Fennel Salad, Thai Style

ingredients: garlic 2 cloves, red chilis 4, unsalted peanuts 2 tbsp, dried shrimp 1 tbsp, palm sugar 1/2 tbsp, lime juice 1, cherry tomatoes 6, fish sauce 11/2 tbsp, fennel 1 bulb, dried berries, coconut sugar

Dry roast the peanuts and set aside. Melt the palm sugar with a tbsp of water, so you have a thick syrup.
Take garlic, sliced chilli and crush them with pestle and mortar. Add the 2 tbsp of lime juice, sugar syrup and the fish sauce crush some more. Now add the thinly sliced fennel, use the mortar to gently bash the fennel, add the cherry tomatoes (cut in half) and bash a bit more. Add the shrimp mix well.
Empty the mortar on a plate and dress with the peanuts and dried berries. Sprinkle a bit of coconut sugar on top.
Use any dried berry you like.
A deep wooden pestle and mortar works best.

Feed me; Fern salad

A refreshing salad, deep fried egg tofu, tomato, onions, a little minced pork and fern (Pak kood). The dressing containing (probably) fish sauce, lime, chili and palm sugar. I had it on the way to Pua in the Nan province, Thailand.

Feed me; lazy afternoon at the restaurant

Lazy afternoon at Don Khon, one of the many Islands on the Mekong river in Laos. Ideal for a drink or an afternoon snack at a local restaurant. The area is known as Si Phan Don or 4000 Islands.

Fennel Soup

Ingredients; 2 medium sized bulbs of fennel, chicken stock 30 cl, coconut milk 15 cl, light soy sauce 1 tbsp, fish sauce 1 tbsp, kurkuma 3-4 tsp, palm sugar 2 tsp, juice of half a lemon, oil 2 tbsp, chili oil 1 tbsp, fresh ginger 2 cm (peeled, cut in big chunks), tom yam paste 2 tsp (or 1 tom yam stock cube).

Trim and slice the fennel, keep the top green for dressing. Heat a wok, add oil. Stir fry the fennel on low heat until almost soft (add a little water to keep it from burning). Add chicken stock, tom yam paste, ginger and coconut milk, bring to the boil. add soy sauce, fish sauce and kurkuma.
Add the lemon juice and sugar. Taste and add more lemon juice or sugar to your liking.
Serve and dress with the finely chopped green from the fennel and some chili oil.

I add a few shrimp dumpling a few minutes before serving.

Feed me; Steaming Sticky Rice.

Steaming sticky rice near Kantharalak bus station. Sticky rice is a great travel companion, you could buy it at most train and bus station, steamed in bamboo often mixed with black beans.
Easy enough to make at home, but you need to buy the right rice, Take 2 cups of rice and cover with 5 cm cold water, soak for 6 to 24 hours (room temperature). the longer it soaks the better it gets. Line the steamer with cheesecloth, drain the rice and steam for 15 to 20 minutes. You can boil it in a pot or use a rice cooker, but steamed the traditional way ( conical steamer basket and pot) is the best by far.
Another good way is by using a colander or pasta cooker, always line with cheesecloth.

Feed me; fermented stuff !

You love it or you hate it, fermented fish is a basic ingredient in a lot of Asian dishes. Fermentation is an old way of preserving food, and a side effect is a hefty, potent odor. It is a strong taste by all means, so be conservative in using it. If you are curious about fermented stuff, here is a list of fermented foods, you might have some on your daily menu...

Tofu & Eryngii on toast

Ingredients; for the dressing: Honey 1tbsp, dark soy sauce 1tsp, light soy sauce 1tsp, fish sauce 1/2 tsp, wasabi - recipe: tofu 150 gr, 2 or 3 big king brown mushrooms (eryngii), garlic 1 clove, fresh ginger 2 cm, pink Himalaya salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika powder, rice wine 1 tbsp, basil, sunflower oil 3 tbsp, sesame oil a few drops, toast to your liking

Slice the mushrooms lengthwise, 5mm thick. Chop garlic and ginger very fine. preheat the oven, we need about 200°. Toss the mushrooms in a baking tray, cover with 2 tbsp sunflower oil, add a bit of black pepper, a little salt, garlic and ginger. Cover the tray with aluminium foil. Put in the oven, after 15 to 20 minutes, open the lid and add 1 tbsp of rice wine. cover and leave in the oven for 5 more minutes.
Slice tofu into litle squares about 5 mm thick, dust wiyh cayenne pepper and paprika powder. Heath a frying pan, add 1 tbsp of sunflower oil. Fry tofu on medium heat, until nicely coloured. Place tofu on kitchen paper to absorb oil.
Dressing; Mix the honey, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and fish sauce in a small bowl.
Take a piece of toast (warm), put two slices of tofu as a base, add mushrooms (leave most of the garlic and ginger in the cooking tray). Dress with 1 tsp of the honey mixture, add a touch of black pepper and pink salt. Put the toast on a plate dress the plate with some wasabi and a few drops the honey mixture and sesame oil. finish with a little basil. You can use all kinds of toast, I used a soft Swedish toast.
If you are vegetarian or vegan, eliminate the fish sauce from the recipe.