What do you need to make a great dish? A super talented cook like Jirat, some fresher than fresh ingredients and a spattering of inspiration.

So how happy was I to get an invite to Jirat’s house earlier this week? What a treat – a Monday lunchtime Thai feast! Well, in fact the real ‘work reason’ was because we needed to take some food shots, but it would of course be rude not to eat the spoils?!

When I arrived, Jirat was in the throes of preparing Thailand’s famous pad thai. Into the rice vermicelli went king prawns, chilli, ketchup (yes, for colour mainly), garlic, nam pla (thai fish sauce) and some demerera sugar. Jirat constantly worked the dish from side to side to prevent it sticking and then finished off with beaten egg and a sprinkling of bean sprouts. It’s a dish traditionally eaten on the streets of Bangkok and every vendor has their own special recipe which they knock up in seconds!

Next up was a succulent roasted pork green curry, with squash and super creamy coconut milk – a dish Jirat is not particularly fond of, as she prefers the cuisine from NE Thailand, the region she grew up in. The food there is very spicy and includes lots of vegetables including bamboo and the food is is heavily influenced from neighbouring Laos.

I remember the best Thai red curry I ever ate was in a tiny village near Houei Xai on the border of Laos. It was super spicy with dried red chillies, fresh lime leaves and was prepared with ‘jungle fowl’ – wild and very free range chicken. The guy who cooked it was uber cool and took delight in plying me and my friends with lots of Sang Som Thai whisky.

So, back to Bristol then.. the curry and pad thai was accompanied with the Cantonese dish cheung fun, with dried shrimp bathing in a deliciously sticky, sweet reduced soya sauce. Simply delightful.

Jirat is keen to make her street food stall Aroy Thai a success, because she’s been having to work late into the night to support her two year old son. She wants to spend more time with him, but at the moment she’s torn between caring for her only child and her passion for working with food. Jirat is taking a break from StrEAT at the moment as she’s got so much on her plate (excuse the pun!), but hopes to come back on board later on in the summer.

However, she is available for private catering events in and around Bristol – just email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details.