Thanksgiving with a little Thai Food

This Thanksgiving, Ning and I ate at my ex-wife’s house to spend time with my two children. There was the normal traditional turkey and everything that goes with it. Ning made Pad Thai and spring rolls to add to the mix.

The two different foods really seemed to complement each other. Ning made sure to not spice the Pad Thai too warm so all could enjoy it. She likes to use Thai kitchen brand Original Pad Thai in a box as a base. With the base, Ning will add all of her veggies and meat as shown in her video at Nings-kitchen, Pad Thai.

Everyone really liked having to two different foods together. We have done this on several occasions with everyone loving it then too. It is good that we all can get together and enjoys everyone’s company. My two kids are all grown, and they do appreciate the fact that we all sit down to the same table and have a good time together.

Thai Street Food

It does not matter what size city that you are in Thailand, you will find Thai street food on every corner and between. A lot of Thai people earn their livings selling street food. It is also very cheep to buy, and very convenient for any one looking to eat.

Most Thai’s will stop by and get breakfast and supper from the food stands on their way to and from work. Every morning the Buddhist Monks walk the streets so the Thai’s can offer them food in turn to have the monks bless them. Most Thai’s get the food for them at the food stands. It is already packed up so the monks have no trouble carrying it.

The variety of Thai street food is endless. There really is not a Thai food that you cannot get from one of the street venders. You will find anything from local Thai fruits to just about any cooked dish that you would like.

Out in the countryside you can even run into roadside stands. They can have fruits to cook while you wait food. During one of our trips we found a roadside stand in the country that had live prawn. You picked the one’s that you wanted and they grilled them for you right there.

One of the good things about street venders is that you get to see the cooking taking place right in front of you. You know then how clean the kitchen is, right along with the hygiene of the food preparer.

Most cooked food is cooked at a very high temperature so you really do not have to worry about the food it’s self. The thing to watch for is how well the plates and things are washed. You will be able to tell at a glance if you want to eat that a cretin food vender or not.

Lot of the bigger venders will have small area’s so that you can sit and eat right there. The smaller ones are serve and go. These are usually the ones that sell the simple foods.

If you do not like spicy food just say Mai Ped or if you want to ask if it is spicy say Ped Mai. The way to say the two Thai words would be (Mai) = my and (Ped) = pet.
My pet is telling the server you do not want it spicy, and pet my is asking is it spicy.

You will find that some of the best Thai food that you will ever eat will come from a Thai street food vender that is off of the beaten path. I have had some very tasty meals down some old ally in Bangkok.

Amphawa Floating Market

During out last trip to Thailand, Ning’s family and I took a trip to Amphawa Floating Market. This place is not too far out of Bangkok. It is in Songkhram Province. The market is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday.

The market is located on a canal that flows in to the Mae Klong River. Ning was telling me at night you could see fireflies. We did not stay till nighttime this time, but maybe next time. Ning said that you could rent a room from a lot of the families that live on the river to find out what it is like to do just that.

You can find just about anything you want to eat at the market. You can find some craft type shops there also.

Here in the picture you can see from left to right, a curry vender, desert vender, Grilled Squid vender and a noodle vender.  You place your order on shore and if you wanted squid, they just pass it over for you.

Here is a picture of various food venders. The larger boats are taxies stoping for the people to buy things.

Ning and I are looking over some plants for sale here.

Here is a coconut vender selling young coconuts. The milk is very mild and the meat of the coconut is very soft. You can scrap in out with a spoon to eat it. Very good tast and good for you.

You can find just about anything you want to eat at the market. You can find some craft type shops there also. It was avery nice way to spend our afternoon. If you ever are in Bangkok, you should try to get to one of the floting markets that are around. There are alot of them, so you should not have any trouble finding one.

Thai Orange Grove

During Ning’s and my 2008 trip to Thailand, we went to and stayed at a 40 acre orange grove owned by Ning’s cousin. It was about and hour or more north beyond Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is about 435 miles north of Bangkok. So we had a fairly long drive to get there. It is always good to get out and see the countryside in Thailand. There are a lot of sights to see and we stopped at various places on the way for some sight seeing. But that will be another post down the road.

The weather there was really pleasant. During the day it would get up around 85F and at night it would go down to the mid 60’s. Very good sleeping. The morning would have some fog till the sun came out and burnt it off. I like the coolness at night but most of Ning’s family was cold. They all come from around Bangkok that is fairly warmer then up north.

Where we were staying was out in the country far enough that were was no commercial electric. They had solar panels with 12-volt batteries setup. We also had a generator for lighting for where we prepared our meals.

We sleep in the housing used by the orange pickers during picking season. It was just basic shelter with running water and bathrooms. The showers like a lot of Thai Homes had just very cold running water. So you did not take long showers.

We cooked all of our meals on propane burners. But we as always ate really good meals. Thai food tastes even better out in the country too! Every buddy help and we all had a lot of fun.

Meal times were allot of fun. We all pitched in and helped make the food.  This is truly Thai Food at its finest.

Here they are getting vegetables ready and grinding up ingredients for curry.

This is looking on to the Thai Government land that borders the orange grove. They have planted acres of Teak trees. The tree line in front of the Teak is Bamboo. The water in front is a holding pond to water the orange tress with.

Here is a slide show of one morning going out and picking oranges.  All of the people here are our family and friends. We had a very good time.

When Ning and I do finely move to Thailand to retire, we are very seriously thinking of staying up north in Thailand. It is not as hot as down south and the people there live a more laid back life.

Bangkok Chinatown

Phahurat Market

During our last trip to Thailand, we had our Thai wedding.  We went to Bangkok Chinatown Phahurat Market to purchse favors for the wedding.  This part of Chinatown is know for fabric and wedding stalls. There was a great selection.

 

 

This photo shows some of the many stalls that were setup for everyone to shop at.  There was row after row of these.  Visit different parts of Chinatown to find many different things.  Shopping is only part of it. Sightseeing is prime as there are many historical buildings peppered throughout Chinatown.  14 % of the buildings are designated as historic buildings.     

 

 

This photo gives you an idea of the size of the crowd that was there.  It was late December and everyone was out getting New Years gifts.  To say the crowd was large is really an understatement.  It was just jam-packed. Thai police were on bull horns warning everyone to watch out for pick pockets. We did not have any problems there at all. Really all one really needs to do is use some good common sense and you should be alright.

 

 

The crowd at one of the cross roads wasn’t too bad.  It was the smaller streets that were packed with people.  It would get so packed that you had to really watch were you wanted to go.  If you did not watch you would get rushed past the place you wanted to stop at. It is only a very small part of Chinatown.  

In the early 1780’s the Chinese merchants were originally moved to this area when Bangkok was settled. Chinatown is best seen on foot.  It really is the only way to see it because the street size is very small.  Sampaeng Lane used to be Chinatown’s main street.  It is not big enough for even a car to drive on.  When the vendors bring in their products by car or small van, everyone must get off of the road to let them pass.

While in Chinatown, you can visit Wat Traimit.  It is a small temple at one end of Chinatown.  The temple houses the worlds largest solid gold  Buddha image.  Weighing in at 5½ tons, the 15-foot tall seated image is worth,  in the neighborhood of,  US$14 Million.  The Golden Buddha is an excellent example of the gracious Sukhothai style that is still very much in favor to this day.  It was cast sometime in the 13th century. Chinatown is also one of the best places to go gold shopping.  Tang To Gung gold shop on Sampaeng Lane is also one of the many historic buildings in Chinatown.  Yaowarat Road is lined with many gold shops.

You can find just about anything you would like in Bangkok Chinatown.

 

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