Thai Food

My fantasy job would be to do  'food tasting'  as a living.  I can't imagine that it would get much better than let your all of your senses drool most of the time AND get paid for it at the same time.  But for now I'll just keep keep drooling and tasting without the do-ray-me.


One of the things that is most stimulating for me when we travel is exploring foods.  Some foods I don't even recognize, taste anyway and then AFTER the taste, do a little research to figure out exactly what it was that I sent floating down to my stomach.  My odd looking plates that often look intimidating don't faze Jason and the kids anymore.  In Thailand, they also got a little adventurous...Karina  loved the spicy, Jason tolerated the spicy and Cooper even drank  green smoothies...with zero spicy.

Four fundamentals

As I had learned in my Thai cooking class before our trip, Thai food is known for its balance of four fundamental taste senses in each dish: sour, sweet, salty, and hot as in spicy.  If one is too strong, you balance it with the opposite. 

soup bar at breakfast

After devouring my first couple of Thai breakfasts , I learned that many popular dishes eaten in Thailand were originally Chinese dishes which were introduced to Thailand like chok (rice porridge),  and khao kha mu (stewed pork with rice).  I most also note that I learned  that chopsticks are only used to push food into my shiny white ceramic spoon while eating my fresh made morning soup.  Yes, soup for breakfast made to order! 

fresh watermelon juice

Besides our filling breakfasts, we ate lots of Thai curry which often has coconut milk, fresh turmeric, and lime juice, the best Pad Thai dishes, and rice cooked in every way possible.  Dishes were fresh and different than any I had ever in the Thai restaurants I had frequented in the states.  Lots of fresh mint, Thai basil, fresh Thai ginger, chilies, lemongrass, fresh squeezed juices/smoothies,  dragon-fruit, and coconuts. With all meals, condiments were always available ... fish sauce, lime juice, chopped chilies and fried pieces of garlic, dried chili flakes, sweet chili sauce, spicy chili sauce, sliced chili peppers in rice vinegar, spicy chili paste, fresh cilantro,  and crispy-fried basil.

However, the one thing I DID NOT have the nerve to try was the "hundred-year old eggs" that were nicely presented at breakfast. Yep, I decided to just stick to my regular ole' eggs with a 'best-by date'.  Just wasn't feeling adventurous over eggs that are made by preserving them in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several months, depending on the method of preserving.  I guess that goes to show why I may not be so good at "food tasting for a living"...even I have my limits of what goes floating down.

breakfast rice and condiments

Pad Thai

Seaweed snack

 

Fresh coconuts from street vendors

roasted butter beans

Pork bun

smoothies with ginger, mint and fresh fruit

many tropical fruits

Dragon fruit

Our best Thai dinners were at this little beach hut down from our hotel.  Fresh food and always offered the smiles that people from Thailand are known for! 

Not much to see here....