Paralysis of the Tongue: Thai Cooking Lesson #1

Our picnic lunch next to the waterfall in Thoeng

Kwan with her SPICY som tum!

Well technically, the first words every person should learn before ordering food or cooking in Thailand is “mai pet” or “nit noy pet.”  Walking down the streets of Bangkok you can actually just SMELL the scent of chilies so bad; you will buckle over coughing for the next ten street stalls from the spice.  We had tried a sample of Kwan’s som tum (papaya salad) – and my tongue was paralyzed for the next 20 minutes.  I like spice – don’t get me wrong, but here in Thailand, this isn’t spice, this is pure torture.  

Second thing to note – sticky rice makes EVERY dish infinitely better.  Thanks to Kwan, Carolina and I are officially obsessed with sticky rice.  Each morning and every night – Kwan and her family make three batches of sticky rice – that’s 6 pounds of rice a day!  And trust me – they eat it all.  

 

 Because of our new-found love for sticky rice, Carolina and I were determined to learn the process by which to make it, so that we could take what we learned back to Bangkok.  My hope was to have sticky rice and mango every day – if I had it my way, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.    We were able to help each morning with the sticky rice, and all I can say is that Carolina, Josje and I have a new appreciation for the amount of work that goes into those little baskets!  You must let the rice soak, overnight, in water.  Then you have to cook it on the stove with this complex wok/vase pot where it becomes all sticky, mash it on this wooden device and then shove it into little wicker baskets.  For one little batch of sticky rice – you are looking at over 14 hours of work!            

The Cooking Crew - ready to take on Foster City's own!

Green Curry we made!

Over our several days with Kwan and her family, we learned how to make several dishes.  Kwan asked us what our favorite Thai dishes were, and we each took turns learning how to make our own.  My favorite is Panang Curry (of course!), Carolina chose Pad Thai, and Josje chose this minced mint pork which is also one of my favorites.  They.were.delicious.

Kwan told us that once we learned how much work went into Thai food – we would never want to cook it again.  I could not agree with her more.  And from that point on, every single chicken curry or sticky rice box I have eaten, I am extremely appreciative.