Home Cooking

[fred2007]

I often wonder if foreigners cook their own food at home or just go to restaurants. Yes I know most of you live in the big cities and you can go out for a meal but for some of us we can not do this.( when you live in the sticks) So my question is do you cook your own meal or are you just to lazy to do this?

I do cook every day at home ( Iam not the best cook ok ) But I love to cook all the different foods at home I love to cook italian,chinese,german,mexcican and so on. I heard so many reports cooking for your self in Thailand is expensive ( especially farang food ) but I don't believe that. I guess Thai food is more

expensive the reason I say that is, I buy food which last me 2 weeks I guess the cost is about 1000 baht and I pay about 100 baht of petrol ( gas ) My family goes every day to the market to buy the food they need pay a bit less but if you concider spending petrol every day going to the markets ( who saves?) I know most of you don't agree but my food bill for one week is about 500 baht. And I am a farang and I am proud of it

[Geekfreaklover]

One of the best pieces of kitchen kit I have bought is a large slow cooker.

Today I made a Chicken Bhuna Indian style curry.

Roughly chop half a large onion and 200 grm chicken breast and fry with two or three handfulls of baby tomatoes. Remove and place in the slow cooker.

Mix together coco-nut milk, one squeezed lime, six red chillis, curry powder, seasoning then add to the slow cooker. Leave to cook for two hours. Meanwhile cook some quality mix grain brown rice in the rice cooker.

Costs about 100 bt, feeds four.

[fred2007]

One of the best pieces of kitchen kit I have bought is a large slow cooker.

Today I made a Chicken Bhuna Indian style curry.

Roughly chop half a large onion and 200 grm chicken breast and fry with two or three handfulls of baby tomatoes. Remove and place in the slow cooker.

Mix together coco-nut milk, one squeezed lime, six red chillis, curry powder, seasoning then add to the slow cooker. Leave to cook for two hours. Meanwhile cook some quality mix grain brown rice in the rice cooker.

Costs about 100 bt, feeds four.

My lst reply dissapeard but i can say only

[thaigerd]

Home cooking is just great

Gerd

[fred2007]

Home cooking is just great

Gerd

Thanks Gerd at least one person knows

[moskito]

One of the best pieces of kitchen kit I have bought is a large slow cooker.

Today I made a Chicken Bhuna Indian style curry.

Roughly chop half a large onion and 200 grm chicken breast and fry with two or three handfulls of baby tomatoes. Remove and place in the slow cooker.

Mix together coco-nut milk, one squeezed lime, six red chillis, curry powder, seasoning then add to the slow cooker. Leave to cook for two hours. Meanwhile cook some quality mix grain brown rice in the rice cooker.

Costs about 100 bt, feeds four.

hi Fred,

I am living here since more than ten years and I NEED my FARANG FOOD :D sorry, but I cant eat Thaifood every day, sometimes I need real food and cooking is not difficult and its fun too. There are so many internetpages in the meantime, you can check the net for every dish you like to eat.

My favourate is a german page called www.chefkoch.de here one can find everything, even to make homemade sausage.

I agree with this daily market visits, they dont save money, if I go one time and spend 500 and the family spend 100 but go seven days a week plus gas and everything......but Thais and counting For them, market is not only fun, but they are not used to fridges like we are and since they eat veggies and fish a lot its always fresh.

I will try the dish greekfreak posted in this thread, even if it is not really FARANG FOOD

In the moment I am looking for a receipt to make SOFT TACOS ....but everywhere they write....buy some soft Tacos and fill it with.......

[ozsamurai]

I actually find that, cooking for 2 is on the whole more economical and better for me than buying out.

#1 I don't like hot, which lets me out of a great of Thai food, I am still working on re-designing recipes to use local ingredients though.

#2 I hate the extensive use of oil in everything on the street, it's either boiled it to death, or soaked in fat/oil.

A good example is a Roast dinner, I cook every Sunday,

50-60 Baht for a small 600g Roaster down at Tesco

20 Baht for 2 Potatoes

5 baht for a carrot

15 baht for Brocolli

so this feeds us and some left over Pork for sandwiches for 50 Baht each.... chicken likewise....

Spare Ribs, 60 Baht a packet, soaked in some marinade, 30 mins under the grill, yum!!

There is absolutely no reason to only eat Thai food in Thailand, even Thais don't!

Oz

[ozsamurai]

soft tacos use corn tortillas, recipe here, also available in the freezer section at Farang supermarkets for about 80 baht

http://www.myhomecooking.net/mexican-food-...illa-recipe.htm

Oz

[bkkjames]

For me, cooking at home is one way to keep my sanity after working all day and dealing with a bunch of bs.

Chopping garlic and onions helps me de-stress after a long day.

This equates to 4-5 times a week including bbqing.

Cost wise I could eat cheaper if I just bought Thai food from the street.

But good food for me (and my wife) is a priority - one of our pleasures in life.

[junkofdavid2]

One of the best pieces of kitchen kit I have bought is a large slow cooker.

Today I made a Chicken Bhuna Indian style curry.

Roughly chop half a large onion and 200 grm chicken breast and fry with two or three handfulls of baby tomatoes. Remove and place in the slow cooker.

Mix together coco-nut milk, one squeezed lime, six red chillis, curry powder, seasoning then add to the slow cooker. Leave to cook for two hours. Meanwhile cook some quality mix grain brown rice in the rice cooker.

Costs about 100 bt, feeds four.

hi Fred,

I am living here since more than ten years and I NEED my FARANG FOOD :D

For FARANG food, make a beef stew instead of Indian curry...

[Geekfreaklover]

Costs about 100 bt, feeds four.

hi Fred,

I am living here since more than ten years and I NEED my FARANG FOOD

For FARANG food, make a beef stew instead of Indian curry...

Ok heres my recipe for beef stew. You need the slow cooker. No farang should be without one.

Ingredients

1 large Onion (chopped into large chunks)

5 shallots ( remove skin but do not chop)

500gms of Beef (The cut of beef is 'up to you' - Don't waste a good fillet, but don't use fatty or meat on the bone)

2 large carrotts (peeled and diced)

1 large potato (peeled and cut into chunks)

1 can of tomatos

1/2 a bottle of Leo beer

200gms cornflour

Stock cubes X 3 (the thai stock cubes, yellow packet, mushroom flavour)

Prepare the beef by cutting into chunks and then dipping in corn flour. Fry the onions in a frying pan or wok until golden brown and then add the meat. Fry until the meat is seared (brown in colour) and then transfer the meat and onions into the slow cooker. Into the slow cooker add the carrots, sliced, and then the potato, also sliced. Also chuck in one can of peeled plum tomatos and half a bottle of Leo beer, or your preffered brand. A rich wheat Czech beer would work best, but here in the tropics beggars can't be choosers. Add the stock, seasoning and leave cooking for at least 5-6 hours on high power. You can add any vegatables you like to this, bearing in mind cooking times. If you get a bright idea to include assparagus for example, then wait until you are 30 minutes away from serving.

Best served with brown mixed grain rice or a crusty loaf.

I think the passing of Keith Floyd is getting to me.

[gvallee2]

i try to cook as much as i can but right now my condo is not finished and im stuck with microwave + hotplates only.. cant make much more than 5-6 eatable stuff with only that

[bonobo]

I cook most days when I don't go to they gym after work. I don't know what I will cook, generally, until after I leave from work, but I stop by one of two grocers on the way home or one market and decide what I want.

My condo has a tiny kitchen, but until I move into a house, I am stuck with that.  So I have a stove top, a Vita-mix, a meat slicer, a slow cooker, and a microwave. My primary dinner guest does not eat beef and is allergic to shellfish, so that limits me as well.

During the week, I tend to easily and quickly prepared foods such as passionfruit pork chops, penne putenesca, Hawaiian pork burger, orange chicken, salami or proscuitto subs, pork cutlets milanese, artichoke chicken thighs, pork piccata, gazpacho, and the like.  Each can be prepared in about 20 minutes or less.

On the weekends, I often get out the slow cooker to make carnitas, pork bourguignon, or pork pot roast.  I am truly looking forward to getting a real kitchen here so I can cook anything I want.  Home cooking is so much healthier as you can match your ingredients to your health needs, and you can match your cooking to your particular tastes.

[sceadugenga]

I'd be interested in how you do that pork pot roast bonobo.

I too cook every day. Since I started my alcohol free regime last year I watch what I eat, keep fats to a minimum, heavy on cooked veg and salads.

[bonobo]

I'd be interested in how you do that pork pot roast bonobo.

I too cook every day. Since I started my alcohol free regime last year I watch what I eat, keep fats to a minimum, heavy on cooked veg and salads.

I absolutely love real pot roast, but as my regular dinner guest won't eat beef, and as I don't have a real oven, I am stuck to my slow cooker and pork.  

I buy a pork butt (I don't try to explain how to cut a pork chuck.)  One recipe uses carmalized onions and carrots, sauteed chopped bacon, shitake mushrooms, orange rind, by leaf, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, and red wine.  I brown the butt, then stick everything in the crock pot with the wine just covering the meat.  Let it cook on low for about 8 hours and serve over noodles.

The other one uses pork butt, shitake mushroomms, onions, carrots, sun dried tomatoes, potatoes, catsup, garlic, red wine, and Lipton's Onion Soup mix.  Brown the butt with the garlic and remove it. Saute the mushroom, quarterd onions, and carrots in the pork drippings.  Put the pork, mushrooms, onions, carrots, peeled potatoes, and sun dried tomatoes in the crock pot with the meat on top. Pour the soup mix on top of the meat.  Add a tablespoon of catsup and about a cup or two of red wine.  Cook on low for about 8 hours.  

The first one si quite good.  The second does much better with beef, but it is still pretty good.

[tutsiwarrior]

to the OP, there has been a lot of discussion in the food forum over the years regarding living in a small town and not having access to western products; basic items like tomato sauce and potatoes are hard to find and if you can find beef it is usually inedible unless it's ground, etc. Many posters have come up with ingenious substitutions to enable western food preparation, various kitchen devices that are invaluable for this purpose and etc.

I suggest that you survey past threads on the food forum using the search feature; you are likely to find a lot of useful info as a lot of posters have suffered what you are presently enduring...

bon apetit

[Michaelaway]

i try to cook as much as i can but right now my condo is not finished and im stuck with microwave + hotplates only.. cant make much more than 5-6 eatable stuff with only that

Hi,

Keep trying- a hot plate or two and a microwave are all you need to create zillions of homemade meals! Ok, of course a proper kitchen with prep area and a decent stove are a lot easier, but you can do it, mate! It's fun. And, it's really pretty easy, too.

For me, after retiring here I finally got the chance to expand my horizons in the kitchen. It's tougher here because you can't get some ingredients, some are different here, and some are just too expensive (for me) here. But, with some free time on your hands, creating great food yourself ends up being a pretty rewarding pastime... And, I too believe that a smart chef can definitely economize here in Thailand. Have you compared the price at the local markets, for vegetables, pork, chicken, crab, shrimp, etc. to the supermarkets back home?

Listen to the other guys who've written in to give their responses; they're all eating well now! They're proud and rightly so, because they've adapted and overcome. They haven't let anyone tell 'em, "Sorry, you can't get that here." They just went home, thought it out, maybe checked the internet for some advice, then made a list and forayed out to forage for the ingredients they would need to create their next great recipe! And they saved money in the process! Win-win, hats off! (geez, I'm getting tired...)

Look at it like you're the artist, and you're creating a delicious masterpiece! Share your art with friends; get the critics' reviews. Anyway... have fun & eat well!

I hope you hang in there and soon feel the satisfaction everyone's talking about here; it's a good feeling. Good luck, farang!

[kikoman]

I often wonder if foreigners cook their own food at home or just go to restaurants. Yes I know most of you live in the big cities and you can go out for a meal but for some of us we can not do this.( when you live in the sticks) So my question is do you cook your own meal or are you just to lazy to do this?

I do cook every day at home ( Iam not the best cook ok ) But I love to cook all the different foods at home I love to cook italian,chinese,german,mexcican and so on. I heard so many reports cooking for your self in Thailand is expensive ( especially farang food ) but I don't believe that. I guess Thai food is more

expensive the reason I say that is, I buy food which last me 2 weeks I guess the cost is about 1000 baht and I pay about 100 baht of petrol ( gas ) My family goes every day to the market to buy the food they need pay a bit less but if you concider spending petrol every day going to the markets ( who saves?) I know most of you don't agree but my food bill for one week is about 500 baht. And I am a farang and I am proud of it

I do a lot of cooking at home, because one can not find any Digestible Mexican food in Thailand, and I enjoy cooking. If I want something from underground 12 hour Mexican Barbacoa to ,Homemade pickles , pickled pigs feet I find a recipe and make it myself. I make up big batches of food, chili con carne, pinto beans, spaghetti ,menudo etc. and freeze them.

My Thai wife prefers to eat fresh foods purchased daily from the local market, I also love Thai food and eat most anything she makes. So I live in the best of both worlds and I love It!

[bonobo]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat."  Here, I have been using pork loin.  But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin?  I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef.  Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.) 

[bkkjames]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat."  Here, I have been using pork loin.  But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin?  I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef.  Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.) 

shoulder or neck.

[tutsiwarrior]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat." Here, I have been using pork loin. But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin? I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef. Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.)

get outta here with pork bourguinon...I can't see the meat and red wine complementing. Loadsa other things to do wid pork loin including smothering the meat with dijon before the oven and cooking slowly in foil...after cooking scrape all the mustard and juices into a bowl and add full cream and whisk...serve up inna gravy boat at the table next to the sliced pork...

sublime and easy as pie...got that one from sum belgian neighbors in Indonesia; the ex-wife thought the husband sexy which meant that she seriously wanted to ball him...

[tutsiwarrior]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat." Here, I have been using pork loin. But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin? I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef. Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.)

get outta here with pork bourguinon...I can't see the meat and red wine complementing. Loadsa other things to do wid pork loin including smothering the meat with dijon before the oven and cooking slowly in foil...after cooking scrape all the mustard and juices into a bowl and add full cream and whisk...serve up inna gravy boat at the table next to the sliced pork...

sublime and easy as pie...got that one from sum belgian neighbors in Indonesia; the ex-wife thought the husband sexy which meant that she seriously wanted to ball him...

[bonobo]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat." Here, I have been using pork loin. But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin? I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef. Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.)

get outta here with pork bourguinon...I can't see the meat and red wine complementing. Loadsa other things to do wid pork loin including smothering the meat with dijon before the oven and cooking slowly in foil...after cooking scrape all the mustard and juices into a bowl and add full cream and whisk...serve up inna gravy boat at the table next to the sliced pork...

sublime and easy as pie...got that one from sum belgian neighbors in Indonesia; the ex-wife thought the husband sexy which meant that she seriously wanted to ball him...

I do have a number of pork and dijon or English mustard dishes.  But pork and red wine go together fine.  The only difference that I do with this than when I use beef is to add some orange rind.

When two of the four people eating don't eat beef, I am stuck with using pork.  And, quite frankly, the pork here is much better than the beef (which is why I make pork burgers in Thailand vice regular hamburgers.)

[bonobo]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat."  Here, I have been using pork loin.  But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin?  I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef.  Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.) 

shoulder or neck.

We call the shoulder a Boston Butt, and I use that for BBQ. So you may be right on that.  I hope the butcher has it.  

[bonobo]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat."  Here, I have been using pork loin.  But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin?  I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef.  Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.) 

shoulder or neck.

We call the shoulder a Boston Butt, and I use that for BBQ. So you may be right on that.  I hope the butcher has it.  

A tip of the hat to bkkjames. I got some shoulder, but it didn't look that great, so I also got tenderloin and used both.  After all was said and done, the shoulder meat was more tender and flavorful.

[bkkjames]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat."  Here, I have been using pork loin.  But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin?  I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef.  Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.) 

shoulder or neck.

We call the shoulder a Boston Butt, and I use that for BBQ. So you may be right on that.  I hope the butcher has it.  

A tip of the hat to bkkjames. I got some shoulder, but it didn't look that great, so I also got tenderloin and used both.  After all was said and done, the shoulder meat was more tender and flavorful.

no worries mate, I mate the same assumption about shoulder a few years ago - not appealing to the eye compared to some leanish loin, but that being said, it has enough fat running through it to come out relatively tender. I also use it for thai stir-fries and curry dishes.

[needforspeed]

OK you experts, I would like some advice, please!

I am making pork bourguignon on Saturday for some dinner guests. With beef bourguignon back at home, I use what is referred to as "stew meat." Here, I have been using pork loin. But as a result of this thread, I have been thinking about cuts of meat more.

Would a pork butt do better in a stew-type dish than loin? I like the flavor of loin, but it never dos get as tender as stew beef. Would the butt be a more tender cut of pork after 8 hours of slow cooking?

(My local market pretty much is limited to pork bellies, loin, and butt.)

shoulder or neck.

We call the shoulder a Boston Butt, and I use that for BBQ. So you may be right on that. I hope the butcher has it.

A tip of the hat to bkkjames. I got some shoulder, but it didn't look that great, so I also got tenderloin and used both. After all was said and done, the shoulder meat was more tender and flavorful.

Tenderloin contains no fat so when well done its getting dry, use fat parts of the pig.

Cook slowly with some onions, peper,bay leaf, carrot and leek.

as previous writters about 6-8 hours should be enough, seperate the water from the fat what is on top of the water.

Take out the meat, cool down and severate the meat from bones and skin/fat.

Reduce the pork stock.

Dont add salt from the start as during cooking and reducing the stock get very salty.

A small tip after reducing the stock you can keep it in the freezer in a icecube tray, so whenever you want to make a sauce you take out 1 or 2 cubes.

Use the reduced stock for the saus, add your ingredients as red wine, carrot, onions, leek, potatoes and others up to your taste cook it till for about 1 hour, last add the pork.

Bring up the taste with salt, peper or stock.

Enjoy your meal