Thai curry noodle soup

Contrary to popular belief, the most common dish here in Thailand is not phad thai, green curry or other favorites that are much beloved in Thai restaurants in North America and Europe. It seems to me after three months of living here now that the closest thing to a staple dish (albeit it's not exactly a staple either) are the different forms of noodle soup that you see people scarfing down at street food stalls at almost all hours of the day. Common varieties include sen lek neua (beef noodle soup), bamee (egg noodle soup) and kuay teow reua (boat noodles). The latter includes plenty of rice noodles, beef or pork balls, slices of beef and an intense brown broth thickened with pork blood. It's called boat noodles because it used to be sold out of the small boats that dotted the canals and rivers all over Central Thailand.

Asian pesto

Yesterday late afternoon, we made our first trip to the massive Klong Toey market, a huge market right in the middle of Bangkok (off of Rama IV Road) and not far from us. This is a true local market - only a few farangs about - and is a great place to stock up on vegetables, fruits, herbs, meat, fish, curry pastes, household goods, toiletries and many more things. It was a bit intense with the heat, strong odor of durian fruit and tripe and the sight of pig heads, writhing fish and other scenes that weren't exactly vegetarian-friendly (!!!), but we had a great time and stocked up on all kinds of fruits and veggies for a fraction of the price that we would pay in the supermarket.

Mango lassi ice cream

As I always say, who doesn't love a good mango lassi? The sweet and tangy Indian yogurt-based drink was recently rated by CNN as one of the world's 50 most delicious drinks, so clearly I'm not the only one who thinks so! There's nothing better to beat the heat of India or to balance out the spice of an Indian meal. Here in Thailand, there seem to be infinite varieties of mangoes (known in Thai as mamuang). The oppressive April heat that we're currently undergoing does have some perks, including the beginning of the two-month mango season. There are glorious, ripe (and green) mangoes as far as the eye can see everywhere, which in our house find their way into mango lassis, shakes and smoothies on a regular basis.

Spicy queen tomato tapenade

OK, I know what you're probably thinking...what on earth are queen tomatoes? Trust me, until half an hour ago, I had no idea myself. The first time that we went grocery shopping at our neighborhood Big C supermarket, I picked up a box of what looked like sun-dried cherry tomatoes in the produce section. I love sun-dried tomatoes and figured that they would find their way into a pasta or risotto dish, or perhaps a pesto or tapenade.

Penne alla vodka

Penne alla vodka is an interesting dish. The exact origins of the dish are unknown, though legend has it that it's actually an Italian-American dish (supposedly invented by Columbia University graduate James Doty). Other versions of the story claim that it came from Italy - perhaps Bologna or Napoli. The supposed Neapolitan inventor, Luigi Franzese, apparently called it penne alla Russia because of the addition of vodka to the tomato and cream sauce. Regardless of who created penne alla vodka, there's no denying one thing...it's delicious!