Thai Breakfast

[phuturatica]

I'm one of those people who needs to eat breakfast before starting the day but I've been feeling pretty uninspired as of late having my usual farang style breakfasts. I see Thai people eating in the morning and it looks different from their lunch and dinner so I was wondering... Has anyone here got any recommendations on any Thai dishes to try for breakfasts?! I want to branch out and try something new.

If you are suggesting something, can you give me an idea of what it is etc?

[Gladiator]

Hi,

The Thai girls in my office bring in a variety of things to eat from the street vendors according to their mood and inclination.

If the are unwell or feel low - they bring in Johk - rice porridge, flavoured with either pork, chicken, or prawn.

Khao Tom is a regular item - rice soup flavoured with park or chicken with herbs and crispy garlic sprinkled on to accompanied by a hard boiled egg.

Another favorite (sorry I don't know the Thai name) is a length of pork deep fried in breadcrumbs, accompanied by a mash of green vegetables and light chilies and sticky rice.

Other fares:

Khao Neaw Mo Ping - several slices of pork skewers barbequed with sauce and served with sticky rice.

A type of crepe (again sorry - I don't know the Thai name) wafer thin cooked on a griddle. filled with either yellow or white/savoury or sweet filling that looks like coconut but isn't - then folded over like a book.

Dim Sum - little pork dumplings which have been steamed then covered with soi sauce and crispy garlic. These vendors sometimes also serve a white rice bun with assorted flavours

Khanom Pang - Waffles, different flavours. The usually buy these if they have been to a shopping mall.

I hope that you find something to enjoy.

Gladiator

[Dag Ekeberg]

It’s funny, I don’t see much difference between breakfast, lunch and dinner in Thailand. Whatever is available or takes ones fancy at the moment.

Thais who hate to leave the house before breakfast (and hate to cook), keep their fridges stocked with chili paste, fermented fish and fresh vegetables. Then, all you have to do is reheat the rice that was left in the cooker from last night…

Crepes are called Roti.

[Gladiator]

Hi Dag,

Thanks for your comment. I enjoy Rotis (either with savoury or in my case banana chocolate filling) but in Chiang Mai the Roti vendors normally appear in the evening.

My wife tells me that the crepes that I mentioned are called Khao Nom Buang, cooked on a griddle - each mixture being about 8 centremetres across. When cooked they are taken off the griddle, filling added and folded. They are quite crispy and delicious!

[Dag Ekeberg]

Yes, they are very tasty. A bit too rich fare perhaps in the morning, but as dessert, sure.

[bina]

well in my thai household here in israel we eat left over rice,and leftover thai whatever we had for dinner or lunch, thats it. israeli breakfast is usually salad (tomatoes/cukes/lettuce) bread and yougurt or white cheese (wet yogurty cream cheese//cottage cheese); so since we also have th e israeli salad for dinner, that is also eaten: hubby adds fish sauce/plaa raa to everything... so there it is. an international breakfast. oh, shrimp/calamari dipped in boiling water and then dipped in hot sauce works too.

also, reheated eggrolls, jhok, fried eggs or omelet with coriander/thai basil/onions etc... fried rice...

i dont know, why limit breakfast to breakfast foods... cold pizza, pasta, my kids long ago gave up on a normative middle eastern household when it comes to food and ways of eating.

30 years ago i got over the horror of eating tomatoes cucumbers and lettuce chpped up as a salad with olive oil and lemon juice , as a breakfast food. when we have westerners for overnite, we do roti (those pancake thingies ) with banana...

bina

[Genericnic]

Hi Dag,

My wife tells me that the crepes that I mentioned are called Khao Nom Buang, cooked on a griddle - each mixture being about 8 centremetres across. When cooked they are taken off the griddle, filling added and folded. They are quite crispy and delicious!

I love these. I describe them to friends back in Texas as being Thai tacos. Intend to go through them like potato chips.

David

[sbk]

patong kho is a popular breakfast dish, rarely see it past 10 am.

yum

[paggamb]

Thai breakfast menu, I'm thinking of.

ข้าวต้มหมู (Khao Tom Moo) Rice soup with minced pork

โจ๊กหมูใส่ไข่ (Jok Moo Sai Khai) Pork porridge with egg

ต้มเลือดหมู (Tom Lued Moo) Soup with pork blood, meat and intestine, eat with rice

ไข่กะทะ (Khai Kata) Fried egg served in small pan with Chinese and Vietnamese sausages and minced pork

ปาท่องโก๋ (Pa Tong Kho) Fried chinese bun, eat with soya milk and sangkaya (egg pudding)

[Dag Ekeberg]

Thanks for the pictures, Paggamb. Pork blood and intestines for breakfast... not so sure... Otherwise, I guess porridge is a safe start of the day.

I think some fruit would be in order here. For years now, we’ve been told to eat grapefruit for breakfast. That used to be cruel punishment, but in Thailand the grapefruit is sweet... Pomelo (ส้มโอ)

[Genericnic]

@Dag Ekeberg said, "Pork blood and intestines for breakfast... not so sure."

Or any other meal for me. Wasn't a fan of menudo back in Texas either. I am pretty adventurous (Anyone tried rat on a stick?) but I do have a few limits.

David

[paggamb]

Thanks for the pictures, Paggamb. Pork blood and intestines for breakfast... not so sure... Otherwise, I guess porridge is a safe start of the day.

You're welcome. FYI. Thais eat Tom Lued Moo as breakfast. They ate it with small bowl of rice, and it will become close to Khao Tom Moo, but with more ingredients. You can find it in food stall inside morning market all around Thailand, many sell with porridge. One of the country most famous is on Pattaya Klang Rd. in Pattaya call Lued Moo Khun Sri http://www.khunsri.com/, the shop is very crowd every morning.

Edited September 24, 2012 by paggamb

[sbk]

never seen patong ko with soy milk or anytthing other than coffee or ovatltine. In the South its called kee goi

[smokie36]

Laab Moo....

[ikis]

Khao man gai.

my personal favorite on thai breakfast menu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainanese_chicken_rice

quite popular breakfast among thais and it is only served for breakfast/lunch.

[paggamb]

never seen patong ko with soy milk or anytthing other than coffee or ovatltine. In the South its called kee goi

Almost every Pa Tong Kho food stall cart in Bangkok sell it with Nam Tao Hoo or soy milk. In Trang province, they call Pa Tong Kho as Eiu Ja Kuay while Pa Thong Kho means another kind of sweet bun.

[phuturatica]

Seriously not a fan of the rice soups... I'll have to try the porridge though I guess.

@smokie laab moo? Haha.

I've had patong kho (kee goi) before but I'm supposed to be on a diet... fried bread in the morning?! Hmm.

I guess I'll give some a try tomorrow and report back!

[sbk]

No, its definitely not diet food! Nor particularly good for your heart and cholesterol levels either I would imagine!

[smokie36]

Seriously not a fan of the rice soups... I'll have to try the porridge though I guess.

@smokie laab moo? Haha.

I've had patong kho (kee goi) before but I'm supposed to be on a diet... fried bread in the morning?! Hmm.

I guess I'll give some a try tomorrow and report back!

Well...don't expect me to rise before noon do ya?

[David48]

... or more simple fare

White bread (no crusts as bought at TESCO) smothered with sweetened condensed milk before leaving for work. Then maybe fried pork with stick rice for the journey to work.

[phuturatica]

Basically I think I'm screwed if I ever want to lose weight over here..

Fried this, fried that... sugary condensed milk... calorific!

I tried the porridge with chicken and to be honest I wasn't a fan.

[Dag Ekeberg]

I see your point. Some of the dishes mentioned here, I'd call Thai fast-food...

Try to befriend some Isan people and see what they eat, or go to a local farmers market. Get fresh vegetables and fruit. Buy cured or fermented fish that keeps in the fridge. …and tons of other stuff they hide from us farangs…

[phuturatica]

I don't live in Issan and I start work at 7:15am I don't exactly have time to be going to morning markets to be fair.

Also fermented fish is horrid.

[sbk]

Fruit smoothies with yogurt are always good. Get local fruit in season for a change. Mom used to add wheat germ to ours when I was a kid to make it extra filling.

[smokie36]

Basically I think I'm screwed if I ever want to lose weight over here..

Fried this, fried that... sugary condensed milk... calorific!

I tried the porridge with chicken and to be honest I wasn't a fan.

Stick to bananas if you want to lose weight. That or my preferred option of simply coffee. Oh and a smoke....I'm giving that up soon too....expect some erratic posting when that happens.

[barefoot1988]

rice congee with an raw egg and those mini chinese dough sticks! grilled pork sticks with sticky rice is nice as well

[Gladiator]

Another couple of options for a sweet snack at breakfast:

'Kanom Krok' . I don't tend to see many of these vendors about these days but they must be around. Here in Chiang Mai, I am lucky that there is a stall just down the road a ways. On the stall is a griddle with curved indentations. A white mixture is poured in and they turn out looking like rather like half of a large hard boiled egg with the bottom a little crispy and the top white - sprinkled with some green herb, perhaps even spring onion. I suppose that the mixture's composition is coconut based.

Sorry, I am not sure of the name, but the lady who pushes the food cart past the office in the morning also sells a plastic bag full of a type of donut, completely round, sort of dark on the outside with an interesting tasting herb within. If any one knows the name of these - I would be interested to hear. They are very different from the Patong Kho in SBK's post.

patong kho is a popular breakfast dish, rarely see it past 10 am.

yum

[meatballs]

I'm guessing some of these dishes are Bangkokian, right? I seldom see them being cooked in Pattaya.

[paggamb]

Sorry, I am not sure of the name, but the lady who pushes the food cart past the office in the morning also sells a plastic bag full of a type of donut, completely round, sort of dark on the outside with an interesting tasting herb within. If any one knows the name of these - I would be interested to hear. They are very different from the Patong Kho in SBK's post.

I guess you mean ขนมไข่หงส์ "khanom khai hong" khanom = dessert, khai hong = swan's egg

They are fried sugar coated flour made from sticky rice flour and sweet potatoes stuffed with salty herbs and mashed green beans.

There is another kind of Khanom that look like this, but smaller and just sweet fried bun, no stuffed inside called Khanom Khai Nok Krata ขนมไข่นกกระทา Khai Nok Krata = quail's egg

Edited October 3, 2012 by paggamb

[cooked]

A glass of whisky, two aspirins and a biscuit?