Showing 1 - 10 of 29
Prices up, quality down
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 23/06/2019
» Of late, news reports state that vegetable prices are rising. This must be true. Three months ago I could buy some coriander and spring onion with 5 baht. But a few days ago, I had to pay 10 baht for a lesser amount of the same veggies. Not only are coriander and spring onion going up, but so are prices of other vegetables.
A bamboo tree for all trades
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 08/07/2018
» A rare sighting of phai si suk, or thorny bamboo, only seems to bring up memories of the past nowadays.
More Than a Decent Cutting Board
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 24/12/2017
» This week I'd like to persuade you to love tamarind trees. If you don't have one, grow one. If you already have one, don't ever cut it down. Tamarind trees are remarkably versatile and robust and don't require very much attention. They can even survive heavy floods. Tamarind trees are excellent species for shades. Sometimes sunlight barely gets through. Flesh from mature pods is just what you need to make tamarind paste. You just have to squeeze it well.
Bringing local to the table
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 03/09/2017
» Thanks to globalisation and technology, any trendy product in the United States gets popular in Thailand not long afterwards. Organic food, for instance, is a must-have for the health-conscious American consumer. Lately, it’s become a visible trend in Bangkok too.
A dish's best sidekick
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 16/10/2016
» What is Thailand's national dish? This question could bring many answers: pad Thai, tom yam kung, tom khaa kai, kaeng massaman kai, kaeng pad pet yang, kaeng khio waan luk chin plaa kraai -- the list goes on, depending on who you ask. But one food that could never be left out, and perhaps the one with the greatest claim of all to the title, is nam phrik, the collective name of Thai chilli dipping sauces.
Tap jak of all trades
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 18/10/2015
» In the past, this column has taken a look at many of the plants found in Thailand’s fields and kitchen gardens — the trees that bear coconuts, bananas, tamarind, mangoes and papayas and smaller plants grown close to the house, like lime trees, chillies, kaffir lime, taling pling, galangal, ginger, lemon grass and different kinds of basil.
Mixing things up
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 23/08/2015
» In today’s column I’d like to visit an exceptional restaurant serving Chinese-Thai food. It is located in an ordinary-looking shophouse with the cooking area out in front. Customers are seated in an air-conditioned room, where they are presented with a menu with a long list of dishes. Those who know it will recall it used to be located behind the sports arena at Pathumwan but has now moved to Lat Ya Road in Thon Buri.
Duck in for tasty treats
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 16/08/2015
» Which is to be preferred, a hen’s egg or a duck egg? Few people would take a stand on this, even though hens’ eggs are cheaper. When making many different kinds and food, including most sweets that call for eggs, only the duck egg will do. It has qualities that the hen’s egg lacks, and justifies the extra cost.
The pick of the bunch
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 05/07/2015
» Think of the qualities that make the banana such a useful fruit. It is available everywhere all year round, it can be eaten in a great number of ways, and it’s cheap. Thailand has many different kinds of bananas. The kluay nam waa is probably the most familiar of them, but there is also the kluay hawm, the little kluay khai, the kluay hak mook and the recurved and fragrant kluay lep mue nang, to name just some of the commonest ones.
'Yam' that makes you go 'yum'
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 26/10/2014
» Thailand's cuisine spans many kinds of dishes, among them kaeng (curries and soups), boiled and steamed dishes, stir-fries, deep-fried dishes and more. Some go together well to form pairs. Kaeng khio waan (a spicy, coconut cream-based curry) with phat phak khana kap pla khem (Chinese broccoli stir-fried with salted fish), kaeng som phak boong kap khai jio (a sweet-sour-spicy, soup-like curry together with omelette), kaeng pa pla sai (a very spicy fish curry made without coconut cream) with pla chon daed dio thawt (deep-fried semi-dried snakehead fish), kaeng lueang pla kraphong (a fiery Southern variant of kaeng som made with sea bass) with moo waan (sugar-sweetened pork), and kaeng lieng nam tao (a vegetable soup containing gourds) with dried mussels fried with sugar and nam pla to make them sweet and salty, are just a few from an endless list of Thai dishes that pair up nicely.