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Picking Flowers in Petchaboon

Talen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:39:40 +0000

Farmer Talen circa 2009 in the rice fields of Mukdahan quite a bit heavier then and very sweaty.

The first thing I noticed as the bus pulled into Petchaboon province were the small mountain ranges on the horizon and after that was the miles and miles of farmland. Petchaboon is definitely farm country as is most of rural Thailand, and while you’ll see many rice fields as expected they are far from the the money crops. The rice fields for the most part are for personal use while the main crops are sugar cane, tamarind, soy beans, corn and potatoes…miles and miles of potatoes. From atop the mountains you get a beautiful view of these patchwork crops laid out as far as the eye can see.

One evening after dinner I was sitting with Mo and her parents talking about, of all things, Ford tractors, and that’s when Pappa asked me if I would like to go with them in the morning to pick flowers…I said sure, I would love to. Now, I have learned quite a bit of Thai over the past year but staying with the family in Petchaboon quickly made me realize that my Thai was sorely lacking. I was able to pick out enough words to understand what was going on but I missed a lot of the subtle things such as Pappa’s picking flowers question.

While the farmers do rotate crops and in October many farmers rotate in sunflowers it was still too early for picking because the sunflowers were only 2 feet tall with small heads and for the life of me I saw no other flowers anywhere. Needless to say I was a little confused as to what flowers I would be picking.

The next day came early and after a good breakfast we headed out in the pickup truck, a few miles down the road we pulled into some fields and I started looking intently for flowers…nope, we had stopped at a house to pick up a few older ladies. A few more miles down the road we stop again to pick up and old couple…and when I say old I mean old, they were in their 90′s. Another twenty minutes and we pull off the road into a muddy track between sugar cane fields, about a mile in we stop as the road is flooded so we had to walk the rest of the way.

Interspersed between the sugarcane fields were the flower fields or should I say RICE fields. We wouldn’t be picking flowers at all but cutting rice. I asked Mo if I misheard her father about picking flowers and she told me I didn’t but when harvesting rice many of the old timers refer to it as picking flowers. Of course everyone was dressed for farm work but me because I thought we would be casually picking flowers Either way I grabbed a sickle and followed the 90 year old man into a field.

They had already started harvesting a few days before as there were already bundles of rice laying out to dry. It turns out the 90 year old couple owned the 15 or so rice fields which they shared with 4 families in exchange for planting and harvesting. A good deal all the way around which keeps every family in rice for the year.

The old man showed me what I needed to do which was as you could guess…grabbing a handful of rice by the stalk and cutting it about 3-4 inches from the ground then laying it behind me to dry. After about 15 minutes of this in the blazing sun I was ready finish, the old man told me to slow down I could die in this heat which made me laugh my ass off as he had cut one bundle then sat down and lit up a cigarette and that was his work day. I talked to him the best I could and caught bits and pieces of what he was saying but could read so much more in the lines of his face and the big smile he wore that said so much more than any words could. At 90 he was still going strong and taking care of his family and friends and he was more than happy to do so.

By 11 am it was time to quit, the fields would wait for another day as Pappa and the others had their fields to tend to. Mo and I hung out with the kids at a small shack in the middle of the fields and had lunch before we went home, I was beat, the sun had taken it out of me and it showed. This was hard back breaking work that these people do day in and day out year after year because they have to, because this is how they feed their families.

2 years ago I worked in the rice fields of Mukdahan getting them ready for planting by shoveling dung into the fields and now I have come full circle by helping to harvest some rice. What I’ve done working in the rice fields was very little compared to the lifetimes the Thai’s have spent in these fields, but the little bit I have done has helped me to understand and appreciate what it takes to put a bowl of rice on the table and the people who do it.

Sadly just a few hours ago Mo told me she is going back home for a week, the old man who I shared a few laughs with passed away last night.

Living Like a Thai Day 7: I’m Bored

Talen — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:22:57 +0000

Table of contents for Living Like a Thai

Pattaya Lighthouse as seen on my walk today

While I spent yesterday as Thai as possible just hanging out and watching the boob tube I realized that this experiment is boring me to death. I venture out every day for a nice long walk usually accompanied by some picture taking and people watching but it’s not quite the same as going out and visiting some friends at night.

There is nothing stopping me from going out at night but I know myself too well and going out could lead to a budget busting night leaving me 20 baht a day to live on for the rest of the month. Key to the budget is keeping it simple and staying in a lot. On the plus side I am getting a lot done but the one thing that is lacking in the first week of this experiment is social interaction, which if I were Thai I would be having a lot more of.

Even the poorest of Thai’s will have meaningful interactions all day long in groups while eating or just walking to the market, being a falang trying to live like a Thai I am not getting the same social needs met. I think I will try and go out tomorrow night for a few hours with my limited funds and catch up with some friends…should be interesting to see how that turns out.

Living Like a Thai Day 7

Today was another good day for the budget although my one nasty habit, smoking, did get the better of me today. I started off the day with a banana and mangosteen for breakfast leaving me the same for tomorrow which means I’ll need to hit the fruit market for some more. I then went for a nice long walk and enjoyed a wonderful Cha Nom Lawn (Thai hot tea ) for 15 baht ( $.51 ) on beach road as I sat for a bit and people watched.

Unfortunately I was out of smokes and I couldn’t bear to buy another cheap pack of Thai lung busters so I popped into 7/11 and bought a pack of Marlboro lights for 78 baht ( $2.65 )…maybe not the most frugal of purchases but boy did that first smoke taste good with my hot tea Besides I did well yesterday on the budget and you can’t always do the right thing.

For lunch I heated up some water and had me a ramen noodle cup, I like the cheap noodles but they are getting boring so for dinner I ventured out to a small Thai restaurant I haven’t been to in at least 2 years that is located on Pattaya Klang. The place looks like a bomb hit it but the food is always impeccable and my plate of Ka Prao Moo (spicy basil pork with rice and vegetables ) hit the spot for only 40 baht ( $1.36 )and that included a coke.

I already know tomorrow I have to make a water run and pick up some more fruit, but I’ll also be looking to buy some veggies and chicken or pork so I can make some meals at home with the rice I bought.

Observations Today: Even when not on a self imposed budget I wasn’t going out every night, more like a few times a week generally around the weekend. Just those few nights a week can add up because drinks for the most part can be just as expensive as they are in the west, unless of course you are a really cheap bastard and drink the cheapest nastiest beer. An even balance has to be struck and while I need to go out and be amongst people maybe I need to find other less expensive ways of doing so.

Purchase	Amount	Cost	Total
Cha Nom Lawn	1	15 baht	15baht
Marlboro Lights	1 pack	78 baht	78 baht
Ka Prao Moo	1 dinner	40 baht	40 baht
Today’s Total			133 baht ( $4.52 )
June Total			965 baht ( $32.85 )

Cha Nom Lawn: Hot Thai Tea with Milk

Talen — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:37:37 +0000

I’m a tea lover and it should come as no surprise that some of the best teas come from Asia. That being said some of the worst teas for you can be found in Asia as well, It all depends on what you want.

Personally I love a good black tea and when you drink Thai tea that is precisely what you will get, a fine black tea, usually Chinese, flavored with tamarind and a hint of cinnamon, vanilla and star anise.

Occasionally some of the teas will have orange blossoms added for that extra citrus flavor and all Thai tea has red food coloring added for that distinct look. If you like your tea strong and sweet, as I do, then you will love Thai tea.

I prefer hot tea in the morning so I ask for cha nom lawn ( hot tea with milk ) but Thai tea is also very good iced and if this is what you would want then you would ask for cha yen ( iced tea ) or cha dum yen ( iced tea with no milk ).

Black tea is actually good for you and as a matter of fact has many healthy benefits such as:

Black teas contain antioxidants which prevent the damage caused by free radicals which can lead to numerous diseases.
Drinking black teas can help to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as it helps to expand the arteries, which increases blood flow to the heart.
Research has shown the black tea can be used in the fight against cancer. Properties of the tea slow down the growth of cancerous cells without destroying healthy cells.
Tea is also believed to help to delay the aging process. Nowadays there are many anti aging creams and lotions that contain tea extracts to help the skin look younger.
Drinking black tea can help to burn fat and speed up metabolism. This makes it an ideal drink for those who are looking to lose weight, or who exercise regularly.
Drinking tea such as black and green tea helps to reduce bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol.
Tea contains fluoride, which can help to prevent tooth decay by strengthening tooth enamel.
For those people with diabetes, drinking tea can help to decrease glucose levels, which can reduce the risk of cataracts, and other conditions brought about by diabetes.

Sounds great doesn’t it? All of that goes out the window when you drink the Thai tea as pictured above. Milk alone negates most of black teas beneficial properties.

When you ask for cha nom lawn at the right street vendor they will begin cooking the tea and heating up the glass. Next they will pour about an ounce of carnation evaporated milk into the bottom of the glass followed by a generous helping of sugar and then when the tea is ready pour that on top. The evaporated milk is so heavy that the tea actually sits on top so when the glass is handed to you it’s white on the bottom and red on top.

Once stirred the tea turns a beautiful orange color and the taste can only be described as perfection. Sure, it’s not a drink you should have more than one of in a sitting, and for that matter it’s not a drink you should have every day but every now and then it’s just the right thing to do.

I like to drink my cha nom lawn early in the morning while watching the city come alive. The above picture was taken in Vientiane, Laos but I have had similar mornings in Bangkok, Mukdahan and Pattaya.

Note: You have to find the right place to order your cha nom lawn or cha yen or you will end up with a regular cup of hot tea or glass of iced tea ( which is better for you ). The motorcycle carts that sell coffee will always make it this way if you ask for cha nom lawn and so will most small street front Thai restaurants. Occasionally you’ll end up with a regular cup of tea but that’s okay…it just increases the anticipation for the next glass of cha nom lawn.

Krajab: The Horned Water Chestnut

Talen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 05:58:53 +0000

So, Here I am having a drink with some friends when one, Jaeb, tells me she has a present for me. She excuses herself and 5 minutes later she come back and presents me with what I can only describe as a black bull’s head. I stare at it intently for a few minutes trying to figure out what it is and better yet what I am supposed to do with it when she takes it from me and starts beating it on the table.

After more than a few hard whacks the black bull’s head cracks open to reveal a hard white middle which is quickly scooped out and placed in my mouth. I used to be scared when such things happen but anymore I go with the flow and hope it doesn’t kill me. Luckily for me it didn’t kill me and tasted oddly familiar but for the life of me I couldn’t place the taste. The best I could get out of my Thai friends was the name, Krajab.

Once home I did a bit of research and found out that Krajab is a variety of water chestnut known as the horned water chestnut, Paniphal, horned water Caltrop and Ling Jiao which literally means “bull’s horn” in Chinese. The horned water chestnut can come from two varieties of floating annual aquatic plants that are abundant in South East Asia. They are two species of the genus Trapa: Trapa natans and Trapa bicornis. The latter of the two, Trapa bicornis, is the specie that resembles a black bulls head.

The horned water chestnut grows in slow moving water up to 5 meters deep anchoring itself into the muddy bottom with it’s fine roots that grow off of it’s long submerged stems. It then grows two sets of leaves; fine feather like leaves on the stem and floating leaves with a saw tooth edge that form a rosette on the surface of the water. In early summer a four petaled white flower grows at the center of the floating rosette and is pollinated which leads to the fruit being grown. The seeds of the horned water chestnut can remain viable for up to 12 years but usually germinate within 2 years.

The plant is spread in 2 ways; the rosette can detach itself from the stem and float to other areas or by the fruit attaching itself to wildlife and being transported away.

The horned water chestnut or caltrop, as it is also called, must be boiled before eating because, as with any water plant, it can be a carrier of fasciolopsiasis . At a certain stage of their life cycle larval flukes leave their water snail hosts and attach themselves to leaves or fruit of water plants forming a small cyst. This only affects the outer skin of the water caltrop but if not boiled the larvae can be transmitted to humans which could result in intestinal flukes, or as I like to call them, your own private dinner date.

You can tell if the horned water chestnuts have been properly boiled as the skin will be patchy and peeling in places. You definitely want to make sure they have been boiled as fasciolopsiasis does not look fun and there are over 10 million cases reported annually in South East Asia.

My friend Jaeb’s parents farm these little gems and sent her a large bag full which she kindly gave to me because she knows I’m always on the lookout for new food finds and this one fit the bill perfectly and literally fell right into my lap.

Eating Thai Style

Talen — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:31:47 +0000

Eating is something we all have to do but why is it that in the West we find the most boring ways to do it. We go to the same restaurants and eat the same food time and time again. The one thing the Thai’s most definitely do right is eat, and when they eat they eat well.

Eating Thai style is a communal thing, you aren’t just enjoying the company of good friends but you are exploring the culinary possibilities of their palates as well. When you sit down in the restaurant you’ll get menus just as you do in the West but that’s where the similarities end. Everyone will order a dish or two, maybe even three and then before you know it the waiter/waitress is approaching the table with armloads of food that will be placed in the center of the table. Then the real fun starts.

Now you are free to sample all the delicious food in front of you. The Thai’s often take this pleasure to new heights by ordering much more food than you think is possible to eat but somehow the plates seem to empty in record time and often even more food is ordered.

The good thing about eating Thai style in Thailand is that the food, with some exceptions, is always fresh and usually very healthy for you with lots of vegetables and fish on offer. Aside from the culinary treat of trying so many dishes there is the added benefit of having a great time with friends while eating a memorable meal.

You don’t have to be in Thailand or even eating Thai food to eat Thai style, so, the next time you are out to dinner with friends forgo the usual and opt for a little sanook ( fun ) …I bet you’ll thank me for it.

As you can see by the pictures we had a seafood night of it…and this was just the first course!

Fast Food Thai Style: Thai Market Food at it’s Best

Talen — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:56:26 +0000

With Pookie up country taking care of some family business for the weekend that left me to fend for myself, and in true bachelor style I lived on fast food. Not just any fast food mind you, just the best fast food in the world. Thai food from small markets and street carts.

Sure, I live in Pattaya which is a nice sized city with all the amenities of the western world, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Hut and KFC to name a few. At their best those places can’t even consider what they sell as food. I could have gone to the supermarket and bought peanut butter and chips as well but when you live in Thailand there is nothing like good fresh Thai food.

One of my favorite haunts is a small night market on Soi Buakow just before the bend in the road that takes you up to Sai Pattaya Klang. The market has a little bit of everything from clothes to mobile phone accessories but it’s the food that makes this market. They start setting up about 4pm and you can easily find your way to the market by just the smell alone.

There is a nice dining area where you can pick your food and sit down to enjoy it or you can get your Thai food to go. Either way it’s some of the best food in Pattaya. There is pretty much something for everyone here that likes Thai food, some spicy and some not so spicy. Fish, Chicken, traditional Issan dishes and even hot dogs if you so choose.

One of my all time favorite dishes can be found at several stalls here. I still don’t know it’s name so maybe one of the readers can help me out here. It starts out looking like a medium sized fried dough ball, there are usually piles of these balls on the table. When you order one they put the ball into a bowl and crush it up revealing that it is really filled with rice and spices. Next a small plastic bag of fermented pork is added to the mixture before they add noodles, peanuts and a healthy dose of red pepper flakes. Pet Mak Mak ( very spicy ). You can see all the ingredients for this dish in the first picture below and then the end product in a bowl, absolutely delicious.

Of course being in bachelor mode and afraid of starving I had to order more than needed, because you never know when the hunger for great Thai food will strike again in the night. Just to make sure you should always have some chicken hearts, assorted chicken parts skewered, Thai sausage and greens around. And no fast food Thai meal is complete without the appropriate alcoholic beverage to wash it down.

You can keep the various foods of the world, give me a small Thai market or food stall and I’ll be well fed for a lifetime.

Thai BBQ For You

Talen — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:31:48 +0000

I’ve been absolutely miserable the last two weeks trying to shake this flu bug I’ve had, I don’t know what particular strain it is but it has definitely knocked me down for the count. Now that I’m finally starting to come out of my haze the only thing that has been on my mind is Thai BBQ.

I haven’t eaten much since I got sick but now that I am hungry I really have a serious need for some delicious Thai BBQ. Since I’m driving myself nuts with something I can’t get to at the moment I figured I’d share some Thai BBQ pictures from a great place just off Pattaya Klang in Pattaya.

If you are in Pattaya and get the chance definitely make plans to eat out one night at this Thai BBQ, your stomach will be happy you did.

I’ll be getting back to normal posting this week and I have some really good stuff coming up, so hopefully this leaves you hungry for a little more.

The Reality of Rural Thailand

Talen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:15:40 +0000

In this day and age we don’t tend to think much about how our food is prepared or preserved to last as long as it can. Unfortunately, even though we call it progress, technology has failed us in many ways when it comes to the foods we eat

These preservatives may keep the foods we eat from spoiling faster and keep bacteria and fungal growth away but they also change the foods on a molecular level and the story is still out on how some of these preservatives can affect us.

Leaving small town America for rural Thailand will open your eyes in many ways but none more than how food is handled and preserved for future use. It’s almost like walking backwards through time and using reverse technology.

While I was at the family farm in Nakhon Phanom I witnessed daily the act of preparing food for future use. While the family does have a small refrigerator it isn’t relied upon to keep food as much as it is used to store water.

All this food preparation and preservation takes time but it is an every day part of life in Issan shared by the farmers and city dwellers alike. Walking through the city streets you will see many houses where they are preparing meat and fruits to dry in the hot Issan sun.

One day I watched Pookie’s Aunt gather mango’s for an hour and then she peeled, cut and seeded them before placing them in a mortar and pestle and mashing them for what seemed like another hour. She added small amounts of salt and sugar while mashing and then when done she spread the mashed mango on plates and left them out to dry in the midday sun. When dried it becomes similar to a fruit rollup that you can eat whenever you want and they supposedly last quite a while. The 2 plates pictured above are the result of a half a days work.

How have we as Westerners gotten so far away from the fundamentals of society. Everything has been scaled up with unnatural communities springing up around malls and entertainment districts. Because of this we had to figure a way out to feed millions of people cheaply and efficiently, although badly at the same time. We stopped living where the living was good and spread out in unnatural ways that can’t be sustained.

Rural Thailand is the perfect example that we should all be striving for. Small self contained communities working together to grow their own foods and prosper off the land. These Thai farmers could survive any disaster put to them much more easily than any community in America or Europe. Don’t believe that? Just look to the after effects Katrina had on New Orleans. We had the technology and the wherewithal to withstand anything and yet we failed.

If America and Europe don’t get back to these types of small self sufficient communities then we won’t have to worry about wars, natural disasters or energy deficiencies bringing us down because we will have already brought ourselves down with our need to live in suburbia closer to the McDonald’s, Starbuck’s and the Walmarts of the world.

Edit: Go Passport just left the link to a documentary called Food Inc. I think this should be required watching for every person living in Western society. The full movie can be found here: Food Inc

I decided to add the movie here as well because it really is that important for people to see.

An Unexpected Thai Treat

Talen — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:02:27 +0000

While working on the family farm in Nakhon Phanom this past April I put in more than my fair share of sweat equity getting the fields ready for the upcoming rice season. Most of the family fields are located just behind the house so we didn’t have far to go with our tractor loads of dung we had mucked from the stables.

One thing kept bothering me though, a tree right in the middle of the family fields. You don’t see many large trees still standing in the rice fields but now and again you’ll see one lone tree defying the odds. At first I thought I had it all figured out, with the sun as strong as it was and me sweating my ass off and looking for any patch of shade I could find that could be the only answer. Then I realized that couldn’t be the answer. There were small huts and thatch roofed decks spotted around the fields for just that purpose.

My last day on the farm was all about relaxing and hanging out with the family and I spent a good part of that day sitting under that tree enjoying it’s shade. Pookie and her Aunt joined me, although they didn’t seem to understand the relaxing part because they were digging in the dirt around the tree. Next think I know they are pulling up what could only be described as hard black balls and throwing them into a straw hat. I swear to Buddha I thought they were collecting some sort of dung.

Before I knew it I was digging around in the dirt and finding similar hard black balls and wondering just what the hell I was up to. Before long we had a hat full and were heading back to the house to relax in the shade there and eye up our curious find. Pookie disappeared into the house only to appear a few minutes later with a very wicked looking knife and a very determined look on he face.

After I realized she wasn’t coming for me but the hard black balls I settled down and watched as she started to split them in half with her wicked knife and feed me the treasure buried inside. As soon as I saw the first ball split open all my questions were answered. They were almonds and that big ass tree was an almond tree. I had missed the blooming of the tree earlier in the year and the harvest of it’s nuts. The nuts fall off the tree at will sometimes and bury themselves in the dirt. So now and again a treat can be had on a hot spring day.

I had never seen an almond in it’s shell before and the only almond trees I have ever seen were very small and ornate looking. The nut grows as the tree blooms and looks very similar to a small green peach. When the peach like shell hardens and turns a deep brown or black the almonds are ready to harvest.

I have to say relaxing under the tree was nice but relaxing under the house while being hand fed the fruits of that tree was priceless. And some of us relaxed more than others.

Ten Tasty Thai Dishes You Must Try Before You Die

Talen — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:00:58 +0000

Thai food is some of the tastiest food in the world and it’s my firm belief everyone should be eating it daily. While that’s usually not an option for most of us unless we’re living in Thailand the Thai dishes below represent some of the best culinary treats that Thailand has to offer. So, the next time you find yourself in Thailand or at the local Thai restaurant forgo the usual and give one of these dishes a try at least once, your taste buds will thank you.

Ten Tasty Thai Dishes to Try Before You Die

1. Tom Yum Goong (Spicy Shrimp Soup)

This could very well be the quintessential signature dish of Thailand. Made with a blend of Fragrant herbs and spices including galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, shallot, tamarind, chili pepper and fish sauce to add a little kick. Fresh prawns and mushrooms provide the balance to the dish to even it all out. It’s spicy and sour demeanor is a sensation for your soul and should never be passed up. Great as a starter but ad some rice and you have a meal fit for a King.

2. Pad Thai (Thai style Fried Noodles)

The one Thai dish that needs no introduction. Handed down through history this dish is best known for it’s fresh ingredients and well balanced fundamental flavors. Fresh stir fried noodles with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper, bean sprouts, shrimp and tofu garnished with crushed peanuts and coriander make this the classic Thai dish it is.

3. Gaeng Daeng (Red Curry)

Rich and aromatic this Thai dish will add a little tingle to your tongue. Tender meat in a sea of smooth coconut milk tinged with red curry paste and topped off with kaffir lime leaves. This dish is probably milder than you think and definitely pleasing to the palate.

4. Kai Pad Med Mamuang Himaphan (Chicken with Cashew Nuts)

This dish has a bit of an identity problem, seemingly too tame to be Thai. More Chinese than Thai, due to it’s sweet and salty nature, but it is truly a Thai dish and one that just melts in your mouth. Tender chunks of chicken surrounded by fresh onions, carrots, greens, sweet soy sauce and of course those tasty Thai cashews. A nice change of pace that’s still packed with flavor.

5. Som Tam (Spicy Green Papaya Salad)

This dish comes straight out of Issan (North East Thailand) and it’s bite is absolutely worse than it’s bark. Som Tam defines the word Spicy and you better be ready to handle it’s saucy bite. A cold dish centered around shredded papaya with garlic, chili’s, greens and tomatoes pulverized by mortar and pestle until it reaches that perfect well rounded consistency of sweet & sour yet very spicy lava. Don’t be a sissy give it a try.

6. Tom Kha Gai (Chicken in Coconut Soup)

Much like it’s cousin, Tom Yum Goong, with it’s seasonings of chili, lime and fish sauce this dish sets itself apart with a smooth flavor you won’t soon forget. The addition of coconut milk transforms this dish into a milder less spicy version that literally takes on a new rich texture that will leave you wanting more.

7. Panaeng (Meat in Spicy Coconut Cream)

This dish tastes similar to the Thai red curry but with the addition of a coconut milk sauce it becomes rich, thick and creamy as well as a bit milder. Panaeng can be made with pork, chicken or beef and is usually served on a bed of warm rice. This well rounded dish is always a sure winner at the table.

8. Gaeng Keow Wan Gai (Green Chicken Curry)

This sweet green curry is slightly spicy with it’s blend of green curry chili paste, coconut milk, sugar and fish sauce. Add in moist morsels of chicken, tender bamboo shoots, a generous helping of Thai sweet basil and a hint of coriander and you have a dish that will be remembered for a lifetime.

9. Yam Nua (Spicy Beef Salad)

Now this is a salad you can sink your teeth into. Fresh and fiery with it’s tender strips of beef, dried chili, coriander, lime, and onion. This dish will definitely add a little ying to your yang . When most people think of Thai food they think spicy, this dish embodies those thoughts nicely.

10. Khao Neeo Mamuang (Mango with Sweet Coconut Milk Glaze)

This delectable dish is built from the bottom up starting with a layer of warm sweet sticky rice topped with a fresh sliced mango and then drizzled in a warm sweetened coconut milk glaze. This my friends is an orgasm on a plate and the best way to end this manifesto of magnificent Thai food.

Thailand Land of SmilesThai Food | Thailand Land of Smiles

Picking Flowers in Petchaboon

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Living Like a Thai Day 7: I’m Bored

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Krajab: The Horned Water Chestnut

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Thai BBQ For You

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