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Rice flour, turmeric, coconut milk and water make a thin yellow batter. Filling vegetables, mushrooms, sliced onion, tofu, are sautéed in a hot pan; the batter is poured over to form a thin pancake; beansprouts pile in last; the lot is folded in half and slides out crisp. Pieces are wrapped in lettuce with herbs and dipped in nuoc cham.
A mix of raw and lightly-blanched vegetables; firm tofu pan-fried; hard-boiled eggs halved. The peanut sauce is built fresh from roasted peanuts blended with garlic, chilli, kecap manis, tamarind, lime and water. Pour over at the table; toss; eat.
A two-part dish: a deeply concentrated prawn-and-chicken stock built from roasted prawn shells, layered with a freshly pounded laksa paste of dried chilli, galangal, lemongrass and candlenuts. The two are joined with coconut cream to create a glossy, fragrant broth that bathes rice vermicelli, tofu puffs and prawns. Finished at the table with sambal, lime, fresh coriander and bean sprouts.
A Cambodian banana flower salad, the kind of bright herby starter that opens a Khmer meal. You slice banana flower thin and submerge it immediately in lemon water to stop the browning (banana flower oxidises within seconds of cutting, going from pale ivory to brown). Tofu cubes (or shredded chicken in the non-vegetarian version) join for substance. Peanuts toast in a dry pan; shallots fry crisp in oil. The dressing is lime, palm sugar, soy and chilli pounded together in a mortar, and everything tosses with fresh herbs at the last minute - mint, coriander, Thai basil, whatever is around. Eaten as a starter or alongside grilled meat, the bitter floral note of the banana flower balanced by the salty-sweet dressing and the crunch of peanuts.
Onion and ginger char black on a flame to give the broth its signature smoky depth. They go into water with toasted spices, dried mushrooms, kombu (kelp) and a few aromatics, simmering for an hour to extract flavour. The broth strains clear; tofu poaches in it briefly. Rice noodles cook separately; everything assembles in bowls with a pile of fresh herbs and chillies.
A spice paste of shallots, garlic, candlenuts (or cashews), turmeric and chilli is fried in oil until fragrant. Lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and galangal infuse the coconut milk. Vegetables go in by cooking time, firmer first, leafier last. Tofu joins; everything simmers gently. The broth should be thin, the vegetables tender but not collapsed.
A spice paste of shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and turmeric is fried in oil. Coconut milk and water simmer with the paste; pumpkin or squash goes in first to soften, beans and aubergine follow, and tofu joins last. The broth thickens lightly; salt and a squeeze of lime finish.
A spice paste of green chillies and aromatics blends fresh (or starts from a good Thai paste with fresh additions). Coconut cream from the top of the can is cracked in the wok until oil splits out; paste fries; coconut milk loosens; vegetables, Thai aubergine, pea aubergine, bamboo shoots, broccoli, baby corn, go in by cook time. Tofu joins; the curry simmers briefly. Soy sauce (instead of fish sauce), palm sugar, lime leaves, Thai basil to finish.
Pad thai began as a 1930s government-promoted national dish during a campaign to reduce rice consumption, and has since become Thailand's best-known noodle export. The success of any version comes down to the sauce: equal parts fish sauce, tamarind and palm sugar, with a spoonful of finely chopped pickled radish for backbone. Once the sauce is mixed the wok work is fast, with soft rice noodles, chicken, tofu, dried shrimp and egg joining in quick succession before the dish is finished with peanuts, chives, lime and chilli at the table.