and coriander root and mix well.

6. Add pickle garlic (sweet), crystal sugar, salt, fish sauce and mix it very well.

7. Then, take 1/2 cup stock from boiling pot. Mix minced chicken into that stock and pour it back to the pot. Turn off the fire.

8. Add dried chili powder, roasted and crushed uncooked rice, scallion, coriander and sweet basil.

When you are ready to serve, add lemon juice in to the bowl. This way the heat will not destroy the taste and nice smell of the lemon.

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