Greetings From Thailand: Land of Pad Thai (Among Other Things)
In cased you missed my introduction, I took a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Thailand in January 2017. Being the magical place that it is, I couldn't possibly fit all the details from my adventure into one blog post. So I created a blog series, "Greetings From: Thailand," to cover everything from the temple architecture to bathing elephants. This post is all about all of the delicious food.
After arriving in Thailand, we found out all our luggage had been lost so on our first night in Chaing Mai, we went straight to a street market to buy clothes. But more importantly, what we were able to get at the market was food. As we approached, we could smell the deliciousness that was grilling on the street carts. We walked up to a vendor selling what one might call chicken on a stick but is called “Satay” in South East Asia. Regardless of what you call it, we bought a couple of those and branched out a little further. We also grabbed some fried rice from another vendor just in case we didn’t like the adventurous choices we had made. But that ended up being unnecessary (even though the rice was great!) This is also where we got our first taste of Thai beer. The two big contenders are Chang and Singha. After scoping out the food, I stopped in a 7-Eleven and made my first purchase of the trip: bottled water and three bottles of Chang beer.
My whole life, I have been a lover of all things pasta. Well no one told me there were noodles to be had in Thailand! I feel like when you mention Thai food to someone the first thing they think of is Pad Thai. I’m not sorry about it because ever since my trip, I am obsessed with Pad Thai. I must’ve had that dish 20 times in the two weeks I was gone. I even learned how to cook it in a Thai cooking class… (Please note my super subtle transition.)
We took a cooking class at Baan Sansai Cookery School. We started at the market where our instructor taught us about Thai spices and herbs. We haggled with meat dealers and picked the freshest fruit.
From the market we drove out to the country to our instructor’s home where we created authentic Thai dishes under an outdoor pavilion. We each got to choose from a selection of dishes we wanted to make within three categories: curry, appetizers, and entrees. And well, not to toot my own horn or anything, I was the only one who chose to make egg rolls and I crushed it! I’ll drop some photo proof below.
Amongst the sea of traditional South East Asian cuisine, there was quite a bit of American food at our disposal. Which turned out to be a god-send for my mother, who’s spice tolerance was not anywhere near high enough to handle the native food. So despite what she’ll tell you, we did dined at the McDonald’s across the street from our hotel for her benefit. And well, it tasted just like it does in the United States.
When we weren’t catering to my mom’s sensitive stomach, I enjoyed street food at every chance. My go-to? Street corn. A rather, safe choice you might say but it was deliciously satisfying every time so I never tried to resist. Another popular street cart offering was Durian. Which due to it’s distinct, foul odor was banned from the interiors of most establishments. My mother may have a sensitive stomach but I have the sensitivity to smell, so I did not dare try this foreign fruit even though I was promised it tasted better than it smelt.
My cousin, Amanda, joined us for part of our trip and served as a culinary guide. She had previously lived in Thailand teaching English so she knew a thing or two about the local food as well as the customs. Like the lack of customer-service based service and how it’s considered disrespectful to stick your chopsticks upright in your food. Lesson learned. She also brought some treats from Vietnam where she was living at the time. Don’t let the smile on my face fool you, it was no “treat” to eat.
Thailand was filled with mouth-watering food (like literally, so spicy!) We enjoyed everything from chicken on a stick to the most popular dessert, both in Thailand and in my mother’s eyes, mango sticky rice. It was a culinary experience my stomach and I will certainly not forget!
