Last night I went through all of my food resources and started to compile a list of what I have been eating. An hour of writing later I decided that a summary is easier. Besides, Clint called over from the other porch and told me to save room for dessert. (I had just finished eating a whole fish, but made room anyway for the fried donuts and conversation).
When I start my food blog I can talk about the specifics of the eating here. Oh yes, another blog in the works. I think the name is going to be A Brooklyn Convivium, and the theme will be Recipes that require very little packaging (i.e., fresh foods and local products).
Ok, so the tally of my food explorations...
-About 9 new curries I had never had. The difference is red, green, or yellow. Then: how dark, how thick, how hot, and if coconut milk is added.
-3 varieties of insects. I saw giant cockroaches two nights ago, but couldn't bring myself to do it. Too close to home.
-5 different coconut desserts. My favorite is a baked coconut bars. Coconut by far was my favorite of the sweets. I tried several different donuts but wasn't so into it. And the gelatin I just don't like in general, but that list would have been endless here.
-4 different whole dish. My favorite is a very simple steamed fresh water fish with kaffir lime juice,leaves, fish sauce, and cilantro. And of course hot peppers. Oh, and I also had fish brains, eye balls, and fish liver a couple of times.
-Two different livers, but I have no idea what animal they came from. Most likely pork and chicken. Beef is not so common here, although I did see a few cows when I went to the mountains.
-Noodles that are yellow, thin, medium, or thick in size. Basic Chinatown eating on this one. I really only ate noodles with broth and other stuff thrown in. It's street food eating and not the most complex meal. I ate it enough times to have it with seafood, pork, chicken, and tofu.
-My favorite vegetable here has been Thai Pumpkin and Makeua and Makeua Pooang, which is golf ball and pea size eggplants. More bitter the smaller it gets, but SO good in curries.
-Several varieties of steamed buns. One would think that they can all taste the same, but the quality of meat and the care of how the sweet dough is made makes or breaks this one. I only found one place that I really liked, and I would buy between 5-7 each time and eat them as snacks throughout the day. I stopped that after two or three buys. Too much pork here. I had to cut back.
-Fresh kaffir limes leaves, fresh bamboo, and fresh crab I will miss dearly. And the Thai lemon basil tastes totally different here than at home. Kaffir lime leaves are in EVERYTHING. If cooked too long though it destroys the meal. It's a smell here too that comes out of many a home and restuarant as I pass. Such a complex plant. Thai women use the juice of the Kaffir lime for their hair. You squeeze it onto your dry hair, comb it through, and then shampoo as normal. It is one of the secrets to their beautiful locks. But if you have any color then it will strip the color.
-I lost count of the fruit tasting, but it hovers around 9. Dragon Fruit and papaya I ate a lot of here.
The list goes on, but those are the highlights. I know I tried over 100 different foods over the course of this stay. I'm going to take a little hiatus from eating Thai food for a while, but stay tuned for the cooking portion as I try to recreate the palette of the last few weeks.
