Archive | September, 2012

How to Eat Satay

By on September 29, 2012 in She Drizzles and Smears, She Explores, She Grills, She Rants and Muses, She Thais

pork-satay-set

Not too long ago, as I was sitting all alone at table number 10 in the middle of one of my favorite places in all of Bangkok, Or Tor Kor Market, I thought of you.

Sure, I was eating alone, but, no, I wasn’t lonely. One cannot possibly feel lonely with a bag of mangosteens and a bag of durian nestling against one’s left hip — or right hip, for that matter. I was just thinking that you might be interested in how the Thai people eat their satay. I could be totally wrong about that, but I’m already four and a half sentences into this post and I’m not a quitter.

Disclaimer: there’s no canonized set of rules when it comes to eating satay in Thailand. Heck, there’s no canonized set of rules when it comes to eating anything anywhere. My role here is to report what’s usually done. Also, I’m a fan of personal freedom. Though I might avert my eyes when seeing someone eating Thai food with rice with a pair of chopsticks and firmly believe that it is a less than optimal way to enjoy Thai food, I will defend their right to eat that way.

So, anyway, in general this is how most Thai people eat their satay. Take it for what it’s worth.  Continue Reading →

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Nang Let, Khao Taen: Thai Sweet Crispy Rice Cakes with Cane Sugar Drizzle (ขนมนางเล็ด ข้าวแต๋น)

By on September 24, 2012 in She Deglutenizes, She Drizzles and Smears, She Fries, She Thais, She Veges

They’re everywhere — these little rice cakes with cane sugar drizzle: on the streets, in the supermarket, in snack stores from the upscale ones to the not-so-upscale ones. The only explanation for this is that people like them. A lot. And it’s not difficult to see why.

With these sweet rice cakes being so ubiquitous, I’d never learned to make them until I came to the US. Nobody in my family made/make them either. Many street foods — most of them, if you ask me — are best left to the pros. Pad Thai, for example, is not generally a family dish which people make at home. Nang Let (also spelled Nang Led) or Khao Taen (in the Northern dialect) isn’t either, though it’s possible that it might have begun in the Northern (or even Northeastern) region as a way of repurposing old, leftover sticky rice in the pre-microwave days.

But I had to learn how to make these, because they’re not available in the US. Trader Joe’s used to import them from Thailand, but they had dropped this product after a while — at least that’s the case with the stores in my area. This post is brought to you by — that’s right — desperation and deprivation. Continue Reading →

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What Is “Authentic” Thai Cuisine?

By on September 18, 2012 in She Rants and Muses

Before I begin, please allow me to make it absolutely clear that this is a separate issue from whether or not a restaurant can add bamboo shoots, potatoes, and carrots to Tom Kha Gai, whether Nam Prik Pao should be fried, or whether dairy is allowed in Tom Yam, etc. That is the issue of what can/should or cannot/should not be done to a dish and to what extent before the dish ceases to be recognizably what it’s generally perceived to be1, and I’ll write a post on it someday.

This post is about what represents “authentic Thai cuisine.”

And just so you don’t waste your time, let me state my position unequivocally at this point: I don’t know where I stand; I don’t even have an answer that satisfies me on a personal level. If you think that’s bad (or too post-modern), it gets worse: not only do I not have an answer, the more I think about it, the more questions I have.

So this could be a case of mental incontinence on my part. But since you’re still reading, I’m just going to let loose. Continue Reading →

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