If you’ve got some boys hanging around the house a lot, it doesn’t cost much to keep them happy in the meal department. One thing is certain, you don’t have to worry about them eating all your farang food, as most of the boys don’t care for it. On occasion, the boys will want to go out and get some street food, at a cost of between 40 and 80 baht, depending on what they’re in the mood for. More often than not, the boys are quite happy eating romin style noodles that sell for between 6 and 12 baht a package.

For a little variety they like to add an egg, and sometimes enjoy mixing in a can of sardines. In fact, if an egg is available, they will usually include it in the meal. The 7 eleven stores sell eggs. I’ve seen both 2 and 4 packs, but don’t recall the prices.

The boys like to prepare noodles in a variety of ways, but as long as you have a medium sauce and frying pan they can make do, assuming there’s a hot plate. They can also make noodles in the microwave by heating a bowel of water. Another option, commonly used in Thailand, is an appliance that heats and dispenses water. A drip coffee maker does not get the water hot enough, so the boys don’t like them for cooking noodles.

You will also need a small selection of plates, bowls, spoons, forks and chopsticks. A combination of these will be used, depending on how the noodles have been prepared - dry or wet. The boys can make dry noodles, in a frying pan, with nothing more than a pair of chopsticks, but some sort of spatula is more desirable. Small sauce bowls are also good to have on hand, particularly for when the boys go out and buy street food. A lot of street food comes with one or more dipping sauces, ideally served in these small bowls.

Jok is another popular meal with the boys, particularly in the mornings. It’s a rice porridge that comes in a variety of meat flavors, but chicken and pork seem to be the most popular. Jok is priced the same as noodles, and all you need is hot water. It is not uncommon for the boys to drop an egg into their bowl of jok, as well.

Both noodles and jok can also be purchased in a self contained cup that includes a plastic spoon. At roughly 15 baht, these are a little more expensive, but all the boys need is a way to make hot water and they’ve got a meal. The boys don’t seem to mind eating their jok this way, but I think they prefer noodles in something other than a plastic cup. Some also tend to be cost conscious, and have issues with paying 15 baht for what can be purchased at a much lower price, without the plastic cup and spoon.

The boys also like eating fruit. Most popular appear to be guava, rose apples, bananas, pineapple, watermelon, oranges, and apples. As a general rule, they will get their fruit from a street vendor, already cut up and ready to eat. In particular, I’ve noticed they like to buy guava, pineapple, and watermelon this way. I like to keep a bag of apples in the room, as they last a long time before spoiling. The boys and I also eat a lot of bananas. I’ll usually get a small bunch of 5, slightly on the green side, so they don’t turn black too quickly. If the boys are around, 5 bananas will get eaten in two days.

Of course, bags of chips are always popular. Some boys are content eating nothing but chips and candy all day, something I’m not big on letting them do. Interestingly enough, at least in my experiences, boys like this end up being less desirable. I’ve found it to be a bit of a red flag. Boys like this are politely phased out of my life.

At about 65 baht each, frozen dinners are another easy way to feed the boys, provided you have a microwave. Some of the boys don’t know how to prepare meals in a microwave, so a little instruction is required. I tend to buy the S&P brand meals. Of those, the chicken with green curry and rice seems to be the most popular. The boys also tend to enjoy the spaghetti dishes. Those with a taste for cheese really like the spaghetti with ham and carbonara sauce. There’s also a ground pork dish a lot of the boys like, but for the life of me I can’t understand why. To each their own I guess.

Given a choice between frozen dinners and eating noodles, the later seems more popular. This is probably because the noodles taste better. I certainly prefer noodles for that reason. Some boys will suggest getting the frozen meals from 7 eleven, because they are a lot cheaper. While they are less expensive, I find them even less appealing than the more expensive S&P dishes.

The boys don’t make rice when they get hungry. They all know how, but cooking something to go with it is another matter entirely. I usually don’t keep anything in the room that could be made into a dish served with rice. If we are going to eat a full meal, a special trip to the store is made to get all the necessary ingredients. When the boys are hungry, they want to eat right now, so going to the store, and then cooking for an hour is usually not a popular option. On top of that, a lot of the boys don’t know how to cook.

One boy stayed with me for a few days that liked to make rice and eggs. He had a half dozen different ways to make rice and eggs, all of which I got to sample, twice a day for three days. I had rice and eggs coming out my ears. He was a good boy. Too bad he didn’t know how to cook anything else but rice and eggs.

I do have rice and a cooker on hand, and we use it a lot. Particularly at lunch time, the boys will go out and get a few dishes from the local street restaurants and bring them back to the room. These restaurants also sell rice, but it’s not of the best quality. Instead, we make rice in the room. It takes about 20 minutes to cook, so the boys make it first, and about 5 or 10 minutes before its ready they go out and buy the food. At between 25 and 35 baht a dish, we can easily put together a big meal that feeds 3 or 4 for right at 100 baht.

You can pick up a good rice cooker at Big C for 350 baht. The one I purchased even came with a steamer tray, great for cooking fish or vegetables while making the rice.

If you have everything for cooking a meal from scratch, the boys that can cook love to demonstrate their talents. I’ll talk about this on another page.