Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
We are back in town, and all of the comforts and familiarity of home are just made so much better with one of the best bowls of noodles in town… So I bought take-out kway chap for the babies in between the last classes of the year, and this insolent cat drinking the water offering on the spirit house in front of the shop caught my eye.
Tomorrow, we have kin from the states coming, so it looks to be a special new years!
When in Chiang Mai, do as the Chiang Maianese (do).
We happened upon a stretch of fried grasshopper stands and decided to partake. They were most excellent.
Also, it turned out that one of the princesses of Thailand was in a motorcade behind us and we had to pull over with all the other cars on the road to clear it before she passed. I had my Nikon ready and will post photos later.
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Oh, enlighten me Wikipedia: Jack O’Shea’s
I miss living in Sumoto, five minutes walk from Kobe/Tajima beef in any direction. Paying fifty bucks per filet/sirloin seemed expensive even then, but I have a feeling I’ll never have such easy access again…
It’s made like how it sounds (plus braised in Japanese sake to finish). It tastes how it looks. I suppose you could call them water buffalo wings.
Did you know that shoyu (soy sauce) is the root word of “soy” in English?
And that perhaps the best of example of a loan word from the Thai language in English is “bong?”
Cooking and linguistics are both a delicious jumble of influences and flavors.
I think I’ve finally got this blog up and running the way it should be, so I feel great.
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Woke up this morning, went to buy a traditional Isan breakfast of sticky rice and skewered BBQ pork, as well as some fried doughballs and a bag of rice porridge. Brought it all back home, got Max ready, and took him to school. Found a roadside vendor selling fresh durian and had him break down a small (~.75 kgs whole) one for Nam – she loves them (I merely tolerate them). Came home again to Mina babbling and scooting around madly on her baby walker. It’s been a perfect start for the day.
I just came back from lunch with a bag of (aquatic) snail curry that I accidentally ordered at a new restaurant located just behind our campus. It looked like an appetizing fish or chicken curry under the glass when, but when it was served I saw it was full of snails or similar freshwater shellfish.
Me hates parasites.
So I munched on the other things i’d ordered and brought back the snail curry in a bag. I gave it to a group of girls I’d taught before who were hanging out outside the teacher’s lounge. They seemed happy with it.
I forgot to take a photo, though. Oh, well – one snail curry looks like the next, I suppose.
A friend told me about this restaurant more than a year ago, but with babies and whatnot, we never had the chance to try it (although we were actually parked in front of the shop debating whether to order take away six months ago – we didn’t have the time to wait). Our friends Dave and Michiko are visiting from Japan, so yesterday, we all piled in the Crown (4 adults + Max) and drove for an hour out to downtown Roi Et just down the street from Roi Et Plaza and the Roi Et City Hotel.
Nam ordered a bunch of stuff on the phone before we left home, and simply stated, it was one of the best Indian meals we’ve ever had while also undoubtedly being the most affordable.
We cannot recommend this place enough.
RISHI INDIA FOOD
37/1 Santisuk Road, Amphur Muang, Roi Et
043-520413
089-1869495
088-2622211
He made such a nice omelet: Leftover roast pork and cheese, topped with eggplant & meat sauce.
