I’m currently in a state of being extremely busy juggling things like preparing for a new school term, managing a botched house extension, getting our main car repainted, moving a metric ton of dirt the workers we fired (from previously mentioned house extension job) left on the street in front of our house with the only Radio Flyer I’ve ever seen in Thailand, getting diphtheria/tetanus boosters because I gouged my leg on my rusty barbecue grill, replacing a temporary crown on my tooth with a permanent one, running around to every home improvement shop in town to find the correct angle grinder attachment/vinyl flooring sheets/ceiling hangers, etc.
Here is a shot of the best khao tom I’ve had all year, up in the mountains, on break from performing Okinawan music to Northeastern Thais.
Also, we miss Max and have decided not to bring him back on a repatriation flight to face 2 week quarantine by himself, and instead wait until we can go get him (intl flights are still not allowed into Thailand) safely.
How’s the health care there?
Good and cheap!
How bout there?
Bad and (usually) cheap. In Korea, you get what you pay for, alas. I just went through a nine-hour hell in a Korean hospital because of an infected big toe. The cost was about $270 (US), and most of the poking and prodding and needle-sticking had to do with COVID-19, not my toe infection. This is more a problem with hospitals than with health care in general, but even the smaller clinics have their problems. I envy you.
Yeah, it’s a nice benefit. Bring your big toe over for some medical tourism! I just got back from getting the tetanus booster right now. Total: 102 baht ($3). Need to get 3 shots though. Gonna google how much that costs in the states. Let’s see. I got a dt shot, which is diphtheria and tetanus. These are less common in the states than the DTaP combo, which also has the pertussis vaccine. About $48 at CVS.
Oy! Your June sounded chaotic–but that soup? That soup looks chaotic GOOD! Yummy! Got a recipe for it?
The recipe on Serious Eats is pretty close to how I make Khao Tom, but I tend to serve more stock in the bowl. To make the version above, I would just use mushrooms instead of tofu for the topping. I might also substitute half the chicken stock with Japanese mushroom (shiitake/shimeji) stock.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/03/khao-tom-thai-rice-soup.html