Bag of nuts
Here’s some more of those jabok nuts that I’ve talked about before. You should go read strange nuts with a story to learn more about them.
Inside the bag
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Roadside stand
This here is a roadside stand located somewhere between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. You see stands like this all over the major roadways throughout Thailand selling whatever the local specialties are: from grilled pork to seasonal fruits to corn on the cob to rat (yep!…see here and here). The roadside vendors are a great place to pick up some really fresh goods at generally the cheapest price around. it is hard to see how they stay in business though, since you will typically see five, six, seven, or more in a row…all selling exactly the same thing. This stand here happens to sell pickled bamboo (naw mai dawng [หน่อไม้ดอง]), something I heaven’t seen much elsewhere in Thailand. Actually, I do see it around in Bangkok sometimes, but these pieces were just massive. I did purchase some, but I ate it before I got any photos. It tasted pretty much like bamboo shoots from a can except much fresher. Pretty good if you like pickled things.
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I like my food and I like meat. I figured I’d post these photos of something I miss here in Bangkok. It’s strange that despite the massive amount of pork Thais enjoy eating, I have never encountered a good, old-fashioned pig roast. I have on occasion seen a very large pig killed for a wedding feast, but they didn’t cook it on a spit over a fire. I wonder if that’s the usual procedure?
Tasty little guy
Who got the apple?
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Nice presentation
I have no idea what kind of cheese this is, but it was fabulous. It was served as a dessert at a decent restaurant in Italy. The cheese itself was very light and sweet, with a berry sauce on the side. I can barely get any cheese here in Asia, let alone these more unique types. My mouth is salivating now just looking at the photo.
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cow tongue
Here’s a photo of a cow tongue being served in a nice, european restaurant. Many people may think it’s quite strange or gross, but it’s actually a very tender and tasty cut of beef. I posted this photo because it’s in stark contrast to one of the odd things I could post from Thailand. What might be seen as a luxory food or delicious meal in Europe can also be served in Thailand, although in different circumstances.
In Bangkok I occassionaly see the ‘pig head’ vendor at the end of my street. This vendor has a whole, cooked pig head (or two) in the morning and throughout the day chops bits of it for the customers. You can request the tongue or the more exotic pieces: chin, cheek, ear, snout, forehead, etc. That’s right, nothing goes to waste. Some parts are a bit chewy, but others are nice and tender. The meat is usually served with a spicy chili sauce for dipping. Not quite the same as Europe, but it all gets eaten in the end.
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Gourmet rabbit
This is another European gourmet meal: rabbit. It tasted quite good and seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. What is strange is the fact that I have never seen nor heard of Thais eating rabbit! They seem to eat just about anything over here yet while I do see live rabbits around, they are exclusively sold as pets. I can’t really think of an explanation for this either. Anybody else heard of Thais (or other asians) eating rabbit on a regular basis?
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A plate of crabs
When most people think of crabs they probably think of a very large animal that comes from the ocean. Some people might also be familiar with smaller crabs, including the soft-shelled ones. Well, I was pretty surprised when I found out that these crabs don’t even come from anywhere near the sea. They are actually very commonly found in the rice fields all over Thailand. These ones were simply hand caught by digging through the mud. There are many different preparations for them including putting them in somtom (with the infamous fermented fish, bplaa raa [ปลาร้า]). Pictured here is a simple plate of fried crabs (bpuu tawt [ปูทอด]).
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The feast
Pictured here are a bunch of river mussels (hoi malaeng puu [หอยแมลงภู่]) that I (yep, me!) and a few others actually caught ourselves. Up in Isaan (between Korat and Buriram), the Northeast area of Thailand we just swam in the river, digging them out of the mud with our bare hands. Mussels are fairly common in Thailand, but I had never caught them myself, so this was great fun, especially since we had been drinking. We just dived under the water and grabbed three or four mussels at a time. After we had gathered a big bucketful, which took no time at all since they were all over the place, it was time to prepare them.
We cleaned them and steamed them in a bamboo basket. Somebody whipped up a spicy dipping sauce, as Thai’s are experts at doing so for any occasion. Then we sat down and feasted. As tasty as they were, and as well as we cleaned and cooked them, my stomach just wasn’t used to these local foods. I got very ill within two hours, but was fine by the next morning. Besides that, this was a great experience.
Digging in
The leftovers
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Crocodile jerky
Here’s one that isn’t all too common here in Bangkok, although I did find it in a local grocery store: crocodile jerky. There’s not much to say about this one except its very tough and very tasteless. I’m sure crocodile jerky could be spiced up a lot, but this being a Chinese brand it’s not surprising that there’s little taste. Despite the huge variety of Chinese cuisines, in my opinion it seems many of the Thai-Chinese lean towards foods with very bland, even subliminal, flavors.
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French fries?
Here’s some more chicken feet for you. Deep-fried ones. Look tasty, don’t they? You can read more about chicken feet in another post.
A closer look
Fried chicken feet!
Claws and all
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Hi, I'm Joe, your typical cyber traveler and world tourist currently based in Thailand. This blog is about:
