The food here in Thailand is pretty good, pretty incredible actually, and so I can’t really complain about what's on offer here – but I will anyway!

It's funny the things you miss, often they're not what you expect you will. I miss fried cheese. The bar and grill appetizer kind, with the golden fried breadcrumb coating around the oozing melted mozzarella center, served with a little marinara sauce or a simple salsa. Not exactly haute cuisine, but I have to confess an occasional longing.

Actually, it makes sense, cause fried cheese sticks are about as far removed from Thai fare as you can get – and you can only eat just so many healthy meals of stir fried vegetables, right!?!

Luckily, they do sell some pretty fantastic breadcrumbs around these parts – the Panko style Asian breadcrumbs; once you switch over to these crunchier breadcrumbs on steroids, you'll never go back. So, there is nothing stopping me from making up my own batch of good old American style fried cheese every now and again!

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

A lot of people like to season the breadcrumb mixture – I happen to prefer keeping things pretty neutral and spicing up the sauce, but if you'd like, you can add a little dried oregano, basil or parsley to the flour to up the seasoning.

• Mozzarella cheese, cut into any shape you'd like. I happen to like them about 1 inch long and 1/3 of an inch thick
• Flour
• Panko style breadcrumbs, spread out on a plate
• Beaten egg, in a small bowl
• Vegetable oil for frying

Easy Steps

I won't give quantity instructions here, because the recipe is so simple that you can just use as much as you need for as much as you're making!

1. Preheat your deep fryer to 350
2. Take each piece of cheese and cover it well with flour, shaking off any excess. The flour dries the surface which allows the beaten egg to adhere to it completely, in turn allowing for a complete coverage of breadcrumbs, so try to get it good and covered!
3. Take each piece of flour-covered cheese and dip it in your beaten eggs, again, making sure to cover the cheese completely with the egg.
4. Take your egg covered cheese, shake off the excess and drop it onto your plate, rolling it around to cover it completely in breadcrumbs.
5. Repeat with remaining cheese until all are well covered.
6. Fry the cheese sticks, in batches, in oil that has been preheated to 350. Watch carefully, taking the cheese sticks out after 30 seconds to 1 minute; or as soon as the breadcrumbs are golden brown –it doesn't take very long. Repeat with remaining cheese sticks.
   

Serve with a marinara dipping sauce, or any side sauce that catches your fancy.

It goes without saying that fried cheese is always a crowd pleaser!