Eat right in Thailand-Part I

Hi everyone. I've recently been to Thailand to visit my family during Thanksgiving. What I missed most is street food and homemade food!....and family and friends, of course.. Why do I miss street food the most? Well because it tastes super, is cheap, and you can't find it here. I must say, not only is the street food good, but the local restaurant and specialty restaurant food is good too. It was a wonderful trip and yes I ate A LOT.

I visited Bangkok (which is the capital city of Thailand), Sakon Nakhon (located in North East Thailand), and Chiang Mai (located in Northern Thailand. So, I don't have a turkey recipe to share, but I do have tons of pictures of Thai food that will make your mouth water.

Let's get started!
The first dish is in my hometown, Sakon Nakhon. The majority of the population here is Vietnamese. They immigrated to North East Thailand during the Vietnam war. So, this dish is actually Vietnamese food. It's called "Banh Quan". Basically, it's thin steamed rice wrapped with seasoned pork and green onion. It comes in different styles; beaten egg, whole egg, regular thin wrap, and with crispy rice. The key is the utensil. You need to have the kind of tool that makes for correct preparation. I've tried it here in Seattle but it doesn't taste as good (at least in my opinion), so this is one of the dishes I most craved.

When I arrived in my hometown, I went straight to a restaurant to have this!

That's how they do it! Pretty cool tool and it takes skill not to break the thin rice. I've tried to make it and it came out "unpresentable"

With beaten egg style

Now folding all 4 sides

Ta-da! We eat it with a Vietnamese baloney pork

This is the regular style. Topped with crispy shallots

They serve this dish too. It's crispy rice mixed with homemade seasoning, sour preserved pork, and peanuts. People here eat it with fresh green salad, basil, and mint. This dish can be found here at Asian or Laotian restaurants.

Ok. Let's move to a different restaurant for breakfast.

Fish rice porridge

Or this savory Vietnamese noodle soup. The noodle is pretty unique. It's not quite as thin as vermicelli and not quite as thick as spaghetti, and it's a little sticky.

This dish is one of my favorite dishes in my hometown. It's similar to an American breakfast. They pan-fried 2 eggs in that stainless pan. The eggs are perfect like melted cheese..along side of seasoned pork, green onion (same as the thin rice wrap stuffing), cucumber, and shredded carrot. You also eat it with this tiny grilled baguette. Yummo! The baguette is stuffed with the seasoned pork, preserved meet, and butter.

I think I will pause for now before I get hungry! We will continue with more food and pictures in part II. Please stay tuned!