mrjohn

There’s plenty of advice online (most of it much better than you have been getting on here)

I’ve been making yoghurt in Thailand for 10 years. It’s ridiculously easy.

First you need to buy some live yoghurt to act as your starter. Check the label. Make sure it contains live bacteria. Farang food shops usually have some and Makro quite often does.

You need some fresh milk, a thermometer, some pots to put it in and a large pan to heat up the milk. I use small plastic containers from Tesco with screw top lids.

You also need to sterilise everything. Yoghurt is made from one strain of bacteria working on the milk so, you do not want any other bacteria invading the process.

Pour the milk into a pan and heat it slowly over a low heat. A low heat should ensure that the milk does not burn on the bottom of the pan. Make sure the pan is big enough, for example, if you make 2 Ltrs of yoghurt you need a 4-5 Ltr saucepan to avoid the milk boiling over.

Meanwhile sterilise containers and any other utensils you are going to use. I do this in a steamer (an essential tool in any kitchen in Thailand.)

The milk needs to reach a temperature of 85°C although I usually find it comes to the boil when I’m not looking.

Maintain that temperature for about 5 minutes and then take it off the heat and allow it to cool.

Putting the pan into a bath of cold water will cool it down much more quickly.

When it’s cooled to under 40°C add your pot of starter yoghurt and gently stir it in with a sterilised spoon.

Pour the warm milk into the clean pots. I use a small jug for this.

I then put the yoghurt into a foam box which keeps it at a nice even temperature. It should be ready after about 12 hours. Put it in the fridge and it will keep for at least a month.

The longer you ferment it, the more sour it will become.

From this basic product I’ve made an excellent cheese and sensational yoghurt ice cream.

Thanks for your reply.

My savings and investments are kept outside the country but I do need a bank here for daily expenses only.

My idea was to open 2 or 3 accounts here and then decide which one was best for me over a period of time.

For that reason I’m not too keen on paying for an ATM card every time, hence the question.

I’ve no doubt this is been mentioned before but I can’t find the answer.

Does anybody know of any Thai bank that issues a debit card without charging an annual fee?

I would be interested to know what you have to do to be considered guilty of “reckless driving” in Thailand.

I drive here every day and 80% of motorbike riders and about 60 or 70% of car drivers are guilty of recklessness.

Most of it would be considered borderline insanity in any normal country.

"There you go you had to inject the word normal just when I was beginning to accept the status quo. You even have me thinking your last statement is correct too. "

Sorry, but even after all these years in Thailand I still find myself wanting to speak the truth. It's sad I know. Perhaps I need some sort of attitude adjustment..........

I would be interested to know what you have to do to be considered guilty of “reckless driving” in Thailand.

I drive here every day and 80% of motorbike riders and about 60 or 70% of car drivers are guilty of recklessness.

Most of it would be considered borderline insanity in any normal country.

Your “Philips microphone headset” sounds remarkably similar to the one I bought and, like you, I couldn’t cope with having it stuck in my ear!

So I threaded the microphone and cable through a piece of PVC tubing and made a microphone boom which I can pull out to just to the side of my mouth (the ideal position for Dragon dictation) and push back to the wall when not in use.

You can get PCMCIA soundcards fairly easily USB ones are more portable. I’ve been trying to get another Creative USB one some months but without success.

Have a look on invade it website although there is also to be rather upmarket for gamers.

Banana It usually have something in stock.

Beware the very cheap (around 200 Bht) Chinese ones as they don’t work!

I use Dragon dictation software. It can be very fussy about the microphone input.

Most of the microphones sold here are absolute junk and just not up to the job. I found that upgrading the soundcard is a much more effective way of improving the sound quality.

I use a cheapish microphone (Philips) with a USB soundcard (Creative about 650Bht). Works perfectly on my laptop and PC.

From your description it looks to me as if you didn’t give enough time for the 2^nd rise which is why your bread was heavy. The 2^nd rise is always slower than the 1^st one.

Also, “punching down” and “knocking back” are unfortunate misnomers. It’s much better to turn the dough out and then fold one side over the other. This distributes the gas much more evenly.

Incidentally, “kneed” is spelt knead will which will help with any googling you may do.

On no account use cake flour! At the risk of overstating the blindingly obvious, cake flour is used for cakes and bread flour for bread. The difference is the gluten or wheat protein content. Bread flour (usually referred to as strong flour in the UK) has a high gluten content this is essential for good structure.

The best website I’ve ever come across for baking advice is this one:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

And the best kneading method is this one::

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/video/2010/jul/20/how-to-cook-bread

In order to achieve the sort of crusty light, airy bread you’re looking for you need a fairly moist dough and long slow fermentation. Wet dough is difficult to handle unless you’re an experienced baker, so my advice is start with some fairly simple basic bread recipes.

Flour quality is not as important as some people seem to think, anyway, this is Thailand and you have to make do with whatever is available. I make excellent bread from White Swan bread flour which is available everywhere. I add a little rye flour (about 10%) which improves the flavour. You can’t be too choosy about your ingredients here, it’s what you do with them that counts.

Bread is made from flour, yeast, salt and water. Nothing else is needed.

Makro, I bought sheets there,pack of three for about 1,600 Bht. 100% cotton good quality and i,m very happy with them.

I have a Fagor oven and the thermostat needs replacing.

Fagor ceased trading some time ago, so no chance of a genuine replacement part.

Would any oven thermostat suffice? Any ideas where I could get one?

Any help would be appreciated.

Make your own. Easy enough. Google recipes. Sage (dried) is sold in all the Makros I have ever visited.

A Happy Ending.

Having thought about it for 2 or 3 days I finally decided to start this topic this morning. I wasn’t too concerned but I just wanted to know what other people’s experiences were.

I had already decided to go and draw out as much as I could today on the old card, just in case the new one didn’t arrive in time.

So I went to the bank at 2 o’clock this afternoon, made a withdrawal, came back home and there was the wife proudly declaring that I just received a letter from the UK!

It was my new card.

Unbelievable timing!

So that was 19 days from sunny Swindon. The cheapest happy ending I have ever had.

Thanks to all who replied to this topic.

Personally, Homepro have better selection.

Thanks, but are they better quality?

Have you not got a couple of old army overcoats you can throw over the bed.

Thanks for that idea but it’s just the sort of thing I did when I was about 18 or 19.

I like to think of myself as a little more sophisticated now!

And here I am in Jomtien wondering if I will ever be able to turn my aircon off this cool season?

That’s precisely why I moved away from the sea, 5 or 6 years ago.

3 to 400 m above sea level is a much better climate for me.

The cold season is nearly upon us and our bedroom can get pretty chilly. So I am thinking of investing in a duvet. Would anybody recommend the Makro ones as they seem to be just about the only option nearby or should I make a trip to the big city?

Has anyone received one recently, if so how long did it take?

My debit card expires at the end of this month. I called Nationwide and they said it had been sent out on the 8^th October.

Apparently, they send it by ordinary mail, which seems ridiculous to me.

Any advice on how long I should wait before I start to panic would be gratefully received.

If you think you need milk to make bread, maybe you need to think again.

I see nobody has replied to your question, possibly because it has been asked once or twice before.

Firstly, I have never seen fresh yeast in Thailand.

This doesn’t mean it can’t be found but you are wasting your time looking for it. There is no difference between fresh and dried yeast if used properly. And dried yeast is widely available.

Salt can kill yeast but only if you add far too much.

The normal amount of salt in any bread recipe will just give it flavour.

Salt also acts as a retardant, slowing down the action of the yeast.

Long, slow fermentation improves the quality of bread and is what allows it to stand apart from the factory made product.

Had similar problem recently, turned out to be the power unit. New one 590Bht!

Why not make your own, it’s easy enough and it tastes better.

Just boil up some pork or chicken bones with a little salt for a couple of hours and strain it off. This is a basic stock.

I usually freeze mine in small quantities and take it out when needed.

To make gravy from the stock, add any seasonings (garlic, onion, herbs or such like) and thicken it with cornflour.

If you really must have a brown colour, add a teaspoon or 2 of dark soy.

Soya flour.

You don’t say what you want to use it for.

There is some stuff called (from memory) “Instant soymilk” which is soya flour by any other name. As far as I know it is 100% soya flour.

It comes in a yellow cardboard packet and is widely available. Try looking in the cereals and baby foods or cake making sections.

Hope this helps

You’re right Djayz. Horapha is indeed Thai sweet basil and the Italian one you’re looking for is a different plant altogether.

Having said that, they look very similar but the aroma and flavour are very different.Additionally, the Thai version has a slightly thicker leaf and, to my mind, a coarser flavour.

As far as cooking is concerned, they are definitely not interchangeable. Thai basil in a tomato sauce with pasta just does not work. Similarly Italian Basil doesn’t have the requisite punch to accompany Thai food.

The short answer to your original question is that there is no Thai name for Italian sweet basil, although “horapha farang” would seem appropriate.

We have 2 or 3 Italian basil plants growing nicely at the moment and my wife has been struck by the different aroma they give off, therefore she has named them “horapha hom” meaning scented basil.

Hope this helps

Most Makros have ready peeled shallots (hom deng) in vacuum seeled bags. They make excellent pickled onions without the inconvenience of peeling them!

Houseworth (ceramic burners) less than 1000 bht from Amorn, a liitle more expensive from Makro.

Have been using one every day for three years.