Daily Archives: August 14, 2009

Bangkok to Kanchanaburi: Evening by the Water

Image050 by you.

The water in the river Kwai is unusually clear, and being in the mountains it has speed. The pink bougainvillea above however reminds me of a flower pot by a Venice balcony. Strange how a water body adds beauty to commonplace things.

Image059 by you.

The colourful boat cruising by above adds its charms to the evening. I found my trip to Kanchanaburi really engrossing. Once you are inside the river, you are in another world.

But just come back to the bus terminus behind, and its almost like being back in Bangkok. The usual coffee shops, food markets and the large market of semi-precious rubies!

How to cook… Chicken and wax gourd curry

This is one of my favourite curries that I cook every now and then. It is Chicken and wax gourd curry or “gang khua fak gup gai” in Thai. You cook it in much the same way as other red curries but there is an extra step with the wax gourd. You can see these at the top of the ingredients picture below. You can also see coconut milk, sliced red chilli, kaffir lime leaves, tamarind, palm sugar, sliced chicken and red curry paste in the middle.

You need to prepare the wax gourd first by peeling it, slice it several times lengthways, remove the seeds and then finally cut into one inch chunks. Heat up the coconut cream in a wok for several minutes and then add the red curry paste. Add some coconut milk if it starts to dry out. Add the sliced chicken and cook until it is nearly done. Transfer to a deeper pot, and add another cup of coconut milk together with the wax gourd. Once the wax gourd is cooked, season with equal amounts of tamarind juice, sugar and fish sauce. You can use lime juice if you don’t have any tamarind. Add the torn kaffir lime leaves and red spur chilli before turning off the heat. Come back next week to www.thai-blogs.com for more Thai Food Blogs. If you have any questions then feel free to post in our Thai Food Forums.