Praying at Wat Mangkorn, Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok

Jay is the Chinese/Thai word for vegetarian, and from now until October 9th is the annual Ngaan Jay, Vegetarian Festival. To be honest though, it is quite possibly the most innacurately-named festival around. Although everything for sale in Thailand’s various Chinese districts during this period is entirely meat free, you’ll actually find very few, if any, actual vegetables. Just about everything is either some form of starch (noodles, rice, potatoes) or protein (soy).

In addition to a lack of vegetables, virtually everything is fried:

Buying meat-free food to take home during the annual Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok


Buying meat-free food to take home during the annual Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok

Another odd aspect of the festival is that Bangkok’s entire Chinese community seems to collectively decide that it’s not capable of cooking at home during the 10 days, and instead buys every meal ‘to go’ from a truly remarkable number of street stalls:




Nonetheless, if you’re willing to brave the potentially detrimental health risks of the Vegetarian Festival, it’s heaps of fun, and in Chinatown, everybody is involved. In Talat Mai, the main market alley, vendors who normally sell meat instead sell soy-based meat substitutes:

Buying meat-free meat during the annual Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok

If you look closely, you’ll see veggie ground pork, veggie scallops, and even veggie pork stomach and intestines!

Across the way, even Nay Uan, normally one of the meatiest stalls around, goes jay, serving up tofu, soy protein and mushrooms in place of pork offal:


Nay Lek Uan serving veggie kuay jap, Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok

Just next door, OK Phat Thai has ditched the epynomous dish and makes a variety of meat-free noodle stir-fries and vegtarian hoy jor:


Frying up vegetarian noodles on Thanon Yaowarat during the annual Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok

But my favourite Vegetarian Festival dish is fried yellow wheat noodles, phat mee leuang:


Frying up vegetarian noodles on Thanon Yaowarat during the annual Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok

Fried yes, but also one of the only dishes that actually includes vegetables.

Article provided by Austin Bush Photography.

Sorndaeng

Hor mok, steamed curries with crab, Sorndaeng, Bangkok



I’ve eaten at many, if not most of the upscale Thai restaurants in Bangkok, and have rarely, if ever, had a good meal. Nothing I ate at these restaurants was necessarily bad–no hairs were found, no surly service, nothing rotten–but rather, the food left no impression whatsoever. The general phenomenon seems to be that the more you pay for Thai food, the less flavourful it is, and the more predictable the menu tends to be.

Exploring Banglamphu with friends on a recent Sunday, it didn’t take us very long to realize that on Sunday, in Banglamphu, absolutely nothing is open. Luckily, a few days previously, I was reminded of an upscale Thai restaurant that I’ve always suspected might be different from the rest, so we made it up Th Dinso to Sorndaeng.

A sign out front claims that Sorndaeng has been around since 1957. A glance into the dining room shows that very little appears to have changed in 51 years: the service staff dress like soldiers, there are doilys and frumpy furniture, live lounge music (appropriately, a mild version of ‘Sukiyaki‘ was sung at one point), and of course that most telling sign of old-school Thai elitism, a table dominated by several big-haired, silk-wearing Thai-Chinese women:




The dining room at Sorndaeng, Bangkok

A had been eating here since she was young, and suggested we order krathong thong:



Appetizer, name forgotten, Sorndaeng, Bangkok

‘golden baskets’ with a sweet/savoury filling.

I ordered lon kapi, a savoury ‘dip’ served with fresh vegetables and herbs:



Lon kapi, a savoury dip served with fresh veggies and herbs, Sorndaeng, Bangkok

and yam som oh, pomelo salad:



Yam som o, pomelo salad, Sorndaeng, Bangkok

The former was a very good take on a dish that’s somewhat hard to find, and the latter was simple but delicious, incorporating no more than five ingredients including deep-fried cashews, and if I remember correctly, roasted coconut.

A ordered fish maw fried with egg and bean sprouts:



Fish maw fried with egg and bean sprouts, Sorndaeng, Bangkok

a dish I didn’t think I would like, but which was actually very nice, deliciously eggy and smokey, a lot like or suan.

P ordered mee krop, just to see how it would stand up to that of Chote Chitr:



Mee krob, Sorndaeng, Bangkok

It wasn’t bad, but not nearly as rich, citrusy and complex as Chot Chitr’s.

We had a couple other things as well, including a soup with duck and pickled lime, and the yummy crab-filled hor mok shown at the top of the post. Virtually every dish was excellent.

Sorndaeng also proved to be one of the few places I was actuallly inspired to order a dessert:



Mango and sticky rice, Sorndaeng, Bangkok

Mango and sticky rice–a Thai cliche, but still very nice, even if it wasn’t peak mango season.

Finally: highly recommendable upscale Thai food.

Sorndaeng
78/2 Th Ratchadamnoen Klang
02 224 3088
10am-11pm

Article provided by Austin Bush Photography.

If you’re hungry, in Bangkok, and don’t happen to have any money, I’d suggest stopping by Government House. At the moment there’s a crazy party going on there with heaps of free nosh:



Protesters eating and protesting in front of Government House, Bangkok



It’s been said somewhere that you always end up paying for free things, and I reckon the cost here would be having to eat your free pork and sticky rice while being forced to listen to somebody screaming about the current Prime Minister must ‘die’. I lost my appetite, which was really too bad, as the selection of food was pretty impressive: curries, stir-fries, an abundance of omelets, candy and buns. If you wait long enough, an expensive German car will inevitably pull up and and unload even more food:

A food delivery for the protesters in front of Government House, Bangkok



And when you’re full, there are lots of pleasant places to relax:

Taking a break from eating and protesting front of Government House, Bangkok

It’s the hottest party in town. And it’s all free. Details here. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7584005.stm

Blog provided by http://www.austinbushphotography.com/category/foodblog/

The 16th Annual Thai Culture Day is coming up! A great opportunity for LocalThaiFood members to learn about Thai culture. Food, Music, Dance, and Friends, what else can you ask for. Come down to Thai town and join us for a full day of activities.
























































History of Thai Cultural Day

The Thai Cultural Day originated in 1993 by the Thai Community Arts and Cultural Center. It is held every year in September, with the first Thai Cultural Day held at Wat Thai of Los Angeles in North Hollywood. Barnsdall Art Park was later selected as the site for the Thai Cultural Day due to its location close to the Thai community in Hollywood and its historical and artistic significance. The purpose of the event is to preserve and promote Thai arts and culture through educational and entertainment activities as well as to enhance a multicultural understanding among different ethnic groups.

Our Thai cultural activities typically comprise of the classical and folk dances, the classical music, the children's folk games, the cooking demonstration, etc.

Due to the success of our Thai Cultural Day, we were the first Thai festival to be able to close down Hollywood Blvd., expanding to include the Thai Cultural Parade in 1997 (Fifth Annual Thai Cultural Day). Since our First Annual Thai Cultural Day in 1993, the attendance has reached up to an estimate of 3,000. The festival is supported and attended by people from various ethnic groups throughout Los Angeles.

For more information you can visit The Community Arts & Culture Center Website.http://www.thaiculturalcenter.org/events.html


This festival is made possible in part by Cultural Grant from Dept. of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

Admission & Parking
-Free

Cultural Activities
-Thai Food
-Thai Fruit and Vegetable Carving
-Thai Massage
-Thai Antiques, Thai Art & Craft, Thai Silk
-International Dance
-Thai Kickboxing
-Thai Living History
-Children's Folk Games
-Thai Painting Demonstration

Other Booths and Activities
-Bali & Beyond (Handicrafts and workshops for adults and families)
-Thai Town Rotary Club
-UCLA Thai Smakom
-Washington Mutual

Food Pricing
Food and beverage vendors do not accept cash. You must first purchase food tickets on the festival grounds. Food Ticket $2.00 each

Sponsored Parking at Washington Mutual (8 am - 6 pm)
1600 N. Vermont Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90027
[Parking is currently not available at Kaiser Hospital.]

Public Transportation

The Metro Red line is very convenient if you don't want to deal with the parking.
You can get off the Vermont/Sunset station and walk 1 block to Barnsdell Park

Cuisine of Thailand

Thai cuisine is know for its balance of five fundamental flavors in each dish or the overall meal - hot (spicy), sour, sweet, salty and bitter (optional). Although popularly considered as four regional cuisines corresponding to the four main regions of the country: Northern, Northeastern (or E-San), Central and Southern. Southern curries, for example, tend to contain coconut milk and fresh turmeric, while north-eastern dishes often include lime juice.

Influence and Western popularity

Thai food is know for its enthusiastic use of fresh (rathr than dried) herbs and spices as well as fish sauce.
Thai food is popular in many Western countries especially in Australia, New Zealand, some countries in Europe such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.

Serving

Instead of a single main course with side dishes found in Western cuisine, a Thai full meal typically consists of either a single dish or rice khao ( Thai: ข้าว ) with many complementary dishes seved concurrently.

Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most Asian cuisines. The highly prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. Tis naturally aromatic long grained rice grows in abundance in the verdant patchwork of paddy filds that blanket thailad's central plains. Its aroma bears no resemblance to the sweet smell of jasmine blossoms, but like jasmine flowers, this rice is precious and fragrant, a small everyday delight. Steamed rice is accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-fries and others may be poured on to the rice creating a single dish called Khao rad gang ( ข้าวราดแกง ) , a popular meal when time is limited. Sticky rice khao neow ( Thai: ข้าวเหนียว ) is a unique variety of rice that contains an unusual balance of the starches present in all rice, causing it to cook up to a pleasing sticky texture. It is the daily bread of Laos and substitutes ordinary rice in rural Northern and Northeastern Thai cuisine, where Lao cultural influence is strong.

Noodles, know throughout parts of Southeast Asia by the Chinese name Kwaytiew ( Thai: ก๋วยเตี๋ยว ) , are popular as well but usually come as a single dish, like the stir-fried Pad Thai ( Thai: ผัดไทย ) or noodle soups. Many Chinese cuisine are adapted to suit Thai taste, such as Khuaytiow rue (Thai: ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ ) , a sour and spicy rice noodle soup.

Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon. Chop sticks are used rarely, primarily for the cnsumption of noodle soups. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to shovel food into the spoon. However, it is common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their right hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten. Thai-Muslims also frequently eat meals with only their right hands.

Often Thai food is served with a variety of spicy condiments to embolen the dish. This can range from dried chili pieces, sliced chili peppers in rice vinegar, to a spicy chili sauce such as the namprik ( Thai: นำ้พริก ) mentioned above.

Ingredients

The ingredient found in almost all Thai dishes and every region of the country is nam pla ( Thai: นำ้ปลา ), a very aromatic and strong tasting fish sauce. Shrimp paste, a combination of ground shrimp and salt, is also extensively used. Thai dishes in the Central and Southern regions use a wide variety of leaves rarely found in the west, such as kefir lime leaves ( Thai: ใบมะกรูด ) . Fresh-kefir lime leaves' characteristic flavor apears in nearly every Thai soup (e.g., the hot and sour Tom yam) or curry from those areas. It is frequently combined with garlic, galangal, lemon grass, turmeric and/or gingerroot, blended together with liberal amounts of various chilies to make curry paste.
Fresh Thai basil is also used to add fragrance in certain dishes such as Green curry. Other typical ingredients include the small green Thai eggplants, tamarind, palm and coconut sugars, lime juice, and coconut milk. A variety of chilies and spicy elements are found in most Thai dishes. Other ingredients also include pahk chee (cilantro), rahk pahk chee (cilantro roots), curry pastes, pong kah-ree (curry powder), si-yu dahm (dark soy sauce), prik haeng (dried shrimp), pong pa-loh (five-spice powder), tua fahk yao (long beans or yard-long beans), nahmahn hoi (oyster sauce), prik Thai (Thai pepper), rice and tapioca flour, and nahm prik pao (roasted chili paste).

Article provided by Chaiyo Thai Cafe