Daniel Almond 

@culturecanteen
Food researcher, cook, and photographer exploring traditional food cultures — particularly those of Thailand, the Philippines and Southeast Asia. I also run regular Thai and Filipino supper clubs in London.

I-am-very-excited.

Finally, finally I've got my hands on a proper wok burner. The heat output on this is approx 50k BTUS p/h, which is around 500%-800% more powerful than your run-of-the-mill home gas stove. I think it is still only around half as powerful as the average restaurant grade wok burner, but it more than does the job! If any …

Homemade muu deng (Thai pork meatballs) in what has become my quick/easy/midweek version of a classic Thai noodle soup known as kuay tiew nam sai. Everything comes together in about 10 minutes as I have clear chicken stock frozen in 250ml blocks in the freezer, and the muu deng is also frozen in vacuum-sealed packages (5x meatballs in on…

Very excited to have gotten my hands on a copy of this, shipped all the way from Thailand. I've seen many great people in the food industry - chefs, food writers, journalists, etc., sing this book's praises — I'm sure it's as amazing as they hype. I can't wait to get stuck in. If any of you lovely people have a copy and are working your way through it - do shout out!

Went on a very quick jaunt to San Francisco for work the other week. I was lucky that an old colleague of mine who lives there was kind enough to send me an incredible list of food reccs. Whilst most of my time was spent in a conference room, I managed to duck out and eat my way as much as possible around town.

Pictured are some highligh…

Kanom jeen nam nigaw — a Northern-Thai / Burmese (via the Tai Yai people) noodle soup made from a rich pork and tomato-based broth. It really is the Thai version of spaghetti bolognese... just imbued with many aromatics, fish sauce and chillies (amongst other things!).

This was my first time making this dish at home after having the aston…

Somewhere just after sunrise in San Francisco...

Glistening homemade sai ua (Northern Thai herbal sausage). Made with coarsely ground pork; little chunks of back fat; a paste of chillies, shallots, garlic, makrut lime leaf, turmeric; plus a little fish sauce. Smoked slowly over coconut husks, then served with the ever-astringent, perfumy praew leaf (aka Vietnamese mint/coriander). A re…

Libong island, 2023

Gaeng dthoe mae - a Southern Thai seafood curry shrouded in ambiguity. I learned this version in Koh Samui from a lady named Ying, who runs Som Rom Space. It's noticeable for its use of foreign spices like fenugreek, mustard seeds, and curry leaves - which are seldom seen in Thai cuisine and speak to both Malay and Indian influences. I'm…

Eating out solo with a napkin tucked into the collar, bib style, is a complex pleasure.

Could any of you lovely people point me toward anyone doing video well on Substack? Specifically food-related videos. I'm getting the itch to start delving into longer-form videos and wondering if Substack is the right platform to share such work.

My fairly uninformed view at the moment is that video hasn't really taken off on Substack... I've seen a few food writers add a clip here or there to posts, and many writers embed YouTube videos into their written articles, but I'm yet to find anyone creating long-form videos exclusively for Substack.

Naam prik gapi (Thai shrimp paste relish) served with an assortment of fresh vegetables, including some beautiful golden beets and watermelon radishes from Natoora, and rice and eggs fried in chicken fat (not pictured). An ideal modest lunch... fresh, nutritious, organic ingredients put together with little hassle to form a delicious dish true to its roots.