OnigiriFB

*sigh* Thank you. Even though you had it out of the shell. That's too bad. I think the snails are less tough when they are done in the shell. Still black but much more tasty and tender. Hrm... maybe try that other restaurant that was really expensive and served old style Thai food? They might do it right. I hope you still enjoyed it after I talked about it so much. I think when they take it out of the shell it makes it less interactive. It was always fun poking a toothpick into the shell to dislodge the inner shell and then sucking out the flesh with some deliciously spicy curry sauce. Still drool-worthy picture but not the same.... *sighs again* The red ant look... um interesting. I actually wouldn't mind trying that one. Would be among the wierdest stuff I've eaten. Like the cobra and stuff. Trust the Laotians to eat the wierder stuff. Ben yang aroi? I don't know my isaan is rusty. THe pancreas was really an eye opener. I've never even heard of eating that. Would you eat it again? Looked good. Thanks for the lovely pictures as always. Hopefully the next time you try snail curry it will be IN the shell. Trust me. Much better!

Patience, patience. I just got back from an excellent trip to the market with Tim and khun Pete, and have been cooling down with a a junmaidaiginshu from Niigata that I found at Fuji yesterday. (I thought it was a junmai, but I checked the fine print). I've been missing good sake these last couple of months, and finding one from Niigata makes me think of Hiroyuki's excellent posts, along with bringing back fond memories of the Kitagawas. And for dessert I'm enjoying something Tim put me onto - soft dinner roll-like buns filled with flavoured custard. The first one is pandan (I think). Okay, now I can write about three days ago......I'm falling behind again, aren't I? ← Patience is a virtue, seldom found in men. In woman... NEVER! I used to love the buns filled with pandan coconut jam. That is my all time favorite snack when I want bread and jam. I still try to get that every once in awhile from the Asian market. I can't get it too often though as its VERY fattening! But yum. Thanks for that lovely picture. *drool*

If I may answer for Peter. That is a lotus flower that isn't fully bloomed. Thai people love lotuses and we fold down the leaves so that is looks open. I know because I used to have to do 9 (a lucky number in Thailand) and then put them in vases (there were five vases for the family alter so 5x9) for the family alter almost every week. The only place I know that does this is Thailand. You will see loads of unopend green looking lotus flowers all over for sale. We take them home cut off a bit of the stem and then fold the leaves down. THe one shown only has a few leaves folded. Hope this answer it. BTW if you ever want to do it and have unopened lotus flowers you fold the leaves vertical first and then fold the folded leaf in half tucking it in against the bud. Then you will have a crisp triangle looking leaf. IF you do it all the way then it will look like an open flower with triangle leaves and an inside. Oh and if you ever are interested there are different flower arrangements that Thai people fold. I had to help the family fold a bunch for a egagement ceremony and they can get elaborate. There is also jasmine garland we do that are kind of like hawaiian leis. The are usually good luck so you would see them all over the place. Some people even put them on their rear view mirror. ← Thanks, Onigiri! Now you've got me wanting to take more pictures of the decorations! ← Hahahaha! Tell you me you at least NOTICED the purple flower? At least enough to know it's not edible? Ya check out some of the neat flower jasmine garlands? They should be everywhere. For the more elaborate stuff you need to see a engagement ceremony, marriage, or the like. It's something taught in the royal courts so it's kind of dying out last I knew. Hopefully not, sometimes things have a way of coming back into style. THe floats for Loy Kratong show something of what the more elaborate stuff looks like. Ok Mr. Where's the .... and puppy dog tails?

If I may answer for Peter. That is a lotus flower that isn't fully bloomed. Thai people love lotuses and we fold down the leaves so that is looks open. I know because I used to have to do 9 (a lucky number in Thailand) and then put them in vases (there were five vases for the family alter so 5x9) for the family alter almost every week. The only place I know that does this is Thailand. You will see loads of unopend green looking lotus flowers all over for sale. We take them home cut off a bit of the stem and then fold the leaves down. THe one shown only has a few leaves folded. Hope this answer it. BTW if you ever want to do it and have unopened lotus flowers you fold the leaves vertical first and then fold the folded leaf in half tucking it in against the bud. Then you will have a crisp triangle looking leaf. IF you do it all the way then it will look like an open flower with triangle leaves and an inside. Oh and if you ever are interested there are different flower arrangements that Thai people fold. I had to help the family fold a bunch for a egagement ceremony and they can get elaborate. There is also jasmine garland we do that are kind of like hawaiian leis. The are usually good luck so you would see them all over the place. Some people even put them on their rear view mirror.

*jumps up and down with glee* I know where you are going next, I know where you are going next! Yay! Ok everyone... What are boys made of? I WANT that elephant next to the cup of tea. (I collect elephants). Please?

Wow. That last meal looks just amazing. Ok well all the meals look amazing. I can imagine you are now spoiled and it will take awhile to adjust to the "indian" food available in the States? Then again I remember you living in NY? So maybe not... A little OT but I think Jaipur is where the movie Kama Sutra was filmed. It looks oddly familiar. I loved that movie btw. I think it was one of the few bollywood movies I've seen without the dancing and interesting *cough* music?

I'm not sure what you mean. Was it a coconut pudding? ← Hrm... I have no idea. For some reason I'm drawing a blank on the pudding. I know it's based on some Portugese recipe that got adapted decades ago into a Thai dessert. They sell it all over but the province you go through to get to Hua Hin has a special Thai dessert store that we always stopped at. I just remember it being white and open aired mostly. The pudding... hrm.. let me think a bit more on it. It's in a square alumininum tin and it's the only one that I remember coming in that kind of container. Pretty famous custard. Ah.. ok um.. maybe it's a custard? It's baked I think. Or steamed? Oy! No help this silly brain of mine.

Kalyustans has khee lek leaves in brine (click and scroll). Perhaps Austin can find a recipe - he once mentioned khee lek curry in his blog. ← Khee lek leaves in brine! Why didn't I think of that. Hrm... You know I haven't heard from Austin in ages. I don't even know if he still is around here. I'll have to look up the old blog. I think he got pretty busy with magazine spreads and traveling and stuff. Anyone else have a recipe? I think it's mainly red curry paste and coconut milk but I don't really know.

Wow I'm inpressed! In Thai even. Er, now give me about 30 minutes to remember how to read Thai (kidding). Wanna translate for all those english speakers out there? ← Chai krub, it goes a little something like this:,,,,,Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit............ its kinda sing song when you pronounce it, please dont ask how or why i know this but cant ever remember alot of useful thai when i seem to need it most,,,, say this out loud and most thais think there is something wrong with the farang, blank stares or laughter are the most common responses ← Hey the only reason a million Thai kids even KNOW the dang thing or some of it is cause the Carabao song! Ok sorry Peter I hijacked your thread. Please return and report soon! (Though he's probably in a food induced coma about now. )

Wow I'm inpressed! In Thai even. Er, now give me about 30 minutes to remember how to read Thai (kidding). Wanna translate for all those english speakers out there?

Yayayyyayayayay! *does the happy dance* When's the snail curry? Man, I can smell Krueng Thep but you forgot the miasma of stagnant klongs. Oh, wait you're in the wrong area. NM. Ah, the corruption, the wet towel heat/humidity, the money, ice chest air con, tuk-tuks, chauffered Mercedes, strict Aunties and indulgent Uncles, the food... THE FOOD! Somedays I ask myself the question "why did I leave?" too. It's usually because someone just reminded me of home and all the lucious food I can get anywhere or anytime. There are days I weep at the thought of the dozens of selections of fruit. From apples at the King's project in the North to mangosteens, longons, barely ripe mangos with chili salt, rambutans in the central region. Don't even mention the pineapple. I think I was spoiled for life eating pineapple in Thailand as an end to dinner. *sigh* yeah I wonder why I left somedays too... Unfortunately, my boss (my health really) isn't as nice as yours Peter. Have fun playing in the City of Angels! The rest of us mortals will be watching and waiting for any manna you wish to throw our way. [bonus points to whoever can give me the FULL name of Krung Thep without resorting to google! I can only get as far as Krueng Thep Mahanakorn Ubon Rachattani and that's just because the Carabao song ]

Oh wow this thread will bring back some good memories. Is Hua Hin still the upper classes beach or is turning into a more touristy area? I believe the King famously has a palace there so all of hi-so followed and then the upper middle class followed them. My first time in Hua Hin I fell down a very steep staircase in a Thai style house on the beach that belonged to some uncle's uncle's aunt or something. The last time I was there I fell off a retired racehorse I foolishy took for a ride on the beach when he just wanted his nice oats at home. I remember him galloping toward home with the groom on his horse yelling behind me while I tried to grab the reins closed to his mouth to stop him. Next think I remember is starting to slip off and waking up on the nice soft beach with a Thai lady speaking really good english bending over me. Thank god for soft white sand and kind hearted english Thai ladies. That was the only time I think I forgot to speak Thai in Thailand. I think the groom got yelled at for letting that happen and I felt bad cause it was mostly my fault. Walked away with just a bruised elbow and even more bruised ego since I was so sure I'd be able to ride the horse. You'd think riding lessons would have taught me how to fall of the dang things. I did get back on though so that soothed my poor ego since my riding instructor always told me if I fell off and didn't get back on I'd never ride again. I loved horses so that was NOT an option! Other than that Hua Hin was LOTS of fun! I loved stopping at some stall on the way back for this special pudding? I don't remember the name but it comes in a square tin and it's rich. Did you try that? It's supposed to be the best in that province or something. Big white building with a ton of different old style Thai desserts and a lot of BMWs and Mercedes Benzes parked outside on the weekends usually. I remember a lot of crab stir-fried in chili garlic paste, steamed or deep fried pomfret (that has to be my favorite fish with just some simple fish sauce/lime dip) and shrimp being grilled on the patio and beach area. I don't remember going to any restaurants or street stalls. We mostly did our own cooking for once (usually the domain of the housekeeper/cook at home in BKK). The only other time I think we didn't cook our own food is when we stayed at some REALLY ritzy resort for my Auntie's 60th bday thank you weekend party. We had thrown a humongous party for her in BKK and all the daughters of the house did a traditional Thai dance. That was a lot of fun too. I remember a huge buffet of amazing food that took up the entire patio area of the resort. Imagine a family of about 40 people taking over a nice resort and you can imagine my family all traveling together. We ate so much I'm sure Aunty got her moneys worth outta that buffet! It was really really good food. Gosh, talk about bringing back memories! Thanks for starting this thread!

CHEESE!!!! Er.... I'm not so sure about this one. This asian usually draws the line at cheese and asian food together. I do like monterey jack though, so hrm.

Does anyone remember this gaeng? I found it on Thai-blogs lunchtime menu 25. It used to be a favorite though it took a bit for me to get used to it. It's hard to describe what it taste like. I just remember YUM! Image from Thai blogs by Richard Barrow. I wonder if I could even make this in the States. Does anyone know of a recipe or where I can even get khee lek leaves? I'd assume they would be frozen but then where do I go from there if I can even find them? Help! I want this! It brings back such nostalgia.

That sounds nummy!!!!

Yes, I wrote to them. Here is their response. (I declined their offer--who wants a case of lousy yogurt?) Dear Diane, Thank you for contacting us; regarding our FAGE Total yogurt product. We have forwarded your complaint to our Quality Control Department for review. We appreciate your interest and support. FAGE Dairy Industry is one of the largest food producers in Greece; it operates 5 production facilities in Greece for dairy product production (milk, yogurt, and cheese and milk desserts) and has opened a new state-of-the-art yogurt production facility in upstate New York in April 2008. As a token of our appreciation for your interest in our products, we would like to send you a case of Total w/ cherry yogurt. Please provide us with the expiration date, daytime phone number and address, so that we may proceed. Regards, Ann S. Diotte Consumer Relations & Promotions Specialist FAGE USA Dairy Industry, Inc. Johnstown Industrial Park 1 Opportunity Drive Johnstown, NY 12095 (866)962-5912 ext 240 Fax: (518)762-5918 ann.diotte@fageusa.com ← Wow. Did you respond? I think that was nice of them but a little of a cop out. What do you think? It seemed more like a standard letter they send out to any kind of complaint. From what I have seen of other companies that pride themselves on their products I would think they would respond a bit more... personally? Like as in address your complaint in a better more in depth responce?

I've been buying Greek Goddess yogurt. I like Fage but it's only available reliably at a gourmet grocery and it's expensive there. GG is available at one of my local grocerers Hy-vee where I generally pick up my prescriptions so I pick up a nice size carton (for me only) when I get there. I generally buy plain and add my own stuff. I haven't noticed any difference between the two brands. Maybe Fage is a bit smoother? Other than that the price difference and availability in Des Moines, Ia is my main factor with not going with Fage brand. Too bad the NY place isn't making quality stuff. Has anyone tried to complain to the company? Any responce?

I'm LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Jimmy John's! I fought hard not to go there with a gf a few weeks ago. Now I get cravings for their sandwiches. This thread has made me want one so I'll probably go get one later this afternoon. The only problem I have is there is not one near me so I don't think I can get a delivery. Hrm.. then again I've never tried. Ok brb!

Shhhh! That's kinda a restaurant trick! Don't tell the world. Um.. well ok they toss it a lot of oil in the wok really really really quickly. You'd be surprised how much oil a "authentic" asian restaurant goes thru. I used to have to tell my dad to watch out or if I did myself in the kitchen (at age 5 so yes I had a lot of supervision usually one of the other cooks) I would almost always get splattered. Ouch! ← Yup, I do the bit of oil thing, too, which seems to prevent the glop factor. ← Another fan of the oil trick -- and just having returned from two weeks in Thailand, I learned that it's common both to toss the noodles with a bit of oil before frying and to use more than a bit of oil in the pan when cooking rice noodles. Like 1/4 cup per serving. ETA: Oh, and the noodles are prepared two different ways (at least): if they're gonna be in soup, they're cooked until done; if they're gonna be stir-fried then they're significantly undercooked. That's probably obvious but I thought it worth mentioning. ← Hey, how was the trip? Any travelogue to share? I believe you were in Chiang Mai/ Chiang Rai area? Yes the noodles doneness or undoneness is important. In the States where mainly frozen, refrigerated, or dried rice noodles are common this plays a very key point. Just make sure to dry the noodles a bit if you are doing a dryer stirfry dish. Remembering the oil/water/splat on the arm thing. Oh another trick Chris make me think of try tossing the noodles in garlic oil. This is something commonly found in Thai kitchens. We chopped LOADS of garlic and then fry them in a lot of oil until golden brown. This oil and bits of garlic are often added to noodle dishes. Try tossing your noodles in this for a more authentic taste. BTW this makes the house smell amazing!!!!!!!!!! I love the smell of frying garlic. Khapbi is another matter though when the housekeeper and an Aunt made that I wanted out of the estate as fast as I could possible run. *shudder*

Just Stippy blog where I found info Cut see article for rest of it. This is what caught my eye. HOME-MADE BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So anyone have a chance to try this? What do you think? I think it sound BETTER than a hamburger from America! Free range eggs? Onion rings? Dude! *drool* The only time I really eat hamburgers (US style not hambagu japanese style) is during summer backyard bbqs so this kind of struck my interest. BTW the blog is a bit slow on updating but is really cool.

Um.. where does the sesame oil go?

As long as you over boil the porridge and then chill it I don't think you will need gelatin or flour (that would make it too gummy I think). So try a small pot for now and over boil your porridge til the rice is VERY large and the porridge is the spoon stand up in it stage. (Usually this means you messed up and left the porridge on too long). Then chill it in the fridge. The condensation should help is become less gluey and then roll into balls like arrancini. I think you would be better off dipping the balls into flour, egg, and panko and doing like a ton-porridge ball than tempura'ing it.

Steamed and drizzled with oyster sauce was always one of my favorites. It's good in soups, stirfries, you can use it in gyoza chopped fine, boiled, pickled if you have a lot. Hrm.. let me think more. YOu may want to try the china threads or the thai one or the Japanese one. I think they would have a bit more info. Keep in mind a lot of the recipes can be adapted to use bok choy. Happy experimenting!

Thank you so much for taking us on a voyage of delightful eating and culture. I always hated the thought of going to India but I think I take everything back now seeing this travelogue. I want to go so bad now. I loved the pool with the lotuses reminds me of home around Ayutthaya. Dangnabit! I want Indian... like what you had!!!!!! I would be like you so spoiled after eating "real" Indian food.

No no no no offence. I was just surprised. Um, I hope I didn't offend anyone with my Thai to Peter up above. Rawaii... is in??? Remind me? I forget. I actually don't know THAT much about Thailand most of my knowledge is just what I picked up living there and growing up Thai. Um... my Aunties tried their hardest to make me a gurasatree Thai and made me help in the kitchen but I couldn't really cook when I first got back to the States. I think some of it must have sunk in subconsciously though.