Food
-
Taco truck ban?
(I need to take a quick break from baby blogging) As if bacon-wrapped hot dogs being outlawed wasn’t enough, it seems taco trucks are now in jeopardy on the streets of LA: Led by District 1 County Supervisor Gloria Molina, the L.A. Board of Supervisors has passed new restrictions that will effectively eliminate taco trucks from our streets. Under Supervisor Molina’s new rules, taco trucks will have to change location every hour, or face a misdemeanor charge carrying a $1000 fine and/or jail. LINK: saveourtacotrucks.org
-
Captain Ahab: The Man Who Brought Us Lizard Salad
Yesterday provided a chance encounter with a local character which has forever changed our culinary lives. WE HAVE EATEN LIZARD, SOME KIND OF IGUANA. Specifically, this kind of iguana, although it might have been a blue-colored one since those are apparently bigger and tastier. There are so many things I want to say about this experience, it’s all just a jumble in my mind right now… I think I’ll tackle the explanation chronologically. So yesterday, Nam and I were in front of our house taking photos. I set up a tripod in front of the pond and we started taking a long series of shots in the hot sun. Along…
-
Last night a chili pepper saved my life
Me, the wife, the baby – we’ve all been extremely busy the whole time I haven’t been blogging. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had a gadzillion papers and tests to mark and final grades to issue, AND NOW IT’S ALL DONE!! In front of my office door, the tortured souls of those not determined enough to earn a passing grade moan and roil with much indignity. Oh wait, that’s not the sound of tortured souls, it’s just my fever hallucinations again! Yes, I have been sleeping a lot (when not busy) trying to recover from this nasty congestive head cold thing that I even got prescribed industrial-strength…
-
2nd Anniversary Dinner (at home)
From 12 o’ clock, clockwise: Samoo – A special delicacy of ground pork and a whole bunch of special herbs, from the Ubon area. Nam’s mom made a pot of it for us a few days ago, and she’s the only person we know who can make it. Sukiyaki-sliced beef we found at the local Tesco. I fried it in butter/sesame oil with garlic and sprinkled with coarse ground salt, pepper, and kaffir lime. Deep fried tabtim (hybrid tilapia, pink/orange in color). They fry these (and any other fish) up for you at Tesco. Tom Ka Gai, spicy/sour chicken soup with coconut milk Thai version of a mixed salad with…
-
Upside down in the Third World…
…or is it the First World that’s fucked? First check out this article: The Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog: So Good It’s Illegal //////////////////////////////////////////////// Now, which of the following do you think is harder for me to explain to a classroom full of average Thai kids? Why it’s illegal (and a jailable offense) to sell grilled hot dogs where I’m from Why street vendors where I’m from have to watch out for cops, health and safety officials and extortionate gangs Why any of the above parties can’t be universally placated with a free meal now and then If they outlawed (and enforced) hot dog grilling in Bangkok alone, 20,000 people would have…
-
Thainglish Update – Bissin Thin Biscuits with Nature Identical Raspberry Flavoured Cream
They’re a mouthful.
-
katsu kare night
I totally made a huge pot of Japanese curry and deep fried some fresh tonkatsu as well. The occasion? Today is the midpoint between Nam’s birthday (Nov. 9) and her little sister Noon’s (Nov. 6), so we celebrated them together as they have done since they were little. The food was so good, none of the nine people at the table spoke much until the meal was done. I was very proud of stuffing everyone full of so much garlic and curry goodness, and forgot to take photos. For some reason, I never actually made tonkatsu myself before tonight, but it was easy and turned out very well.
-
Nam Nuong
Nam Nuong are the little grilled sausages on sticks shown below, but it’s also the name of this dish. It’s Vietnamese in origin, but I don’t know what it’s called there. All of the ingredients are laid out on a rice wrapper and rolled up before eating, like a fajita. The sauce is sweet and spicy, and full of roasted peanuts – the combination of all the fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs (including lettuce, cukes, green bananas, starfruit, mint, kaffir lime leaves, green chilies, and everything else in the photo that I don’t know the names for yet) is something that cannot be described, but must be experienced.
-
fruit sacrilege
Thai farmers dumped a ton of mangosteens on the street in front of city hall to protest the low selling price. I’m pretty sure all the government workers rushed out to scoop up their share. 3 baht per kilo does sound pretty low, though. They retail for 18-20 baht/kilo up here in the northeast; the best quality ones at their peak went as high as 25 baht/kilo a couple months ago. I do have to say that if you’ve never had a fresh mangosteen, you are missing out on one of life’s real pleasures.
-
On the Road 2007 (Part 6) – The Animatronic Chicken Roasters of Rayong, Thailand
On a previous trip to Thailand, I wrote about the most delicious roast chicken I have ever eaten. I have many special memories of Rayong, and the awesome roast chicken stands by the roadside are certainly counted among them. I had been looking forward to reevaluating the chicken itself since the last time I visited, to be sure it hadn’t been a fluke, or just how hungry I had been at the time. The chicken stands to which I refer are concentrated along a half-kilometer stretch of a long road into town, from the east end of Mae Ramphueng beach. We scoped out the whole stretch a couple times and…
