Since Moving To Thailand, Do You Like Thai Food More?

[MRDave]

I hate Thai food, Thai Tescos is Alien to what it sells in the UK, even the milk tastes funny and people who eat Squid should be given the Victoria cross. I tried it and it was like chewing rubber!

Finding a good English breakfast or Indian currys is a lifesaver! for me, the only Thai food I liked was a green curry I got on the Beach in Pattaya.

But I dont come here for the food.

[glegolo]

I hate Thai food, Thai Tescos is Alien to what it sells in the UK, even the milk tastes funny and people who eat Squid should be given the Victoria cross. I tried it and it was like chewing rubber!

Finding a good English breakfast or Indian currys is a lifesaver! for me, the only Thai food I liked was a green curry I got on the Beach in Pattaya.

But I dont come here for the food.

---------------------------------------------------------------

I maybe not "hate" thai-food. But I think that it is a bit harder to live up here in the middle of Isaan and than tell you guys that I love the Thaifood here. Still the food in Pattaya and Bangkok is a huge difference to Isaan. So I am still puzzled, do I like it or not overall?? Ok, I admit I really really dislike it. Even more now when I have lived here a while. Romance around the food is gone and mon day is here. haha!!

But I am able to find some 10-11 dishes up here that I really like and that is good food for me such as, pattay, ladna, fried chicken and stickyrice and so on.. So it is possible to live here.

But these dam_n shrimps, not salted, taste absolutely nothing to me, coming from Westcoast of Sweden. The fish up here is really good and can be eaten without any problem.

But admit that I am experiencing and try to cook western food all the time. And I have now found most ingredienses to cook western food a couple of times every week. AND THAT IS A LIFE SAVER.

Glegolo

Edited January 31, 2010 by glegolo

[bobbin]

Have to say after 8 years here that it has become one of my least favorite foods.

Ok, maybe whale blubber might be worse!

Indian, North American Chinese, Italian , German, French yum yum.

Mexican...amuses me too see so many fans. Real poor mans food. Beans and rice...boring.

Real Indian....I lived in India for 6 years, so I know it when I taste it. Thailand does not do Indian well.

[Jingthing]

Mexican...amuses me too see so many fans. Real poor mans food. Beans and rice...boring.

So sad the misconception. Been to Mexico, or even LA?

[Jingthing]

Mexican...amuses me too see so many fans. Real poor mans food. Beans and rice...boring.

So sad the misconception. Been to Mexico, or even LA?

And now some pictures. Rice and beans, indeed.

Edited January 31, 2010 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

Mexican...amuses me too see so many fans. Real poor mans food. Beans and rice...boring.

Guacamole, salsa and sour cream MAKE IT MORE PALATABLE!

Edited January 31, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[bobbin]

Mexican...amuses me too see so many fans. Real poor mans food. Beans and rice...boring.

So sad the misconception. Been to Mexico, or even LA?

Yes to both locations.

It is an unsophisticated/rustic cuisine in my opinion. The beans and rice thing was probably an bit over the top though.

[PeaceBlondie]

When I lived with Mayan internally displaced refugees, a constant diet of corn tortillas and black beans was boring. San Antonio Texas is not boring - see Jingthing's photos.

[dmax]

i really like the different types of noodle soups, when thais see me eating it with chopsticks and eating the leaves and vegetables etc they laugh at me, for some reason lol

[eurasianthai]

No.

But I got used to the spicy taste.

To the point that I do not like not spicy anymore.

But not sure it is because I love Thai food more or because I'm getting old...

[Jingthing]

I neglected to put captions on those yummy photos.

1. A goat.

2. Birria (goat stew with side toppings)

3. chiles en nogada ( A classic Mexican recipe of poblano chiles stuffed with a pork picadillo, covered in walnut sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate ...)

4. Chicken mole poblano (the very complex dark sauce is flavored with chocolate, so delicious! Rustic, my arse.)

5. Huachanango Veracruzana, Red snapper with olives in the style of Veracruz, I think a Spanish influenced dish

6. Octopus cocktail

7. Sopa Seite Mares (7 seas mixed seafood soup)

[mca]

It was quite amusing when my brother (who loves Thai food) visited last year and I just popped round the local shop to get dinner. Normal everyday stuff. You'd have thought he'd died and gone to heaven when I returned home and unpacked the Styrofoam takeaway boxes. I had to go back and get some more.

It's what you get used to really isn't it? When I visited my parents last time I must have hit every fish and chip shop within a 10 mile radius. You could have heard my " Bloody 6 quid for cod and chips! " from Bangkok.

[Jonathanpattaya]

My wife is an excellent cook and although I have always enjoyed Thai cuisine, I enjoy it more now because of the greater variety of dishes introduced to me by her.

[rgs2001uk]

.rat for instance left a taste in my mouth which stayed for 2-3 days

That's interesting. It is true some foods stick with you, but 2-3 days is extreme. In my experience, goat meat (which I like a lot) is the stickiest, at least a day. I have never seen goat meat in Thailand, even at places that should have it, like Indian restaurants.

You are looking in the wrong places JT.

Stick to Muslim restaurants, here in Bkk there are a few places that sell it, แพะ, is the word you are looking for

on the menu.

Be advised, southern foods, mainly Indian/Arabic influenced are not for novices, they make Issan food seem bland in comparison.

Goat meat is also available in some markets, again mostly always Muslim stalls.

[rebbu]

What do you mean by "Thai food"? Thailand has several widely varying regions with respect to food. So which is it?

People who have eaten Thai food in the majority of restaurants have never eaten Thai food. Thai style food yes but the real McCoy, unlikely.

Folks who are married to Thais are very likely to have eaten very close to the real deal but usually only that from her home region.

Can't comment about those who cook their own as it depends on too many variables.

I love most Thai food but it has to be the rough stuff, plenty of plaa raa. I'm not keen on restaurant food as it tends to be bland. My Thai missus was always moaning when we went to restaurants as I was always asking for khaw niaow and plaa raa. But the northestern style of eating is more my line. None of this sitting with plates, forks and spoons. Get the stuff onto the table and get stuck in.

Oh. and some Lao khaw to wash it down with.

But I have to say I'm not too keen on meng daa , tried it a few times and can confirm that fried giant bugs taste like sh1t! The locusts are okay if washed down with beer or the feet and wing cases get stuck between your teeth. Any pupae aren't bad but the chilli tends to wipe out the flavour and the dancing prawns (goong xxxxxx - can't remember) are good provided you don't mind your food crawling around your mouth.

Thai food anyone?

Kung Den... Dancing shrimps..... Sap Elee

[rebbu]

My Wife and I had an Isarn restaurant a number of years ago after my second child was born. I took a sabbatical from work to see my son's early years. I normally work off-shore and didn't want to miss a moment of his young life. So we decided on a little 10 table restaurant to keep or savings topped up. And what an experience it turned out to be! I never realised at the time exactly what I was letting my self in for. Ducks getting slaughtered at the back of the house, the wife squeezing the blood in to bowls to keep for stocks and such. The smell of Balah all over the place. Getting to the market at three A.M for the best cuts of meat, screaming stall holders with pig heads hanging of their stalls, staring in bewilderment at the farang who was staring right back at them with the same shocked look on his face. Lugging big bags of offal back home and wondering "our dog will never put this away in a week. Going to drink with the local butcher once a week. My Wife insisted that I went and drank Whisky with him as a sign of respect "or he give bad meat dakling, you Farang, he get big face if you go mao with him!"

Isarn guys getting to the restaurant at 9/10 in the morning eating larb luet (raw beef, chili powder, lime juice, toasted powdered sticky rice, fresh local herbs and fresh blood) and drinking whisky. Ordering such large amounts of food between them and then sitting there for hours on end eating and drinking with so much chili on the dishes your eyes would water as if you had been maced. I tried all of the food mostly because the regular customers got a kick out of seeing me eat it and then laugh 'till their tears rolled down their cheeks after I tasted the food my face would turn invariably red and my eyes would bulge scarily out of my sockets. We also got a lot of customers that would call in just to see the farang 'who could eat Isarn food'. After a couple of months I could make a few of the dishes so it was even more of a draw, "We want to see the farang make Tum Sap", my Wife was told when she tried to take an order from two local school teachers (A stew made from the offal that I had thought the dog was going to get in the early days of the restaurant).

Now I'm back to work, so no more restaurant. The wife is far to busy with the two kids and it never was a real money spinner any way, just enough to keep us from going to the bank and spending our hard earned cash. All in all a fabulous experience. I learned to start speaking basic Thai and made some great Thai friends who I'm still in touch with and I can sit down with the locals in my Mother in laws village in Isarn and eat the local food and drink the local grog. But I still like my steak 'n chips and beer.

Edited January 31, 2010 by rebbu

[bobbin]

I had chicken mole in a very nice rooftop restaurant in Mexico City. I found it a bitter mildly spicy dish. i did not like it.

My friend's wife, a Zapotec Indian, has cooked for me several times. Some of it was.....tasty.

My apologies in advance to Jingthing for swinging wildly off topic but perhaps he could make a poll about this story.

This woman came to Canada at 19 years old. sponsored by my friend, who is approximately 15 years older than she. She arrived speaking very little English. I met her at that time. She had an incomplete education but obtained her equivalent high school diploma. Entered university and emerged with Masters Degrees in Archaeology and Spanish. She is now teaching in the Catholic school system.

They have been married for almost 20 years now. My friend has prospered in this time and they are quite well-off. And a teenage son that my friend dotes on.

I wonder how many Thai emigre partners success stories there are like this?

Anyway, she made good chilli reyennos (sp?) Almost back on topic...

[bobbin]

Good story rebbu.

[Jingthing]

I had chicken mole in a very nice rooftop restaurant in Mexico City. I found it a bitter mildly spicy dish. i did not like it.

Its OK if you don't like Mexican food. However, you are off trend. Mexican food is now internationally recognized by foodies as one of the most exciting fusion cuisines in the world.

Edited January 31, 2010 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Be advised, southern foods, mainly Indian/Arabic influenced are not for novices, they make Issan food seem bland in comparison.

Thanks for the warning. I ain't no novice. My middle name is chile.

[rebbu]

Good story rebbu.

Thanks bobbin, I enjoyed recalling it and sharing it too

[MRDave]

Their must be some Thia food I like, but the stuff I tried so for except the green curry almost made me puke.

The watery type smelly seafoods i FIND most horrible, if I ever get time in a Thai jail I will starve to death.

But I wont give up yet.

[Jingthing]

To clarify the intent of the poll, it it not meant to imply that you like Thai food or not or even ask about that. For example, if you hated it before, and you still hate it, you could properly choose I like it the same (which if you hate it is not at all). The poll is limited only to how your feelings about it have CHANGED after living in Thailand.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Jingthing

[conimex]

It changed. I like it a bit more. The first times that I eat Thai food, was Thai-Isarn food made for Thai people. I've always loved Asian food (Indonesian, Singaporean, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai). My Mrss, is a very good cook, always using fresh ingredients without any ajinimoto. Phla tu with nam prick kapi, gaeng som, gaeng khiao waan, kai pa-lo, phu phat gaeng cur-ree, ho mok, thot man, yam pla duk <deleted>, pla nung manao, pla sam rot, well you name it, love it !