Pork Ball Soup (Gaeng Jued) is the first soup that I learned how to make, because it’s very easy. Gaeng Jued literally means “No Taste” soup. Most Thai food has many flavors in one dish and most of the dishes have very strong tastes, but this dish is a little more delicate and light. Gaeng Jued is a great dish for eating on a cold day, and along side spicy dishes to clear your palate.
In Thai we call this dish Khao Pad. Khao means rice, and Pad means to fry. Rice is the main export product of Thailand, and has a history of cultivation going back thousands of years. The word for meal in Thai is Gin Khao which literally means eat rice.
Fried Rice is very easy and fast to make, this dish is considered fast food in Thailand and is always an option when you want to make something quick, easy and good.
Everyone makes fried rice a bit differently, so feel free to experiment with different ingredients that you have in your fridge. This recipe uses chicken, but you can substitute pork, shrimp, or tofu. You can also add vegetables such as carrots and broccoli. Experiment with what you like. There’s even a variety in Thailand called American Fried Rice that's make with ketchup!
Thai Coconut Chicken Soup, or Tom Kha Gai, has a blend of tastes that gives this soup a very unique flavor. Tom Kha means "boiled galangal", which is a variety of ginger root and is the main ingredient in this recipe. The soup has the main flavor of galangal and the coconut milk is used to create a mild, rich and creamy taste. A little lime juice makes this soup a perfect blend of spicy, sweet, and sour.
Thai Coconut Chicken Soup is a dish from the central part of Thailand, but served in Thai restaurants all over. I grew up eating this soup because my dad is from the central part of Thailand and this soup is his favorite (ed: and her husband's too!). My dad taught me how to cook Thai Coconut Chicken Soup, and we usually have it during the winter, its great for those cold days in Thailand where it gets down to a chilly 70°F (21°C)! It has a rich and creamy taste and the spice from galangal keeps you warm.
Pad Thai is a very common dish in Thailand, and can be found throughout the country. Like a lot of foods in Thailand, the best Pad Thai can be usually be found at the street vendors. Pad Thai's combination of succulent shrimp on a bed of noodles, surrounded by crispy fresh vegetables makes it a favorite dish with westerners too.
The real secret though to Pad Thai is the sauce, the sour of the tamarind paste should not be overwhelmed by the sweetness of the palm sugar. Add in the fish sauce, and you have a sauce that's equal parts sweet, sour, and salty, perfectly balanced together. This is where Pad Thai's signature taste comes from.
Personal tastes being what they are, Pad Thai is usually served with additional lime, chili, peanuts, chives and sprouts on the sides so that people can flavor the dish to their preferences. A quick tip: if you are one of those people who don't like things "too fishy", we'd recommend leaving out the dried shrimp in this recipe.
Please keep in mind Pad Thai is not really "easy Thai food", in that there are a lot of ingredients and prep time, and the proportions have to be just right. If you are just starting out cooking Thai food, you may be better off starting with one of our other recipes. But so many people asked us how to make this recipe we thought we would share our version, please let us know how you like it.
Green Curry is another common dish in Thailand. This Thai curry recipe is from the central part of Thailand, but you can find it all around country. You can cook it with chicken or pork. In Thailand we use the eggplant that actually looks like an egg, the ones you find in the USA are big and purple, but you can use those too. Usually green curry is served with rice, but you can also can eat with thai noodles called Khanom Jean. It's great for lunch and dinner.
Main Course
