Category Archives: southeast asia

Candied lotus root

Candied lotus roots is a snack especially popular among the Chinese community. These are fairly thick cross sections of lotus root that have been candied. Don’t ask me about the candying process; I’ll just let you know that they are very sweet and kind of like a gummi candy. I don’t really notice any lotus […]

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A bag of deep fried minnows

Thai’s love frying stuff and here’s another snack that emphasizes that.  Bplaa siuw tawt [ปลาซิวทอด], or deep-fried minnows, is pretty basic but tasty…if you like fried stuff.  Just pop them in your mouth, a handful at a time.

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Khao yam – the before and after

Here we have two images of khao yam. This is a popular Southern Thai dish run in to surprisingly infrequently in Bangkok. On the chance that I do find it it is usually premade, but in this case everything was in its own separate packet waiting to get mixed. Khao yam [ข้าวยำ] appropriately translates as […]

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Jicama

Jicama’s (มันแกว [mangaew] in thai) aren’t too common around Bangkok, but once in a while they come to the market. If you’ve never had jicama before, it’s a pretty bland root.  I believe they are much more common in South America.  Similar to a potato in texture, although more watery and a little sweeter.  The […]

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Beef insides

Here we have another Isaan favorite, dtom haeng (or the longer version: dtom haeng kruang nai wua [ต้มแห้งเครื่องในวัว]). In this case we have beef insides, although pork can also be used. It can also be served as a soup. Actually, it is usually just simmering in a giant pot and even you want the soup […]

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Mini fish

This here is a simple Isaan dish of cooked fish (aw bplaa [เอาะปลา]). You just eat each of those fish in one bite, bones, brain and all. The bones are pretty small so they’re not too sharp or crunchy, but this is really borderline. If the fish were just a tiny bit bigger I don’t […]

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Tasty little bugs

These tiny bugs, called gudjii [กุ๊ดจี่] up in Isaan are another unique snack. These bugs are actually members of the dung beetle family. In other words, they are bugs that live almost exclusively on animal poop. And many types don’t just eat the poop, but actually play with it by rolling it into little balls. […]

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Spinal cord soup

This here is a common Isaan dish called dtom saep [ต้มแซบ]. It is a sourish soup, somewhat like tom yam with the main difference in the meat department. Tom yam is generally served with chicken or shrimp as the meat whereas dtom saep is always (as far as I know) with pork or beef. And […]

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Chinese dessert

This is a really simple Chinese dessert. These are traditionally given as an offering during Chinese religious holidays and they are very abundant during those times. Some regular food stalls might even shut down their normal service and specialize in these for a few days prior to a significant day. After they are down with […]

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Custard apples

Wow, there sure are a lot of strange fruits in this world! This one might not be one of the strangest, but it is yet another delicious one. They are called custard apples or sugar apples (น้อยหน่า [noinaa] for the standard size, น้อยโหน่ง [noinong] for the large size like this one). They are very sweet […]

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