Food
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good or bad?
Philippine fishermen net and eat rare megamouth shark My initial reaction when I read the headline was that of disgust, but I guess the main question is whether the animal would have gone to waste if they hadn’t eaten it… Would the WWF have preserved it for study? If so, why didn’t they offer to buy it? Would the fisherman have gone hungry if they hadn’t eaten it?
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Red-bellied Pacu in Thailand
Our nanny’s husband has been bringing over various culinary delights (of mostly the jungle food variety) recently since he knows I get a kick out of it and so far, have not refused to try anything. In fact, he’s brought over so much that I’ve not had the time to blog about all of it yet (the photos are ready though, so everything will be covered eventually). A few days ago, he brought over a real treat. I knew what it was right away because I’ve seen so many nature programs about Amazonian fish: That’s a small pacu. Some googling showed that it’s probably called a red-bellied pacu. The huge…
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Nankin no Hana
The Japanese pumpkins I planted inside and outside our fence have really taken to the climate here and were in full bloom last week. That’s when our nanny told us you can eat the flowers and stems – I never knew that! Before eating, the small hairs on the stems (that cause contact allergies on many people) have to be scraped off. After that was done, we lightly steamed them and ate with no seasoning. I won’t go so far as to say they were delicious, but they were pleasant to eat on another level, like having the very essence of nature in your mouth. I can’t imagine eating them…
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Thai Jungle Barbecue
Thai chameleons are surprisingly tasty. Further explanation will follow in another post…
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Nattokinase vs. amyloid fibrils
Attention: My nattoburger invention may now save you from Alzheimer’s.
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Using Thai rice for risotto…
.. and it’s taking a loooooooong time. Also, I have no parmesan. Maybe I’ll use spotted gecko spittle… Improvise, improvise, improvise.
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choco strawberry
No comment, except that these were on sale at Fuji supermarket in Bangkok so this is an Engrish mistake and not a Thainglish one.
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Eating Mickey (or, how I overcame one of my last food prejudices)
I ask that you have an open mind about this post, because the conclusion may surprise you – it sure surprised me. Here I am with my pal Mickey Rat: Mickey was a gift from Max’s babysitter’s husband, who went hunting for the fat critters in the rice fields last Friday night. Mickey came dressed and with all fur removed, and upon first inspection seemed clean enough… Why then did the mere sight of Mickey’s long tail cause such feelings of repulsion and disgust in me? Therein lies the irony: Originally, we were to be given a much larger present, but it was determined that such a large specimen might…
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Volunteering in Kalasin
Last week a few of us teachers were asked to visit some classes being taught on a volunteer basis by our Business English major students out in Kalasin. We went out without much info and assumed these were classes being taught at a school. As it turned out, one of our student’s family had created an ad hoc classroom outside their house and was hosting free lessons for two weeks since schools are mostly on holiday during October. Children from their village as well as neighboring villages attended, with younger kids coming in the morning and older ones in the afternoon, perhaps 30 kids per session. The classes were being…
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Quick ‘n Dirty Beef Panang
Beef Panang is considered a dry curry (for Thailand at least) because it contains less roux (liquid base), and specifically, less coconut milk than other Thai curries. It is also one of the best uses for lean/tough beef, which is great since that’s pretty much all we have around here. Panang is an easy dish to make and my way is even easier than most. I’ve tried it the normally advocated way, by heating curry paste in coconut milk first, but I’ve found this is a waste of time when using ready-made curry paste. So without further ado: INGREDIENTS Beef – Any cut. Any quantity approximating that in the photos…
