Thailands famous foodmarkets

At the moment I am travelling through one of South-East Asias well known countries for their food and smiles. Thailand ! Sawatdee (hello). 

 

What better place to start to learn the language, flavors and food-habits. Here I am at one of the Chaiyaphums smaller markets just in the center of this medium sized city in the middle of the North-Eastern region (Isaan).
 

At first sight, nothing special. But what makes it special is the social status of these foodmarkets.

Why not combining getting the ingredients and a quick meal along the way or just to meet up. Getting an easy meal is just as common as stopping by for those famous fagrant herbs and delightful veggies. Enjoying a meal during the day is an important part of life, esspecially for the Thai.

 
You prefer a khao-pad kai (fried rice with chicken), khao-man kai. (rice with boiled chicken), pork or just vegetarian,  Not a problem at all. Different foodstands for the meals. Just sit and wait 5 minutes and watch the show. Your meal is ready in no time.

 

 

The Setup.

On the right you will see a typically setup. Just a car with a cabinet, a display, large kettle, some sauces and condiments.

 

Lets not forget the picknick table, bucket full of ice and some dishes.The wokburner is nowadays a gasburner. But so now and then outside the city you can still find them using charcoal as a heatsource. 

Preparing the stir-fry on a tao (Thai word for turtle, like a round BBQ in a bucket) with charcoal requires a different cooking-technique and some more patience.

The meal.

  My meal this one is khao-man kai, a Chinese originated dish, which is very populair all over Asia. Every country has his modified version, adapted to the local taste.

On this stand the khao-man kai is served with a different sauce. Not the sharp, vinnigry (but delicious) sauce. This sauce tends to be more soften and somewhat little salty-sweet and a light flavor of garlic. Thai-food meales are often served with some clear soup on the side.

Very nice to "wash" the tastebuds which are affected by the bird-chillies. Thai like their food more spicy then Westerners. So its is not a shame to ask mai-ped (not spicy). They will happily leave out most of the chillies.

The clear soup can make a big difference and if prepared well is light and still full of flavor, if made well is a fine substitute for the taste experience.

 

The eating part of the market is often in a seperate corner of the market or convenient close to the road. The selling stands are in a row and relatively small. Although some sellers can have mulitple stands.

On this market all the stands are mixed up. So no seperate veggie-corner of meat-corner here. It is not uncommon to have a seperate morning, night and afternoon market in Thailand. So be aware if you visit one and everything looks closed.

Ofcourse I had to show you this one. A stand with the famous and tasteful Thai curries. Please try them all. Most of the stands still make their own blend and can taste different although the green, red and yellow all have the same ingredients at all stands. Some more spicy, some more softer to the tastebuds. Always an excuse to cook Thai food, or better try some at the market.

Did I picked some up? For sure.. but do not forget the stand where you did buy that delicious curry. Or if you are a home-cook chef try to make it yourself. It is some work but so much worth the effort and to understand the flavor of the Thai dishes.

Thats all for now, next place to visit is Khon Kaen on the way to Nong Kai. Keep travelling and cook delicious meals. Greetings to my readers.

Tip of the day:  Goon Chiang (sweet pork sausage, Thai version of the Chinese Lap Chiang).

I think Thai improved it.