Notes about Recipes in this book

• Prayoon's fish cakes (Prayoon's tod mun pla)

  • Foodycat on March 04, 2021

    Delicious! I misread the recipe and used 100g of beans instead of 1tbs of beans but they were still very good. Didn't quite have the rubbery bounce I like in a Thai fish cake but I think I didn't slap it around the bowl enough.

• Khun Tavee's pumpkin fritters (Tod mun fukthong Khun Tavee)

  • Foodycat on February 27, 2021

    https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/mar/30/four-favourite-recipes-thai-snacks-fishcakes-pumpkin-fritters-pork-balls-seared-beef-dipping-sauce-kay-plunkett-hogge recipe here

  • Foodycat on March 04, 2021

    These tasted good but they didn't hold together for me at all. I didn't have glutinous rice flour so I ground glutinous rice finely in a spice grinder, but I wonder if that was the problem.

• 'Galloping horses' (Ma hor)

  • Foodycat on April 28, 2020

    Delicious! I used finely chopped pork fillet because I couldn't get mince. I didn't make it far enough ahead for it to be completely cold, and to be honest I couldn't imagine cold pork on pineapple, so we ate it luke warm. Amazing flavour for something pretty simple.

• Pad Thai (Guay teow pad Thai)

  • Snopes on February 17, 2022

    This is definitely less sweet than any of the dozens of US restaurant versions I've ever had. I wonder if the palm sugar needs to be dissolved in water before it is added? Delicate and delicious and I might very well make it again, but not quite what I expected.

• Massaman curry (Gaeng massaman)

  • Foodycat on January 28, 2021

    Delicious. I didn't have the right chillies, so I used large dried Mexican ones, which weren't quite hot enough but the flavour was excellent.

  • Beth891 on August 11, 2024

    I used this more as inspiration for the spices etc due to time etc but I'd definitely love to make the full recipe at some point! Even cheating it was delicious - I made a quick paste from ground spices and added a little hot smoked paprika for spice and the smokey taste that you'd get from roasting the spices. I made the sauce part first and cooked for about 15 mins then used leftover chicken and potatoes from lime spiced chicken (a nigella recipe I did earlier) and added a couple of handfuls of peas, adding them about 10 mins from the end of cooking. Definitely one to make again, either my cheat version or the actual one. The combination of spices is lovely.

• Stir-fried morning glory (Pad pak boong fai daeng)

  • Frenchfoodie on May 16, 2026

    Delicious. I had to sub well soaked black beans for yellow. Fried the stems of the morning glory for a minute to two before adding the leafier sections.

• Pork stir-fried with holy basil (Pad krapow moo)

  • Foodycat on February 01, 2021

    It's good, but my basil had no fragrance at all (not the recipe's fault but I think it was to the detriment of the dish). I think it needs some nam jim or salad on the side for a bit of acidity.

• Squid deep-fried with garlic and white pepper (Khun Nai's pla muk tod kratiem from Chao Lay)

  • Foodycat on September 13, 2019

    I didn't get an even coating on the squid, but the flavour was wonderful. ETA did it again and drained the collected liquid before I tossed in the flour and it was so much better! Really crisp and crunchy, tender squid and lovely pepper and garlic flavour.

• Grilled chicken (Classic gai yang)

  • Foodycat on May 03, 2019

    The weather wasn't good so I roasted it whole rather than spatchcocking it. Juiciest chicken I have ever cooked, and the brine and marinade are delicious.

  • Frenchfoodie on March 14, 2026

    This was delicious. I brined and then oven roasted and the meat was incredibly juicy. Cookbook picture misleading though, the deep red brown does not happen with the (soy sauce coloured) marinade in the recipe.

• Garlic salad (Yum kratiem)

  • Foodycat on July 15, 2025

    Given that you are deep frying the elements separately, this was surprisingly unfussy. Served with rice, this was a dinner for 2 people, and really delicious. Will make again.

• Northeastern-style laarp (Laarp Isaan)

  • Foodycat on May 06, 2019

    I used duck fillets and chicken livers. We had it as a main meal with some glutinous rice - absolutely delicious, but I would go with 2tbs of the spice mix next time.

  • Frenchfoodie on October 26, 2019

    Classic laarp, worked well even with leftover roast beef. But I’d up the lime/fish sauce next time, we like a little more juicy.

• Quick pickled cucumber (Ajad)

  • Foodycat on January 28, 2021

    I wanted to serve it as a salad so I made less of the pickling liquor. Very simple and good.

• Kavey Eats by Kavey Favelle

  The recipes...are readily achievable for ordinary home cooks. In recipes that traditionally include a hard-to-find ingredient, Kay suggests a suitable substitute.

  Full review