Khao Jee

Khao Jee, literally “baked rice”, is one of my favorite Thai food items from my childhood. It is a traditional Lao food from Laos including ethnic Lao of Isan or northeastern Thailand. It is made by forming the sticky rice (“khao neaw”) into a flat rice ball similar to Japanese Onigiri. Many people do this by wrapping sticky rice around a long bamboo stick acting as a vehicle or method of reaching the hot fire and flipping the sticky rice patties without burning one’s hand, similar to toasting marshmallow over an open flame. Salt is then sprinkled and gently pressed on the rice ball before an initial baking. You may opt for adding salt to the egg instead. Once the rice turns orange and hardened, the whole rice ball is soaked in stirred raw egg. It will then go through finishing bake.

You can enjoy Khao Jee as is for your main meal together with other Thai dishes or for snacking. In Isan, Khao Jee is more widely consumed during winter. Nowadays, you may find Khao Jee in some roadside food stalls not only in Isan but through out Thailand including Bangkok. But they are not easy to be found may be because they are simple and usually sold at THB5-10 per piece which make Khao Jee less economical as a business .

Khai Jiaw – The Simplest and Most Popular Thai Dish Among Thais

khai jeaw with rice

Khai Jiaw may be translated as fried eggs (khai = eggs and jiaw = fried) or Thai-style scrambled eggs. It probably is the simplest Thai dish in terms of ingredients and ease of preparing.  Even kids can prepare it for themselves. But it surely is the most popular Thai dish among Thais, especially kids to the extent when Thais have gone abroad for a few days, they would probably ask for Khai Jiaw in their first meal after returning to Thailand.

Why Thai Bribes?

We are seeing the trend that more and more Westerners choose to marry Thai women in the last 5-10 years. Although we Thais have heard about the trend for sometime, I was quite surprised when a Thai guide who took us around a small town in Germany told us that there were a good size of Thai community even in that small town. In fact some tens of thousand Thai wives are living in Germany. Got on a plane to a North-Eastern city of Thailand one day, I was overwhelmed by a cheer number of “farang” (Westerner) passengers travelling with their Thai wives and kids apparently visiting the wives’s home towns.

So why are Thai brides so popular among Westerners?
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Chiang Mai – Rose of the North

Chiang Mai is the major center of Northern Thailand, some 700 km from Bangkok. It is one of Thailand’s largest cities with a population of over 500,000 and growing. Located on a plain surrounded by mountains, the peak of Doi Suthep looms just 13 kilometers away and looks over the city and surrounding lush countryside. With history dated back over 800 years, Chiang Mai is one of the oldest cities of Thailand embracing abundant historical and cultural heritage.
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Romanizing Thai Words

I don’t know who is to blame but you may find names of Thai places, recipes or anything Thai get translated into English slightly differently sometime. For example, Chiang Mai may be referred to as Chieng Mai or Chiangmai and Koh Samui as Ko Samui, Samui Island. Similarly, the popular Thai recipe Pad Thai can sometime be Pat Thai. Don’t worry they are the same

Well, we Thais are flexible “saby saby” people, aren’t we?