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Chinese Chicken on Rice (khao man gai)
ข้าวมันไก่

We have been doing the Friday Lunchtime Thai Menu for just over three months now. Normally we buy three or so dishes and then share these among us. This time we have opted for a couple of one person dishes as there was only two of us today. The first is an old favourite called khao man gai or Chinese Chicken on Rice. It is not quite as simple as chopping up some boiled chicken and placing it on some cooked rice. What makes it unique is the way the rice is cooked. You first fry some garlic in hot oil until it is golden brown. Then add the uncooked rice for about three minutes making sure that you stir well. Then transfer this to a standard rice cooker where you add chicken stock instead of plain water. The stock comes from boiling the chicken earlier. You can buy two versions. Boiled chicken or fried chicken. For this one, you use a brown soybean sauce. This contains hot chili, ginger, fermented soybean, vinegar and dark soy sauce. The standard dish costs 20 baht though this one cost us 25 baht as we asked for extra chicken.

Chicken on Yellow Curry Rice (khao mok gai)
ข้าวหมกไก่

As an alternative, I sometimes like eating this yellow curry version which we can buy from the same shop for the same price. This is "khao mok gai" or Chicken and Yellow Rice. A local muslim family run this very popular shop. They are usually sold out by two in the afternoon. The yellow comes from turmeric powder. To cook "khao mok gai", you fry some garlic in a pan until golden brown. You then stir in the rice, turmeric curry powder, salt and chicken pieces. You then transfer this mixture to an electric rice cooker. You add the chicken stock and cook for about 20 minutes. This one is fried chicken so you use the sweet red chili dip which is made from sugar, red chili, garlic, vinegar and salt. Both dishes come with a bowl of chicken broth.

Khanom Tuay Foo
ขนมถ้วยฟู

Today's dessert looks quite appetizing though I found it a bit dry. There are two versions of this Thai dry cake. They look much the same. They are Tuay Foo and Pui Fai. The difference is that the one we had today has shredded coconut and the other one has duck eggs instead. Other ingredients include wheat flour, sugar and condensed milk. The mixture is spooned into aluminum molds and then steamed for about 15 minutes. Visit paknam.com next week to see what we will choose to eat on Friday.