Thailand (Asia) – 8 May 2025

Thailand is located in the continent of Asia. It has Laos and China to the north, Laos and Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, Malaysia and Singapore to the south, the Indian Ocean to the west, and Myanmar to the northwest.

The capital is Bangkok.

The official language is Thai.

The climate is influenced by its location in the tropical monsoon zone of mainland Southeast Asia. It is warm and humid in May, rainfall reaches the maximum in September, and the winds reverse direction bringing cool dry winds between November and February.

The staple foods are pad thai, green curry, massaman curry, fried rice, coconut milk, tomatoes, papaya, pineapple and so much more (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_cuisine).

https://www.britannica.com/place/Thailand

MASSAMAN CURRY (https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/massaman-curry/):

• 2 TBSP olive oil, coconut oil or vegetable oil
• ½ onion, chopped
• 1lb. chicken breasts, chopped or substitute shrimp or tofu
• 2 medium gold potatoes (or russet potatoes), peeled and chopped into small pieces
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 18-inch thick slices
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 14 oz. can massaman curry paste of homemade
• 2 cans (13.5) coconut milk
• 1 TBSP peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
• 2 TBSP brown sugar
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
• ½ C chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish
• Cilantro, garnish

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium low heat.
2. Add onion and saute for a minute until softened.
3. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for a minute or two.
4. Add chicken, ginger, garlic and curry paste and saute for 3 minutes.
5. Add coconut milk.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through.
8. Stir in the fish sauce, brown sugar, peanut butter and lime juice.
9. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
10. Serve with any type of rice (white, brown, and jasmine are my favorites) or over zoodles, spaghetti squash or quinoa.

This curry was fantastic!! I added roasted peanuts before I added the brown rice!!! Not a hot curry thanks to the coconut milk!!!

BROWN RICE:

What is not to love about brown rice???

SESAME BALLS (https://vocabularyoffood.com/sesame-balls/):

• A little less than ½ C water
• ¼ C white sugar
• 1-1/4 C glutinous rice flour
• 1 tsp neutral oil
• 1/3 C white sesame
• 1 pint neutral oil for frying

1. Heat up a pot on the stove over low heat and pour in a pint of oil.
2. Let it heat up until it’s hot.
3. On a pan over medium-high heat, mix the water and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
4. In a big bowl, mix glutinous rice flour with the sugar water which may be added in at any temperature.
5. Mix until it’s clumpy, then add 1 tsp of oil.
6. Use your hands to knead it into a smooth, firm dough ball.
7. It shouldn’t be too saggy. The perfect texture of a sesame ball dough before it is fried should be smooth, elastic, and firm but not too dry or too soft.
8. If the dough sags, add glutinous rice flour to the dough ball ¼ tsp at a time until it is firm but not too dry.
9. Split the dough into 6 pieces and roll them into spheres.
10. Toss it in sesame seeds.
11. Repeat for the rest of the dough.
12. When the oil in the pot hits 250F, toss in the sesame balls.
13. Flip continuously until they float, 10 minutes.
14. Then, take turns submerging the balls in the hot oil with a sieve.
15. After the initial 20 minutes, gradually increase the oil temperature to 300F for the final 10 minutes of frying.
16. They should look round and light golden brown.
17. Transfer them onto paper towels to absorb excess oil.
18. Serve while warm and enjoy same day!

I LOVE sesame balls. I usually like sweet bean inside, but plain was also really good!!!

Here is the overall!! Highly Recommend!!