I recently spent a lovely evening at the home of writer and food historian (and blogger), Göran Lager:
Göran lives in Sollentuna, the same suburb of Stockholm that I lived in when I went to high school here more than 10 years ago. He and I orginally had plans to take dinner at Edsbacka Krog, possibly Sweden's best restaurant, also located in Sollentuna, but our appointment was moved to Thursday (more on that later). Instead, we went back to Göran's house where his wife Rodjana, a native of Thailand (and a former employee of Edsbacka Krog), made us a wonderful meal.
We started with a teriffic tom kha kai:
the famous coconut milk soup with chicken. I never order this dish in Thailand, but think that Rodjana's has inspired me to begin doing so! This was accompanied by a spicy som tam:
The image of which was actually taken by budding food photographer, and Lager's daugher, Plaifah:
And finally, an absolutely delicious muu thawt, deep-fried pork:
Which was made from pork shortribs from G. Nilsson Livs, Göran's favourite butcher in Hötorghallen. Rodjana marinated these in fish sauce and coriander seed, and liberally sprinkled with deep-fried crispy garlic.
Thai restaurants in Stockholm are very expensive, and by all accounts, mediocre. If you're here and want Thai food, my advice is to become friends with a Thai--preferably one who cooked at a two-star restaurant!