Elefin Cafe

As you might know, I work on the biggest road in Thailand, called Sukhumvit. I actually work off of the first small street, and it's called Soi 1. So I basically walk up and down this street 10 times a week, give or take. There is a cute little place that I love to go to called the Elefin Cafe. They have lots of dark wood furniture and comfy chairs for relaxing. It looks like it might be expensive, but it's not at all, and has really great Thai and western food. My bowl of soup today was less than $3, and the extra rice was $.40. Also they play the greatest old cartoons.


When Sue posted that she would like some recipes that she could try at home, I knew that I had just the thing. One of my absolute favorite dishes is Tom Kha Gai. It is a soup, and like most of ther Thai food, it incorporates many flavors together: sweet, spicy, sour. The broth is made from coconut milk, and it has chicken and mushrooms it in. It can range from being really thin, almost more like an appetizer, to being so thick and rich that you can eat it for desert.

For dinner, we had Thai food again before we went to see Bruno (not recommended, if you were wondering). Here I have 2 dishes with plain rice, which is pretty common.

The orangey one was red snapper fried with a sweet and sour sauce. It was really good, but a little too sweet for my taste.

The lighter one is chicken and tofu, cooked with a few veggies and chilis. It was quite hot, and very good. Tofu is really common in Thai food, which I love. I think in general that Americans get a bad impression of tofu. When I told my dairy-farming grandmother that I loved eating tofu and ate it all the time, she asked why I just didn't eat "real food". I told her that I also love chicken, and pig, and cow, and duck, and just about anything else there is, but I also like to eat tofu. Thai people eat about anything. You don't need to substitute it for meat. If you've never had it, give it a try! It tastes a little nutty. Most people aren't crazy about the texture, which is understandable. I suggest small pieces eaten with other things, like a salad or noodles.
So, tonight I am cooking again! I am going to make (and photograph) my second attempt at the soup above. I will post the recipe and steps tonight or tomorrow.