Strawberry Time In Chiang Mai

[Ricardo]

It's my favourite time of year, the nights are cool (if not downright cold) , and the local strawberries are in season. Reach for the bowl , and start shaking-up the cow, for whipped cream on-tap.

So I got me a kilo (80 Baht) from the lady outside the BKK-Bank in Mae-Jo, but found them to have been picked slightly too soon, white tops & hard, not sweet and juicy. Oops !

Does anyone have any suggestions - for a better place to find good-quality strawbs ?

[Ajarn]

Since you're out in that area, you might try the intersection in Mae Rim that meets up with the Mae Sa Valley Rd... 20 or 30 sellers there selling strawberries

[chanchao]

They sell them indeed along the main tourist routes (for BKK tourists, at close to BKK prices..).

However cheapest is probably in Samoeng. If they'd be any cheaper they'd be free.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[jackr]

It's my favourite time of year, the nights are cool (if not downright cold) , and the local strawberries are in season.  Reach for the bowl , and start shaking-up the cow, for whipped cream on-tap. 

So I got me a kilo (80 Baht) from the lady outside the BKK-Bank in Mae-Jo, but found them to have been picked slightly too soon, white tops & hard, not sweet and juicy.  Oops !

Does anyone have any suggestions  -  for a better place to find good-quality strawbs ? 

Bought some from her couple weeks ago and she was charging 100 baht then for the bagged ones, or about 250 per kilo for the best pick-your-own. As you say, a bit early and not that good really.

[earlofwindermere]

You bought them right! Wait one day (or possibly two). They will be perfect! I was on the Samoeng road last week and bought a bunch for 60 baht/kilo

[Ricardo]

Thanks for the swift feedback. Must be a lot of us strawb-lovers out there

Will try buying & keeping for a few days.

[Tywais]

Thanks for the swift feedback.  Must be a lot of us strawb-lovers out there 

Will try buying & keeping for a few days.

I do love strawberries too and always eager for them to be in season. What I did last year was buy a bunch of them, slice them up and add sugar and a little water to make a syrup then put them in aluminum freezer cups and stick them in the freezer. That way when they are out of season I still have a supply to keep me going for a while.

[chanchao]

Absolutely great with salt & chillies..

[Rinrada]

Sounds Jam-y

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Sounds Jam-y

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've never had a decent strawberry here They are alway too hard and too sour. It is not cool enough during the day for the best strawberries.

You can always mix some with a handful of icing (confectioner's sugar in US English) to sweeten them up.

I'll stop before this thread get's moved to Thai food!

[Ajarn]

I've never had a decent strawberry here  They are alway too hard and too sour. It is not cool enough during the day for the best strawberries

Hmm... Then I wonder why the sweetest I've had have been when the weather is warm?

[chownah]

Sounds Jam-y

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've never had a decent strawberry here They are alway too hard and too sour. It is not cool enough during the day for the best strawberries.

You can always mix some with a handful of icing (confectioner's sugar in US English) to sweeten them up.

I'll stop before this thread get's moved to Thai food!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The town where I grew up had a strawberry farm with its own processing facility. The early strawberries were grown in the valley but when it got hot in summer they shifted the picking to some berry patches up in the mountains around town. The berries there were, and are, much sweeter and more flavorful than the berries here in Thailand. I have a Norwegian friend who doesn't eat the strawberries here but loves them in Norway.

Also, be sure to wash your strawberries well since from what I've heard they get sprayed with alot of chemicals to kill the bugs and the various type of rots and wilts that plague strawberries in subtropical climates. I think they pick them too soon so that the bugs and birds don't get them.

Also, someone said that if you keep strawberries for a few days that they will ripen up some.....I've never noticed this....can others comment on this?

[Ulysses G.]

My main complaint about strawberries in Thailand is not about sweetness - one can add sugar - but that they are not tart. The mixture of sweet and slightly sour is what makes overseas strawberries so delish!

[sierra01]

For all the Brits out there. Remember those great big, very juicy, sweet strawberries they have in the UK every June/July? Puts the Thai variety well in the shade! But....it's all we can get here, with a bit of UHT cream (can you get fresh cream in LOS?) and a smidgeon of sugr they pass!

[sierra01]

Here's another reminder, remember PYO? One in the container, one in the mouth, one in the container, one in the mouth, and only the best one's at that!

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Here's another reminder, remember PYO?  One in the container, one in the mouth, one in the container, one in the mouth, and only the best one's at that!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm from the NE of Scotlanyd and for a couple of weeks at the end of august you get the finest strawberries imaginable. They are quite big and almost maroon in colour. They don't last long, but I've never had a better strawberry.

I used to make strawberry tarts as part of my job, in the height of summer I was making about 250 a day. They now run all year, but the winter berries (from Spain and Isreal) are crap - crunchy and sour.

If you think Thai berries are good, then you probably haven't had a decent strawberry for years. It's a fact that certain fruit and veg like cooler weather (potatoes, mushrooms and raspberries)

[Steve2UK]

Wandering slightly off-topic, I'll put up with the average strawberries in return for those exquisite lychees in season. Three times the size of anything I see in the UK and a taste explosion................. slurp

[Dustoff]

~

We got some last year at Krista Doi and they were good but not cheap. But the best thing was the strawberry wine they sell there! Its only about 10km from our house and I will surely be up there again this year.

For those who do not know, Krista Doi is up on the road to Samoeng and the flower gardens are some of the best around.

[p1p]

Strawberries are great - I truly love 'em. However the Chiang Mai / Samoeng etc strawberries are so heavily sprayed with anti pest-fungus-hedgehog-killer-dog,cat,bird-repellant-etc. as to be positively dangerous to health. (I am sensitive to these chemicals and suffer nasty allergic reactions to unwashhed strawbs'.)

You can generally make them safe by washing in clean water containing a little H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide. The Thais call it "Peroxide" only, (without a stress on the ending "d'.) Best to get full strength from all good chemical supply houses around town, rather than the dilute version available from pharmacies.

This is also the best solution for washing salad and other veggies and fruit.

[sierra01]

Wandering slightly off-topic, I'll put up with the average strawberries in return for those exquisite lychees in season. Three times the size of anything I see in the UK and a taste explosion................. slurp 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed, Until I came here I'd never had fresh lychee, now I look forward to that time of year! Why do the Thai call them lynchee?

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Strawberries are great - I truly love 'em. However the Chiang Mai / Samoeng etc strawberries are so heavily sprayed with anti pest-fungus-hedgehog-killer-dog,cat,bird-repellant-etc. as to be positively dangerous to health. (I am sensitive to these chemicals and suffer nasty allergic reactions to unwashhed strawbs'.)

You can generally make them safe by washing in clean water containing a little H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide. The Thais call it "Peroxide" only, (without a stress on the ending "d'.) Best to get full strength from all good chemical supply houses around town, rather than the dilute version available from pharmacies.

This is also the best solution for washing salad and other veggies and fruit.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have you tried the fruit washing up liquid? I've always wondered about that stuff...

[p1p]

Have you tried the fruit washing up liquid?  I've always wondered about that stuff...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Tried it. It's expensive in comparison to Peroxide, but it does the job. I feel Peroxide is better.

[Dragonman]

Here's another reminder, remember PYO?  One in the container, one in the mouth, one in the container, one in the mouth, and only the best one's at that!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm from the NE of Scotlanyd and for a couple of weeks at the end of august you get the finest strawberries imaginable. They are quite big and almost maroon in colour. They don't last long, but I've never had a better strawberry.

I used to make strawberry tarts as part of my job, in the height of summer I was making about 250 a day. They now run all year, but the winter berries (from Spain and Isreal) are crap - crunchy and sour.

If you think Thai berries are good, then you probably haven't had a decent strawberry for years. It's a fact that certain fruit and veg like cooler weather (potatoes, mushrooms and raspberries)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Had 2 lots of strawberries this week, 1 from Chiang Mai, 1 from New Zealand(via Tesco). No comparison. Admittedly the New Zealand ones were 3 times the price, but delicious

[sierra01]

I suppose because of the climate here the english variety wouldn't grow, shame.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Imagine the variety of fruit in the UK if the slapped a 70% tax on imported fruit.

Gooseberries and cooking apples

[sierra01]

No bananas, my all time favorite

[cm das]

I'll second the recommendation about washing the strawberries. A friend of mine who has an MA in agriculture told me that strawberries are THE WORST food crop there is in terms of holding on to pesticides & herbicides. She won't eat any non-organic strawberries, period. I don't go that far but I've become much more careful about washing them.

[Johpa]

I'll second the recommendation about washing the strawberries. A friend of mine who has an MA in agriculture told me that strawberries are THE WORST food crop there is in terms of holding on to pesticides & herbicides.  She won't eat any non-organic strawberries, period. I don't go that far but I've become much more careful about washing them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It might be a tight competition trying to find the most polluted food products in Thailand. As anyone who lives in the rural areas can tell you, there is no lack of biocides being sprayed on just about everything by hired hands who aren't fully capable of reading the instructions. They then wsh out thier spray cannisters in the local streams.

And it is not just food products. Years ago the Bangkok Post published an article warning of the health hazards of wearing those jasmine necklaces that are sold throughout the Kingdom due to the heavy amount of biocides used in their commercial production.

And then there was the sad experiment conducted back when I taught at a well respected agricultural institute. They fed some pigs on a resticted diet of commercial produce and the poor pigs died.

But it is not just Thailand. One can read online the arguments against the use of BST in dairy production as well as the political shenanigans that Monsanto indulges in to protect its profits at our health's expense.