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Honey joysHoney cornflake cakes

Honey joys have been on Australian children's birthday tables for generations, next to fairy bread and chocolate crackles: crunchy clusters of cornflakes coated in bubbling honey butter and baked in little paper cases until golden and crisp. Children can stir and spoon them while an adult handles the hot syrup. They are for school-age children and not for babies under one, who shouldn't have honey. They contain milk and usually gluten (from malt in cornflakes). Chef's tip: bake them just until golden; a few minutes too long and the honey turns bitter.

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Khao bod tap gai (mashed rice with chicken liver)

Khao bod, mashed soft rice, is how Thai babies start eating with the family, and steamed chicken liver is a favourite addition because it is so rich in iron. Here it is mashed with sweet pumpkin and a few morning glory or spinach leaves, so the flavour is mellow rather than strong. Liver is very high in vitamin A, so keep it to a small portion about once a week. It contains none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: trim every white sinew from the livers, and the mash will be silky rather than stringy.

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Jelly slice

Jelly slice is a fixture of school fetes, church bake stalls and birthday tables in Australia and New Zealand: a crushed biscuit base, a tangy layer of lemon and condensed milk set with gelatine, and a glassy top of red raspberry jelly, cut into neat squares. It needs no oven but a lot of fridge time, so make it the day before. It contains gluten and milk, and gelatine, so it is not vegetarian; agar-based vegetarian jelly crystals and a vegetarian gelling agent work if set according to their packet. Chef's tip: let the jelly cool until it is syrupy and only just warm before pouring, or it melts into the creamy layer.

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Sausage sizzle

The sausage sizzle is how Australians raise money for school fetes, sports clubs and polling days, and it is the easiest food for a backyard birthday: thick sausages barbecued until browned, laid diagonally on a slice of soft white bread with a heap of sweet fried onions and a squiggle of tomato sauce. One slice, one sausage, eaten in the hand. It contains gluten from the bread (and often the sausages). Chef's tip: cook the onions slowly on the flat plate before the sausages, and push them to the cooler side to keep warm while the sausages cook.

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Mashed nam wa banana (kluay nam wa bod)

Ask a Thai grandmother about first foods and she will talk about kluay nam wa, the short, plump banana that grows in nearly every garden in Thailand. Ripe ones are steamed, which softens the slightly astringent edge, then scraped and mashed for a baby's first taste, often in the afternoon. It is sweet, creamy and needs nothing added. There are no common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). If you can't find nam wa, use a small, very ripe ordinary banana. Chef's tip: steam the banana in its skin; it keeps the flesh moist and stops it browning.

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Kuay teow nam sai (clear rice noodle soup for toddlers)

Kuay teow nam sai, clear noodle soup, is ordered for Thai children at noodle shops everywhere because it comes without chilli, sugar or vinegar: thin rice noodles in a light broth with minced pork and blanched greens. At home it is easy to make it even gentler, with no-salt stock fragrant with garlic and coriander root, so that toddlers can have it from a year old and adults season their bowls at the table. It contains none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish) unless the family adds fish sauce. Chef's tip: soak the noodles in warm water rather than boiling them, then dip in the broth just before serving, so they stay silky.

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Khanom khai (Thai egg cakes)

Khanom khai are the tiny golden sponge cakes that Thai market vendors bake in heavy brass moulds, filling the air with a sweet, eggy smell, and Bangkok children buy a paper bag of them after school. They are light and spongy inside with crisp, caramelised edges, and taste of egg and vanilla. They're made with oil rather than butter. They contain egg and gluten. Without a traditional mould, a mini-muffin or madeleine tin works well. Chef's tip: beat the eggs and sugar until really thick and pale; all the lift comes from that air.

30 minThaiBaking
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Jaffles (Australian toasted sandwiches)

Jaffles are Australian childhood in a sandwich: thick bread sealed around a hot filling in a cast-iron jaffle iron over the campfire, or in an electric sandwich press after school and on rainy weekend lunchtimes. Cheese and baked beans, or cheese and tomato, are the classics, and the sealed edges keep everything molten inside. They contain gluten and milk. Chef's tip: butter the outsides, not the insides, so the bread turns crisp and golden against the iron.

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Cocktail frankfurts with tomato sauce

Ask anyone who grew up in Australia or New Zealand about birthday parties and they'll mention 'little boys' or 'cheerios': bright red cocktail frankfurts, gently heated and piled in a bowl with tomato sauce for dunking, next to the fairy bread and sausage rolls. They take ten minutes and need almost no skill, which is why they've lasted. Check the label for gluten and allergens; many brands contain neither, but some do. Chef's tip: heat them in water that is barely simmering, never boiling hard, or the skins split and they turn pale.

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Kärntner ReindlingCinnamon raisin yeast cake

Carinthia's Easter loaf takes its name from the Reindl, the round, deep pan it is baked in, and in southern Austria no Easter basket goes to church without one. Inside the golden yeast crust is a spiral of butter, cinnamon sugar and plump raisins, so every slice shows a dark swirl. Locals eat it two ways: sweet with coffee on Easter morning, or alongside the savoury Easter platter with horseradish. Many bakers soak the raisins in rum overnight; warm water or tea works just as well and keeps it alcohol-free. A dry, crumbly Reindling usually means too much flour went in during kneading, so keep the dough soft and only lightly floured. Chef's tip: butter the pan well and dust it with sugar, which caramelises into a thin crunchy shell.

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ErdäpfelstrudelSavoury potato strudel

Austrians, especially in the Mühlviertel of Upper Austria and the Waldviertel, make savoury strudels as often as sweet ones, and Erdäpfelstrudel is a farmhouse favourite for a meatless Friday or a cold evening. Thin pastry wraps a filling of potatoes, fried onion, sour cream, marjoram and parsley, baked until crisp and golden and sliced with a green salad or a dill and sour-cream dip. Bought filo makes it easy at home. The mistake to avoid is a wet filling, which turns the pastry soggy underneath. Chef's tip: cool the filling completely before rolling; warm filling makes the layers stick and tear.

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Tom kha gai (chicken in coconut-galangal soup)

Central Thai home cooks make tom kha as one of the dishes at a shared dinner, spooned over rice rather than drunk as a starter, and Bangkok restaurants serve it in a bubbling fire pot. Galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf are simmered in coconut milk with chicken and mushrooms, then seasoned at the end with fish sauce and lime, so the soup is creamy, sour, salty and only gently hot. For a vegetarian version (tom kha het), use 400 g mixed mushrooms and firm tofu, vegetable stock and light soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Chef's tip: add the lime juice off the heat; boiling lime turns bitter and dulls the whole pot.

30 minThaiSoupsGluten free
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Oliang (Thai black iced coffee)

Old Bangkok coffee shops in Chinatown and Bang Rak still brew oliang through a long cotton sock, using a dark blend of coffee roasted with corn, soybeans, rice and sesame that gives it a toasty, almost cocoa-like flavour. It is served black, heavily sweetened and poured over crushed ice in tall glasses, a mid-morning pick-me-up for market traders. Look for any Thai 'oliang powder' blend in Asian shops, or mix dark coffee with roasted grains as below. It contains caffeine, so it is not one for children. Chef's tip: adding sugar after chilling is the mistake; dissolve it while the coffee is hot, or it stays gritty.

15 minThaiDrinksVeganGluten free
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Pla neung manao (steamed fish in lime and chilli)Steamed fish with lime and chilli

Restaurants all over Bangkok bring this dish to the table in a fish-shaped steamer with a flame underneath, the fish swimming in a broth of garlic, chilli, lime and fish sauce that keeps bubbling as you eat. Sea bass (pla kapong) is the usual choice. It is clean, sour and very garlicky, ideal for a light dinner with rice and a plate of greens. A whole fish is traditional; two thick fillets work just as well and steam faster. Chef's tip: pour the sauce over at the end, not before steaming; lime cooked for 15 minutes loses its freshness and turns bitter.

35 minThaiFishGluten freeSpicy
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Look chupMung bean fruit sweets

Once made in the palace kitchens of Ayutthaya, these miniature chillies, mangosteens and mangoes now fill gift boxes in Bangkok bakeries for weddings, merit-making and Mother's Day. The inside is a smooth, sweet paste of mung beans and coconut milk; the outside is a thin, shiny skin of jelly, so each one tastes a little like marzipan in a glass coat. Making them is an afternoon project best shared. Chef's tip: a paste that is too wet won't hold a shape and slides off the stick; cook it until it pulls away from the pan in one soft ball.

150 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
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Plah goong (prawn salad with lemongrass)

Plah is the old Thai word for a salad of barely cooked seafood or meat, and plah goong is a favourite at restaurants along the Gulf coast in Phetchaburi and Hua Hin, where the prawns come in that morning. The dressing of lime and nam prik pao is sweet, sour and smoky, and thin slices of raw lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf make it fragrant and crunchy. Traditionally the prawns are only seared or even served barely 'cooked' by the lime; this recipe cooks them through, which is safer. Chef's tip: dress the prawns while they are still warm, not straight from the fridge; cold prawns won't soak up any of the dressing.

20 minThaiSaladsGluten freeSpicy
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Gaeng kari gai (Thai yellow chicken curry)

Thai yellow curry came to Bangkok through Muslim and Indian traders, and you still find it at curry-over-rice shops near the old mosques of Bang Rak, ladled out with a sharp cucumber relish called ajad. It is the gentlest of the Thai curries: turmeric and curry powder in coconut milk, with chicken, waxy potatoes and onion that soak up the sauce, and children usually like it. For a vegetarian version, use 400 g fried tofu and extra potato, a shrimp-free paste and light soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Chef's tip: fry the paste in the thick coconut cream until the oil separates before adding anything else; skipping this is why many home yellow curries taste raw and powdery.

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Pad khing jay (ginger mushroom stir-fry)

Ginger does the work garlic usually would in this festival favourite from the jay kitchens of Phuket and Bangkok's Yaowarat, where it is ladled over rice from steel trays under yellow flags. Crunchy wood ear and soft oyster mushrooms soak up a glossy sauce of fermented soybean paste and soy, and fine matchsticks of young ginger give heat and fragrance. No garlic, onion or spring onion go in, as jay rules forbid them. Chef's tip: old, fibrous ginger is the mistake here; choose plump young ginger with thin, pinkish skin so you can eat it by the forkful.

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Khanom tokyoPandan custard pancake rolls

Outside Bangkok schools at home time, a vendor with a hot griddle on a cart pours small pancakes and rolls each one around a stripe of sweet custard, while children queue with coins. They are soft, eggy and barely sweet outside, oozing cream inside, and a savoury cousin wraps a sausage. Despite the name, the snack is Thai, said to be inspired by a Tokyo-themed department store of the 1960s. This version fills them with pandan custard. Chef's tip: the mistake is a griddle that is too hot; the pancakes should set pale with only light freckles, or they crack when rolled.

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Khanom mo kaeng (Thai coconut custard cake)

Drive south from Bangkok and every roadside shop in Phetchaburi sells this dense custard in foil trays, because the province's sugar palms give it the palm sugar that defines it. Duck eggs, coconut cream and mashed taro bake into a firm, fudgy slab with a browned top, then a scattering of crisp fried shallots adds a savoury, sweet-onion crunch. Cut it in squares for an afternoon snack. Chef's tip: the common mistake is baking it too hot, which makes it puff and crack; bake low until just set, then brown the top under the grill.

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Khanom chan (layered pandan cake)

Bangkok's old dessert shops in Thonburi and the markets around Ayutthaya stack trays of this cake on their counters, and it turns up at weddings and house blessings because 'chan' also sounds like rising a level in life. Each green or white band is steamed on top of the last, so the finished slice is springy, faintly chewy and scented with pandan and jasmine; children eat it by peeling off one layer at a time. Serve it at room temperature with hot jasmine tea. Chef's tip: the classic mistake is pouring the next layer before the one beneath has turned fully translucent, which blurs the stripes; give each layer its full five minutes.

120 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
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Nam takrai (lemongrass drink)

Thai spa receptions and roadside rice shops both pour this from big glass jars, and in Chiang Mai and Bangkok homes a pot is often simmering on hot afternoons. Bruised lemongrass gives a clean, lemony, slightly grassy taste and pandan a soft vanilla note; lightly sweetened, it is refreshing over ice and soothing warm on a rainy-season evening. Chef's tip: the usual mistake is chopping the lemongrass fine and boiling it hard, which makes it bitter; bash the stalks and simmer gently.

20 minThaiDrinksVeganGluten free
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Tom klong (smoky sour dried-fish soup)

Tom klong is the older, rustic cousin of tom yum, cooked in central Thai homes along the rivers of Suphan Buri and Ang Thong, where fish was dried and smoked to keep through the rains. Shallots, garlic and dried chillies are charred first, then simmered with tamarind, lemongrass and galangal, and smoked dried fish turns the clear broth deep and savoury. It is sour, smoky and hot, eaten with rice and a plain omelette. Look for dried smoked fish (pla krob or pla salid) in Asian grocers, or use smoked mackerel. Chef's tip: grill the aromatics until blackened in patches; pale, raw shallots give a thin soup without the smoke that defines it.

35 minThaiSoupsGluten freeSpicy
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Pla pao (salt-crusted grilled fish)

Walk through any night market from Chiang Mai to Hat Yai and you will see rows of whole fish, white with crusted salt, grilling slowly over charcoal with lemongrass stalks poking out of their bellies. The salt shell keeps the flesh steaming in its own juice, so it comes out moist, clean-tasting and scented with lemongrass and pandan. People peel back the skin and eat the fish wrapped in lettuce with rice noodles, herbs and a fierce lime and chilli dip. Chef's tip: pat the fish completely dry before salting; a wet fish lets the crust slide off in the first five minutes.

55 minThaiFishGluten free
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