Do you hoard ‘Farang’ food?

[sharktooth]

7 hours ago, masuk said:

About twice a year, a supermarket chain in Chiang Mai used to get in Fray and Bentos steak and kidney pies.  These cook up wonderfully in the oven.  

But sad to say, as soon as any hit the shelves, they're all gone!

Why they can't place a larger order is beyond me.  Same obviously applies to corned beef.

A limit of 1 or 2 per customer might help.

I bought three fray bentos steak and kidney pies when I was back in the uk a couple of years ago as I had fond memories of them as a boy. My mate asked “what the F are you buying that for?”

I got back here and cooked them up and nearly spewed my lungs up, as they were revolting.

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, masuk said:

About twice a year, a supermarket chain in Chiang Mai used to get in Fray and Bentos steak and kidney pies.  These cook up wonderfully in the oven.  

But sad to say, as soon as any hit the shelves, they're all gone!

Why they can't place a larger order is beyond me.  Same obviously applies to corned beef.

A limit of 1 or 2 per customer might help.

I remember not so long ago all the western food stores along with Makros used to always have tins of spam, now it is almost non existant.

[JAG]

3 minutes ago, johng said:

I'm hoarding Waitrose brown sauce ,Tesco shortcake biscuits ,Tesco finest English breakfast teabags and Bisto gravy powder.

The "Heladiv" Ceylonese teabags, sold in Big C are quite good, certainly better (and cheaper) than that Liptons rubbish they import from Indonesia. Two varieties, "Pride of Ceylon" (yellow box) or "English Breakfast (in a box covered in pictures of the Union Flag).

[johng]

The "Heladiv" Ceylonese teabags, sold in Big C are quite good, certainly better (and cheaper) than that Liptons rubbish they import from Indonesia. Two varieties, "Pride of Ceylon" (yellow box) or "English Breakfast (in a box covered in pictures of the Union Flag).

Yes I have tried the Heladiv tea bags and remember them to be ok, certainly better than the Lipton. But after the Tesco Finest there is no going back for me.

[JAG]

I live in Chiang Rai - about as far from the point of import as you can get. We have Big C, Tops, and Makro, with a big Tescos 20 km up the road. I have to say, with a bit of careful poking around, I have always been able to find most things, or passable substitutes. Cheese is the one I miss, although Tops is starting to stock a more diverse range of "Waitrose "branded cheeses.

[janclaes47]

24 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

You have to remember that a lot of Thaivisa members do not have English as their first language.

I do believe that the member that made the post is a UK citizen, one pissed ,as hell from drinking 1 bottle of vodka as he admitted in his following post in another thread, and that they speak English in the UK but my first language is indeed not English.

[janclaes47]

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Don't forget to ask for a sense of humor when you write to Santa, OK?

 

I bet your whole house stinks even without any Camembert in there.

 

I'm sure you agree with me that's a killer joke, not?

[Andrew Dwyer]

Never seen that brand of corned beef before, Hunters? Where did you buy that and at what price?

Have to confess I bought it in the uk, was there recently and fancied a corned beef and brown sauce sandwich so I bought a tin in ALDI for £1.45 ( 60 baht ).
Was actually very good so I bought another and chucked it in my suitcase.

[helloagain]

I dont care for thai food. Just back from uk holiday bought up half of tescos uk. 685grams of daddies sauce £1. Here no bisto but no shortage of it in uk i bought back five 550gram tubs. 60 to 70 dried packet mixes. 4 wedges of Brie cheese at £1.20 each instead of £5 at macro. Argos uk i bought a stand food mixer for making bread £76 in central £200 up. 16 mens and ladies deo all 250ml here only 150ml but the best news only £1.50 each boots phuket almost £5 for 150ml. Gelette mac turbo blades 8 for £15 i bought 24, here 3 to £4 each blade. Its crazy not to. 

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

You have to remember that a lot of Thaivisa members do not have English as their first language.

And I would wager that janclaes47 is already one of 'em.

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, janclaes47 said:

 

I bet your whole house stinks even without any Camembert in there.

 

I'm sure you agree with me that's a killer joke, not?

But he never said your house stinks now did he?

 

19 hours ago, Rc2702 said:

I bet your fridge stinks even without the camembert

OK, I'll admit that in itself it's not the funniest... but when you're the butt of the joke (again), it's bloody priceless.

[SheungWan]

Last item I stocked up on was discounted 500 gram tubs of Kimchi in Friendship. I have been eating Kimchi + whatever, solid for about 2 weeks now.

[attrayant]

Can somebody give me more info about this corned beef in a can that was posted back on page 2.  The corned beef I'm familiar with is actual beef that has been, well, corned.  It slices just like beef and is the principle ingredient in the delicious Reuben sandwich:

 

 

If the canned version is anything like that, I'll have to grab some next time I see it.

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

Can somebody give me more info about this corned beef in a can that was posted back on page 2.  The corned beef I'm familiar with is actual beef that has been, well, corned.  It slices just like beef and is the principle ingredient in the delicious Reuben sandwich:
 

 
If the canned version is anything like that, I'll have to grab some next time I see it.
 

Corned beef in a can probably contains more “ corn “ ( salt ) than in your photo to extend its shelf life, usually about 3 years although it is rumoured that corned beef in a can will indeed last for many years. This is a good indication of what else goes into it to aid its preservation.

I have eaten many a Reuben sandwich in the US and can tell you the taste is not the same, you might be disappointed in the canned version.

I personally prefer the canned version but this is mainly because it is something I grew up with ( I’m a Brit ).

I recommend you to buy a can of you see one but be prepared for a different taste to what you are used to.

[JAG]

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Corned beef in a can probably contains more “ corn “ ( salt ) than in your photo to extend its shelf life, usually about 3 years although it is rumoured that corned beef in a can will indeed last for many years. This is a good indication of what else goes into it to aid its preservation.

I have eaten many a Reuben sandwich in the US and can tell you the taste is not the same, you might be disappointed in the canned version.

I personally prefer the canned version but this is mainly because it is something I grew up with ( I’m a Brit ).

I recommend you to buy a can of you see one but be prepared for a different taste to what you are used to.

Brilliantly defused!

[CharlieH]

1 hour ago, attrayant said:

Can somebody give me more info about this corned beef in a can that was posted back on page 2.  The corned beef I'm familiar with is actual beef that has been, well, corned.  It slices just like beef and is the principle ingredient in the delicious Reuben sandwich:

 

 

If the canned version is anything like that, I'll have to grab some next time I see it.

 

No not the same, look at this......

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Absolutely!!!!! In answer to the OP's question.

 

I'm a farang foods hoarder for two reasons -- supply and price!

 

Supply -- As others have mentioned, the supply and stocking of imported goods here is so sporadic, you've got to strike while the iron is hot, or who knows when you might find the same product again.

 

Price -- There are times when the various farang oriented supermarkets in BKK will have a farang product (normally priced pretty high here) on sale for a pretty good price at discount. And as long as it's not something that's going to expire, I'll stock up on those kinds of things any time I spot a good sale.

 

One recent example -- right around Thanksgiving, for some reason, Villa, Central and Foodland all had very substantial sales on Florida's Natural brand real orange juice from the states -- not the fake bilge water Thai brands crap that's sold here pretending to be orange juice. Normally, the Florida's Natural is pretty pricey here since it has to be kept refrigerated and is imported. But when it was on sale 2-for-1, I stocked up and had a couple weeks of very enjoyable fresh OJ with my breakfasts in the morning!

 

[Spidey]

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 12:27 PM, Chomper Higgot said:

I imagine there’s a Westerner somewhere in Thailand with enough corned beef to last him/her a couple of years.... perhaps stashed alongside a year’s supply of cheese.

 

Is that you?

It would have been if I'd spotted them! Love the Irish version of corned beef hash. Easy to make here in Thailand.

 

I have 4 giant jars of Marmite in my fridge, have it every day for breakfast. Also have a number of London Pies in my freezer. I've only eaten one of them and they've been there for several months. Emergency rations.

 

Would love to stock up on Warburtons Crumpets, never found them in Thailand. Villa stock crumpets, smaller and far inferior to Warburtons. I think that they were around 140 baht for 6 last time that I bought them, pay 50 baht for a pack of 9 Warburtons in the UK. Went to the new Villa today, no restaurant and crumpets 205 baht for a pack of 6 crappy crumpets. Walked straight out, won't be going back.

 

Mate brought me 2 packs of Warburtons over last month (18 crumpets). He ate 6, my wife ate 6 and a Thai neighbour had 2. 4 for me! Thais absolutely love a good crumpet, anyone able to import Warburtons would make a fortune.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

24 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

No not the same, look at this......

 

I was going to say,, the canned stuff that someone posted a photo of on the first page of this thread looked more like a SPAM product that it did anything I'd recognize as being corned beef.   CB, to me, is what Attrayant posted a photo of above, not the tinned stuff.

 

FWIW, Central Chidlom in BKK last week had fresh sliced beef brisket in their Food Story eat in-take out outlet at the back of their supermarket section on the ground floor. They didn't list it as corned beef, but instead beef brisket. But it was a bit salty and had a very similar taste and texture to what I'd consider normal corned beef from the U.S.  Had a couple slices, and it was DELISH!  Sadly, was back by Food Story again tonight, and no beef brisket in sight.

 

But they are continuing to sell fresh roasted sliced Butterball turkey from the U.S. for 150b per 100g serving to which you can add your choice of sides (roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, etc etc) for eat in or take out.  Or, they're also selling in the supermarket there the same whole turkeys as frozen, precooked Butterball turkeys from the states on sale right now for 420b per kilo. Unfortunately for me, all the Butterball turkeys are the pretty big sized variety, too big for just me and the wife, with her not being a big turkey eater. I love it, but can't polish off a 6-7 Kg bird by myself.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, possum1931 said:

I remember not so long ago all the western food stores along with Makros used to always have tins of spam, now it is almost non existant.

 

My local Makro in BKK (the Sathorn one) usually seems to stock Spam....  But that's one farang product here that I DON'T ever stock up on...or purchase for that matter! 

[Andrew Dwyer]

 
I was going to say,, the canned stuff that someone posted a photo of on the first page of this thread looked more like a SPAM product that it did anything I'd recognize as being corned beef.   CB, to me, is what Attrayant posted a photo of above, not the tinned stuff.
 
FWIW, Central Chidlom in BKK last week had fresh sliced beef brisket in their Food Story eat in-take out outlet at the back of their supermarket section on the ground floor. They didn't list it as corned beef, but instead beef brisket. But it was a bit salty and had a very similar taste and texture to what I'd consider normal corned beef from the U.S.  Had a couple slices, and it was DELISH!  Sadly, was back by Food Story again tonight, and no beef brisket in sight.
 
But they are continuing to sell fresh roasted sliced Butterball turkey from the U.S. for 150b per 100g serving to which you can add your choice of sides (roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, etc etc) for eat in or take out.  Or, they're also selling in the supermarket there the same whole turkeys as frozen, precooked Butterball turkeys from the states on sale right now for 420b per kilo. Unfortunately for me, all the Butterball turkeys are the pretty big sized variety, too big for just me and the wife, with her not being a big turkey eater. I love it, but can't polish off a 6-7 Kg bird by myself.
 

Yes tinned corned beef is a distant relative of corned beef popular in the US ( Reuben sandwich , cornedbeef and cabbage on St Paddy’s day etc ) but as the topic is about hoarding farang food it is still relative.

British troops in the Boer War , WW1 and WW2 were issued with tinned corned beef ( commonly known as bully beef ) and through the generations this became a British favourite. Although not a particularly healthy foodstuff it’s widely used in the uk , think pasties and corned beef hash .

Fray Bentos is the favourite brand , it’s name coming from the Uruguayan port city famous for its meat processing factory which processed some of the world renowned beef from Uruguay and neighbouring Argentina .

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Sounds a bit like the British cousin to American Spam!

 

I could see eating the British tinned stuff in a corned beef hash.... But I really wouldn't be interested in sitting down to a meal of slices of the tinned stuff solo.  But that's my American palate speaking.  Same answer would apply to Spam, BTW....  

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Benroon said:

If that's not living on the edge I don't know what is !

Thank you.

 

[tutsiwarrior]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Thank you.

 

 

I useta like grape nuts until I saw the sugar content...and grape nuts is not a 'sugar coated' cereal like frosted flakes, coco pops and etc...the added sugar is to prevent the cereal from tasting like cardboard...

 

I usually make do with some instant noodles or some miso or a combination of both for breakfast. no need to hoard, plenty available in abundance...in indonesia I was trying to get folks to try the mie ayam (noodles in chicken broth) which is very tasty and popular for brekkie locally and a western colleague indignantly cried 'and what's wrong with corn flakes???!!!' he musta thought that I was insulting his usual morning repast...

 

 

[Jingthing]

Grape Nuts are quite low sugar for a commercial cereal actually.

[Katia]

5 hours ago, CharlieH said:

No not the same, look at this......

My mom always liked the canned corned-beef hash... I thought it was rubbish.  Then once at a restaurant a friend ordered it made with the "real" corned beef... "Oh!  This stuff's not crap after all!"

 

 

56 minutes ago, tutsiwarrior said:

 

I useta like grape nuts until I saw the sugar content...and grape nuts is not a 'sugar coated' cereal like frosted flakes, coco pops and etc...the added sugar is to prevent the cereal from tasting like cardboard...

 

I usually make do with some instant noodles or some miso or a combination of both for breakfast. no need to hoard, plenty available in abundance...in indonesia I was trying to get folks to try the mie ayam (noodles in chicken broth) which is very tasty and popular for brekkie locally and a western colleague indignantly cried 'and what's wrong with corn flakes???!!!' he musta thought that I was insulting his usual morning repast...

 

 

You're worried about the sugar content of Grape Nuts but not the salt content of instant noodles??

 

(Me, I'd much rather eat "real" food than "breakfast" food for the most part-- I hate eggs and don't eat meat, so there's half of it gone right there.  Don't care all that much about pancakes, and not much less about waffles, though I'll eat both on occasion.  Though I do enjoy a good bagel, and cereal is okay as long as I don't have to have milk on it but not very filling, and toast is all right sometimes.  I'm good with crepes/blintzes and potato pancakes/latkes.  Otherwise I'm happy to pass on "breakfast food."

 

 

Also didn't give that much of a crap about farang food.  I didn't go to Thailand to eat Western food... I groaned every time people I was with wanted to go to some Western-food restaurant.  Even in the U.S. I'd rather go to eat Asian, S. Asian, Middle-Eastern, etc. than Western food.

 

I missed a few things while in Thailand-- for example, I was used to snacking on things like pretzels and crackers, I like spaghetti, love avocados, etc.-- but not enough to pay import prices for them.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Katia

[tutsiwarrior]

25 minutes ago, Katia said:

My mom always liked the canned corned-beef hash... I thought it was rubbish.  Then once at a restaurant a friend ordered it made with the "real" corned beef... "Oh!  This stuff's not crap after all!"

 

 

You're worried about the sugar content of Grape Nuts but not the salt content of instant noodles??

 

(Me, I'd much rather eat "real" food than "breakfast" food for the most part-- I hate eggs and don't eat meat, so there's half of it gone right there.  Don't care all that much about pancakes, and not much less about waffles, though I'll eat both on occasion.  Though I do enjoy a good bagel, and cereal is okay as long as I don't have to have milk on it but not very filling, and toast is all right sometimes.  I'm good with crepes/blintzes and potato pancakes/latkes.  Otherwise I'm happy to pass on "breakfast food."

 

yer right...there's plenty of salt in the instant noodles and in the miso and I don't drink the instant noodle broth (only to flavor the noodles) but the miso soup can't be beat...I can handle the salt content OK but not the sugar when it comes to breakfast cereal, the BP stays fairly steady with the salt in the miso and the noodles but the BG goes thru the roof with the sugar in the cereal...

 

the point being that it's good to investigate different things for breakfast, especially when ye don't havta hoard...a local khaao thom muu is quite nice but the jasmine rice plays hell with the BG...

 

try looking at youtube regarding the preparation of a french omelette and you might change yer mind about the eggs...buttery and melt in yer mouth, very nice...don't even need toast to eat it with...

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[Katia]

3 minutes ago, tutsiwarrior said:

 

yer right...there's plenty of salt in the instant noodles and in the miso and I don't drink the instant noodle broth (only to flavor the noodles) but the miso soup can't be beat...I can handle the salt content OK but not the sugar when it comes to breakfast cereal, the BP stays fairly steady with the salt but the BG goes thru the roof with the sugar...

 

the point being that it's good to investigate different things for breakfast, especially when ye don't havta hoard...a local khaao thom muu is quite nice but the jasmine rice plays hell with the BG...

 

try looking at youtube regarding the preparation of a french omelette and you might change yer mind about the eggs...buttery and melt in yer mouth, very nice...don't even need toast to eat it with...

 

 

 

 

If it still tastes even remotely like eggs, I want nothing to do with it!

 

I agree that people get "stuck" on the idea that only certain things should be eaten for breakfast... never understood it myself, but there you go.  People get stuck on a lot of ideas about food.

[faraday]

1 hour ago, Katia said:

My mom always liked the canned corned-beef hash... I thought it was rubbish.  Then once at a restaurant a friend ordered it made with the "real" corned beef... "Oh!  This stuff's not crap after all!"

 

 

You're worried about the sugar content of Grape Nuts but not the salt content of instant noodles??

 

(Me, I'd much rather eat "real" food than "breakfast" food for the most part-- I hate eggs and don't eat meat, so there's half of it gone right there.  Don't care all that much about pancakes, and not much less about waffles, though I'll eat both on occasion.  Though I do enjoy a good bagel, and cereal is okay as long as I don't have to have milk on it but not very filling, and toast is all right sometimes.  I'm good with crepes/blintzes and potato pancakes/latkes.  Otherwise I'm happy to pass on "breakfast food."

 

 

Also didn't give that much of a crap about farang food.  I didn't go to Thailand to eat Western food... I groaned every time people I was with wanted to go to some Western-food restaurant.  Even in the U.S. I'd rather go to eat Asian, S. Asian, Middle-Eastern, etc. than Western food.

 

I missed a few things while in Thailand-- for example, I was used to snacking on things like pretzels and crackers, I like spaghetti, love avocados, etc.-- but not enough to pay import prices for them.

What's the salt content of Pretzels then....?

????

[Katia]

2 minutes ago, faraday said:

What's the salt content of Pretzels then....?

????

I never said I was worried about any of that.