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• Palm sugar

  Palm sugar is a sap from palm tree flowers like date, coconut or sugar palm. It is used in many cuisines in tropical countries, like Thailand, Indonesia, India.

• Banana ice cream with cinnamon and cardamon

  I was sitting in the garden of a small local house in Indian Kerala. It was completely dark outside. Just coconut leaves were whispering on the palm trees above my head. There was a (truly) happy cow eating grass just right behind me and all of a sudden the owner of the house came and brought me this delicious refreshing desert after amazing dinner.

• Banh dap - Crushed rice cracker with anchovy sauce

  I was sitting in a restaurant by the river in Hoi An and all of a sudden I could hear a blow from the other table. I had a look this direction and could see a guy hitting heap of some pancakes with his open palm, then tearing it and dipping in some sauce. So I ordered it too. They were rice crackers connected together with layers of steamed rice pancakes. So simple and so tasty. Of course thanks to the great sauce too :)

• Bonda - fried banana balls with cardamon

  Bonda and masala chai were my first breakfast in India. The cardamon aroma got to my head forever and when I imagine India, the first that occurs to my mind is this amazing smell and unforgettable breakfast.

• Fish satay - Saté ikan laut

  One of my favourite specials of Bali in Indonesia. Satay made of various kinds of minced fish and shrimps with coconut and a pleasant combination of spices. Usually grilled by the road on bamboo skewers, sometimes on lemon grass stalks, which give to satays amazing aroma.

• Keow Wan Gai - Chicken green curry

  Thai green curry definitely belongs to my favourites. It is actually not green only because of the green curry paste, but because of the ingredients used as well. The cherry on top are the fresh Thai basil leaves. They bring this delicacy even to a higher level.

• Kueh dadar - Pancakes with coconut

  I was always wondering, where is the green colour in Southeast Asia pancakes coming from. Now I know. Of course it is not an artificial food colorant. It is a completely natural juice from pandan leaves. May be you have pandan as a house plant in your home. If not, no worries, just skip it. The pancakes will be delicious anyway. Not only because of the delicious coconut filling, but rice flour and coconut milk in the batter make the pancakes light and tasty.

• Rujak - Fruit and vegetable salad with sweet sauce

  I love this salad. The one on the picture is made of green mango. But you can use many kinds of other fruit or vegetable and mix all together. The most important is the sauce anyways :) Very common mix in Indonesia is pineapple, watermelon, papaya, daikon, cucumber ..... so no worries and lets experiment ;)

• Sambal goreng tempe - crispy fried tempeh

  What I love most about this recipe is the consistency of tempeh. As when chopped really fine, it gets nearly crunchy. The consistency is according to my opinion the key success factor of the recipe. I tried the same recipe with larger pieces of tempeh and it didn`t work so well. Detailes always mattered :)

• Sambal goreng tempe - Fried tempeh with sweet sauce

  Sweet variant of fried tempeh. Great and simple Indonesian recipe, which I have learnt on Lombok island from Mario, cool guy from Jawa.

• Sate ayam - Chicken satay with peanut sauce

  This is Indonesian classic. This is literally a meal, that you do not have to go for, it simply "comes" to you itself :) In other words, it is a very common meal sold from "meals on wheels" restaurants. On motorbikes (yes, ardent charcoal included) or manually driven.

• Som Tum - Green papaya salad

  This Thai salad is a perfection itself. Firstly it was prepared by a really nice couple by the road, who were passing by with their mobile kitchen on a sidecar. You just wave on them, they stop and prepare straight in front of you what you choose from their offer. The combination of flavours of lime, palm sugar, peanuts, shrimps, chilies ..... do I really need to add more?

• Water spinach stalks in a coconut sauce

  Fast, easy, with minimum of ingredients. Simply ideal recipe. Dish, I tried on a Thai local market. Pleasantly light for the hot days and not spicy either. Back home I tried it with young green beens and it was pretty good too.

• Yum woon sen - Glass noodle salad with minced pork

  Glass noodle salad belonged to my favourites. Like in majority of Thai salads, it is a great mix of flavours like spicy, sweet and sour. All topped with amazing fresh herbs. Do I need to add more?

• Yum woon sen - Thai glass noodle salad with squid and prawns

  The last meal I had in Thailand before I left. I nearly dropped a tear. This time surprisingly not because of the spiciness, the late afternoon simply felt so good. The sun was setting slowly and its rays were getting through the window of a small street restaurant. A very peaceful place. Thailand knows how to say good bye. And this amazing refreshing salad was another proof of it too :)