I have previously written about pad gaprao (simply another transliteration of pad kaprow), a star of Thai cuisine that is often misrepresented in Thai restaurants outside of Southeast Asia by their use of horapha (Thai basil) in place of kaprow (holy basil). Here I make kaprow with cowslip creepers (and…
Mains
Vegan Thai Curry Series: Gaeng Kua Kling Recipe
Imagine insisting maroon is the only shade of red. You would be correct that maroon is in fact a shade of red, but objectively wrong that it is the only one. Lately I’ve been ruminating over the myriad Thai curries there are available, yet the varieties people know outside of…
ผัดมาม่าวีแกน Vegan Pad Mama – Stir Fried Instant Noodles
In Thailand pad mama is a stir fried noodle dish that elevates an unassuming packet of instant noodles to new heights. While you might normally associate instant noodles with a soup base, Thai street vendors have taken this quick treat a step further by frying them up with fresh vegetables…
Vegan Mushroom Lap (Lap Het ลาบเห็ด) – Spicy Thai Mushroom Salad
If you’ve ever wondered upon the myriad spellings of this well known Thai salad (larb, larp, lahb, lahp, lab, lap, laap, laab, etc), it’s purely down to the transliteration. Technically it should be ‘lap’ but as the ‘a’ sound is elongated in native Thai, it has become accepted to add…
Five Minute Zhenjiang Vinegar Noodles
Zhenjiang vinegar (also commonly called Chinkiang) is a dark, aged vinegar made from fermented glutinous rice that conveys a rich, musky, smoky, and slightly sweet flavour. This style of vinegar is made in different Asian countries, but Zhenjiang reputedly turns out the best stock. There are also some excellent Japanese…
Aromatic Pearl Couscous and Watercress Salad
Orange blossom water, also known as orange flower water, is a floral, aromatic scented water popular in North African cuisine. Traditionally made by distillation in a copper still, the flowers are boiled in water and the steam is condensed into the fragrant liquid you can find bottled on the shelves…
Vegan Soba Noodles with Tahini and Marmite
Soba, a highly respected noodle in its native Japan, is typically made from a combination of buckwheat and wheat flours. Because the former contains no gluten and makes a crumbly dough on its own, wheat flour is often employed to give the noodles shape. Nevertheless, since the noodles are prized…
Vegan Pat Macaroni
Pat macaroni is a Thai dish of pasta sauced with various condiments that include sriracha, soy sauce (I use seasoning sauce) and ketchup. Yes, ketchup. This stir-fry (pat/pad = stir-fried) lacks a strong hit of chilies, unless you make it spicy by preference, so it’s a popular dish for children…
Triple Lime Coconut Noodles
Noodles are my bae. I mean, they aren’t, but I wanted to know what it was like to use the word bae in a sentence and it feels as ridiculous as I judge others who use it to be. YOLO. J/K. What even is a bae? This recipe for triple…
Roasted Vegetables and Rice Gratin with Vegan Cheese Sauce
Autumn, the start of casserole season. Old fashioned as they might be, these deep dish bakes can brighten the gloomy cooler months, making them feel a little less like a sucker punch to the soul. A profoundly heightened sense of denial also helps, along with the restorative nature of wine….
Coffee Cola Fried Tofu
My father was and is a peddler of dental hygiene. As such, he had two requests of me upon my move from the United States to England 15 years ago: do not flunk out of university abroad (I had a track record of being an awful student of multiple institutions)…
Naem Het – Thai Fermented Mushroom Sausages (แหนมเห็ด)
I believe 2010 was the first year I visited Pun Pun, a highly regarded vegetarian restaurant in Thailand’s Northern city of Chiang Mai. Two years later, after one bite of their fermented mushroom sausages, I plucked up the courage to beg admission to their kitchen. It was granted, and that’s…
