| Like other Southeast Asian countries,
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| | sounds: quiet clucking rising up from a
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| food stalls are everywhere in the
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| | heap of vibrantly coloured roosters or
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| streets, markets and festivals of
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| | chickens tied together at the feet - a
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| Thailand, providing an endless
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| | Thai rooster's plumage is extraordinarily
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| smorgasbord of aromas, color, sounds and
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| | beautiful; plastic tubs and buckets just
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| flavors - food in Thailand is a feast for
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| | full enough of murky grey water to keep
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| all of the senses.Picture a barbecue
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| | the fish, frogs or turtles alive until a
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| hotdog stand outside a North American
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| | sale was clinched; mounds and mounds of
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| sports stadium. Now, instead of hotdogs
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| | green and red, and purple and orange; the
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| and buns sizzling on a grill, the food
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| | pleasant stench of durian and jackfruit -
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| cart is laden with fresh bananas, which
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| | pleasant because I was just so thrilled
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| are slathered in batter and deep-fried to
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| | and in awe of it all!I tried deep-fried
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| golden in a giant wok, then scooped into
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| | grasshoppers at a carnival in
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| a paper bag like a super-size order of
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| | Kanchanaburi during a sound and light
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| extra thick homecut french fries. That
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| | show of "The Bridge On The River Kwai"
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| was my first breakfast in Thailand while
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| | that ended with a fabulous fireworks
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| I watched hundreds of beautifully
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| | display recreating the Allied bombing
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| costumed elephants play soccer and
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| | campaign that destroyed the bridges of
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| tug-of-war in an annual Elephant Round-up
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| | the Death Railway in 1945. I tried a few
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| in Surin, in the far northeast of the
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| | tiny roasted wood worms offered by a very
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| country!The next 'hotdog stand' does have
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| | thin host in a northern hill-tribe
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| a grill, placed over a large bin of
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| | village near the Myanmar border, and
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| charcoal, with flattened chicken quarters
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| | feared that I was eating his family out
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| sizzling on sticks that you eat like a
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| | of house and home. I discovered
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| popsicle; next door to that is yet
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| | countless traditional dishes I had never
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| another steel cart heaped with fresh,
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| | tasted and savoured authentic versions of
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| ripe pineapple, mango and papaya, and
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| | some I had had in Toronto's newly arrived
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| sporting a huge mortar and pestle for
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| | Thai restaurants. As often as I could, I
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| transforming the greener papayas into a
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| | watched their creation so that I could
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| crunchy, sweet-sour-spicy salad with
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| | try to replicate them when I got home and
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| morsels of shrimp or squid, chiles,
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| | got a kitchen again.Many people are
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| garlic and sugar.What makes Thai food so
| |
| | alarmed at how daring I was with my
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| delicious and distinctive among other
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| | stomach. During two years of
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| Southeast Asian food is this unique
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| | round-the-world travel, including six
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| blending of fresh herbs, spices and other
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| | months in Southeast Asia, I only had one
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| ingredients that combine for a perfect
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| | tiny bout of queasiness over a couple of
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| balance of sweet, sour, salt and heat
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| | days on Sumatra in Indonesia. In fact, I
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| that leaves your mouth feeling clean and
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| | had never eaten so well or felt so
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| your tastebuds popping in the
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| | healthy in my life. I must have found
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| afterglow.Fresh fruit, salads and even
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| | the perfect balance of common sense and
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| soups and noodles are ladled into plastic
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| | adventure, or, some might argue, I was
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| bags with a skewer, fork, spoon or straw
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| | just lucky.I don't recommend trying
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| for eating on the go or perched on a
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| | everything, and I do recommend a few
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| folding chair at a nearby metal card
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| | common sense tips for sampling the full
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| table in the market.Thai buses and trains
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| | range of the food on offer throughout
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| become moving picnic grounds, with
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| | your travels:
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| everyone chatting, eating and sharing the
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| | at street and market stalls, do watch
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| fare hawked through the vehicles' windows
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| | the cooking for awhile to ensure that the
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| at roadside stops and terminals: Gai
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| | ingredients are fresh and the food is
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| Yang, the flattened barbecue chicken on a
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| | being cooked thoroughly; if you have any
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| stick, skewered meat and fish balls and
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| | doubts, move on to the next vendor
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| sticky rice wrapped in banana
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| | choose vendors that have a good steady
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| leaves.Carnivals and markets feature huge
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| | flow of customers - not only is the food
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| woks at knee-height, bubbling with
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| | probably very good, but the turnover
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| deep-fried critters of all sorts, many
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| | means fresher food
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| unidentifiable. Are they grasshoppers?
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| | ask your guesthouse host and any other
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| crickets? spiders? baby birds? small
| |
| | residents you meet for their favourite
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| frogs? -- my mouth and eyes were
| |
| | places to eat, and for recommendations on
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| constantly wide open in wonder and
| |
| | dishes to order
|
| amazement!I spent an inordinate amount of
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| | follow the other safe eating tips you
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| time in the fresh produce and night food
| |
| | find in travel guides, like
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| markets -- exuberantly fascinated and
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| | recommendations about water, ice cubes,
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| often visibly discombobulated, to the
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| | and peeling fruit and vegetablesOf
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| great amusement of the vendors and
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| | course, you will find an endless
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| shoppers.After traveling every aisle of
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| | selection of sit-down restaurants where
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| food carts and woks on my mission to find
| |
| | you can savour some of the more familiar
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| the freshest, most interesting and
| |
| | Thai dishes now found in restaurants
|
| tasty-looking dishes, I was often met
| |
| | around the world: green curry with
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| with earnestly shaking heads or "No, you
| |
| | chicken, red curry with beef, pad Thai
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| don't want that - that's Thai food!" by
| |
| | and other noodle dishes, and wonderfully
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| English speaking cooks or bystanders when
| |
| | aromatic sweet basil dishes.Whether you
|
| I pointed and gestured and tried to ask
| |
| | plan to sample the fabulous foods from
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| for a meal I knew I truly wanted. On my
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| | the street vendors and markets or stick
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| first such adventure, I did not know that
| |
| | to what you know, learn a few tips on
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| the custom was for the cook to show the
| |
| | deciphering a menu or asking for a type
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| ladle with the amount of the garlic and
| |
| | of dish with a few Thai Food Terms.Many
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| chili for you to indicate how much you
| |
| | supermarkets are now carrying a range of
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| wanted: thinking she was simply asking
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| | prepared sauces, curries and other Asian
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| if I wanted those Thai ingredients, I
| |
| | products, but if you enjoy adventure and
|
| nodded vigorously at the heaped display,
| |
| | creativity in your own kitchen, many Thai
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| and in it all went! Yes, it was Thai
| |
| | recipes are fairly easy to create once
|
| food, and I enjoyed every sizzling touch
| |
| | you've mastered a few essentials. Gai
|
| to my lips under the watchful, laughing
| |
| | Yang, after all, is really just barbequed
|
| eyes of the vendors and bystanders who
| |
| | chicken with a Thai twist! A good food
|
| had gathered.I spent as much time
| |
| | reference guide or cookbook with a
|
| learning about, admiring and experiencing
| |
| | glossary of Asian ingredients will help
|
| the food as I did with major tourist
| |
| | you gain that perfect balance of sour,
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| attractions, often spending hours
| |
| | sweet, salt and heat that is unique to
|
| strolling through streets and markets
| |
| | Thai cuisine.
|
| taking in the sights and smells and
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|
