North Eastern Cuisine (Issan)

Spicy Salad of Curried Rice Croquettes, Fermented Pork, Ginger and Peanuts
(yam naaem khaao thaawt ; ยำแหนมข้าวทอด)

March 21, 2011 · 88 comments

Spicy Salad of Curried Rice Croquettes, Fermented Pork, Ginger and Peanuts Recipe

The dish was introduced to me by a street vendor in forsaken part of town some twenty years ago. Auntie Yai was a true character. She was wearing intensive makeup and I still remember her talkative hilarious manner. I and other customers waiting in line were regularly subjected to nonstop “interrogations” or “interviews”. I must [...]

{ 88 comments }

Spicy Som Tam Salad of Gelatinous White Corn
(sohm dtam thai khaao phoht ; ส้มตำไทยข้าวโพด)

November 20, 2010 · 8 comments

Spicy Gelatinous White Corn Salad Recipe - สูตรทำส้มตำไทยข้าวโพด

Bangkok’s markets are busy from dawn until dusk, sometime even stay open when most of the city is asleep. Normally, the traffic of shoppers and crowds of office workers hurrying their way masks the busy stretch of shops and food stalls, making it difficult to pay close attention to details. Earlier this year, however, a [...]

{ 8 comments }

Grilled Catfish, The Issan Way
(bplaa dook yaang ; ปลาดุกย่าง)

November 9, 2010 · 1 comment

Issan Style Grilled Catfish Recipe (สูตรทำปลาดุกย่าง)

Catfish are not too fussy about the waters in which they swim. They can even flourish in stagnant waters and flooded rice fields. Farmed widely, Catfish is an inexpensive, accessible, nutritional and delicious food source. Grilled to delicacy, the yellowish mildly fatty flesh goes well with sticky rice and chili-limejuice-fish-sauce sauce, or sweet fish-sauce dip [...]

{ 1 comment }

Spicy Issan Style Deep Fried Snakehead Fish Dressed with Fresh Herbs
(น้ำตกปลาช่อน ; naam dtohk bplaa chaawn)

April 20, 2010 · 6 comments

Post image for Spicy Issan Style Deep Fried Snakehead Fish Dressed with Fresh Herbs <br />(น้ำตกปลาช่อน ; naam dtohk bplaa chaawn)

Here is a wonderful spicy dish; you may as well go for it! A crispy fried fish dressed with plenty of fresh herbs, plenty of chilies than some limejuice and fragrant ground roasted rice as a textural binder. It is an unpretentious dish, that is just about what is around and what is available; there [...]

{ 6 comments }

Ground Roasted Rice
(ข้าวคั่ว ; khaao khuaa)

April 19, 2010 · 2 comments

Ground Roasted Rice

Ground roasted rice is often used in Thai Northern Eastern style cooking (Issan) in spicy salads as an aromatic and textural agent. Offering an unmistakably hearty and rustic bite to the food. You can find it in almost any Asian supermarket and it is very simple to prepare. I do hope that you will overcome [...]

{ 2 comments }

Grilled Pork Marinated in Garlic, Coriander and Pepper Served with Spicy Hot and Sour Tomato Relish
(หมูย่างแจ่วมะเขือเทศ ; muu yang jeo ma kheuua thaeht)

March 14, 2010 · 8 comments

Grilled Pork Marinated in Garlic, Coriander and Pepper Served with Spicy Hot and Sour Tomato Relish

The northeast region of Thailand, bordered with Laos in the north and Cambodia in the east, is a rough land to work. Issan, as it known in Thai, suffers droughts and deficiencies, the land gets really dry and unforgiving making in some area the digging for mineral salt a better business than agriculture. Issan food [...]

{ 8 comments }

Making Fermented Thai Pork Sausage
(แหนมหมู ; naem moo)

February 24, 2010 · 13 comments

Making Fermented Thai Pork Sausage

Search the luggage of Thai people travelling aboard and you will surely find food items rolled with a newspaper or a piece of cloth, hidden deep in their bags. Thai students will never travel without a jar of their favorite Roasted Chili Jam and Thai Housewives will always carry their preferred Fermented Shrimp Paste. Both [...]

{ 13 comments }