Tofu and Minced Pork (tao hoo song kreaung)
เต้าหู้ทรงเครื่อง

This is our weekly Thai menu where we try to buy lunch for four people with a budget of only 100 baht. The first one today is deep fried tofu with minced pork. It is not that difficult to cook. You just need to deep fry the tofu first until it turns yellow. Then stir-fry the minced pork with the pork. I am not always a fan of tofu, but I do quite like it in a number of different Thai recipes. This dish cost us 25 baht.

Spare Ribs Soup (tom soop gradook moo)
ต้มซุปกระดูกหมู

The second dish is a plain soup with pork spare ribs and mushroom. Not very exciting, but always nice to have such a dish to counterbalance anything else which is spicy. On the far left of the picture you can see bamboo "tissue" which is a soft substance from the inside of a bamboo. This dish was 35 baht.

Fishball with Green Curry
แกงเขียวหวานลูกชิ้นปลา

As you know, I don't always like seafood. But this is a good green curry that has fishballs. This is made by pounding the fish together with garlic and coriander roots and then they are shaped into balls. This is then placed into boiling water. Coconut milk is then poured into another pot and the green curry paste added. Next comes the fishballs. Season with fish sauce and sugar. Next you add the eggplants, sweet basil and kaffir lime leaves. This dish cost us 25 baht. You can eat with either rice or noodles called khanom jeen.

Deep Fried Pork (moo tod)
หมูทอด

This is a snack but can also be eaten with a meal. You need to marinate it in the following mixture. First, pound together garlic and cilantro roots. Next, in a bowl, mix together flour and egg with fish sauce and soy sauce. Add to this the paste you prepared earlier. Then marinate the pork in this mixture for about half an hour. Then deep fry in oil. These cost 10 baht each.

Stuffed Crescents with Mung Bean
ขนมถั่วแปบ

This is an interesting Thai dessert called khanom tua baep. As you can see there are two versions - black and green. The yellow are the mung beans. You have to soak these in warm water for about three hours. Wash them again and then steam for about 30 minutes. The outer layer is glutinous rice flour. This is mixed with coconut cream and pandanus juice. This forms the dough. The juice from the pandanus leaf gives you the natural green colouring. For black you have to use black glutinous rice flour. The filling is grated coconut which has been steamed and then is mixed with the mung beans and salt. Divide the dough and roll each part into round balls. Flatten it out and then place the filling in the center. Fold the dough over and pinch it closed at the edges. This is then cooked in boiling water until they float to the top. Arrange on a plate and garnish with some more mung beans. The dip you can see is a mixture of sugar, salt and roasted sesame seeds. Not a bad dessert which will set you back only 5 baht each.

Come back next week  to see what we ate for our Friday lunch. As always, you can contact us with your own suggestions for our meal. But it has to be food that is readily available on the street in Thailand.