Somtam lovers warned

[craigt3365]

If my wife is constipated, what does she do? Order somtam. Unfortunately, a few times it goes overboard. But only one trip to the hospital so far.

[tifino]

wifey's best isaan GF maks it so Pet Mak, they snigger to themselves I won't be able to take it - but I can do better than wifey - so far...

[Mot Dang]

So, instead of emphasizing the need for proper food preparation and storage practices by food vendors, the agency just warns people not to eat these items when the weather is hot. Thainess defined.

of course, do not blame the person making and selling it ... blame the person eating eat ... do you not know about "Thainess" yet .. you must be new here 555

Anyone familiar with Soi 22 Sukhumvit in Bangkok. Som tum carts all along that street pounding away at their mortars and pestles, directly above open drains (read sewers). Puddles of foul water lying about in the gutters between the wheels of their carts. "Nah everything is ok, bacteria can't come out of there with all that stench." Wanna bet.

[Vogele123]

Som Tam Thai I would guess is pretty innocuous, but Som Tam Bpu? How anyone eats that is beyond me

Som Tam Poo Pa Ra....you may as well just go and take a spoon and eat from the nearest toilet bowl! In fact eating Human Faeces is probably less risky, how many people have ended up in ER after blowing a Ladyboy compared to eating that little delicacy?

Does anyone remember a case a few years back near Chiang Rai where loads of these idiots were dying and sick after they caught or killed some deer like animal and put it into black plastic bin bags until it festered in the hot sun then proceeded to make some sort of "LAARB" from it....there were loads in hospital, nothing better for Sunday Lunch than a rancid piece of raw road kill! Darwin really was correct, it is just a pity that good money is spent by hospitals trying to revive these idiots.

Maybe Thailand should stamp every Thai I.D With "DO NOT RESUCITATE"

[Shiver]

When I first got off the boat here, just the smell of any version of Som Tam was extremely repulsive. Eventually I decided to man up and try it, then I started to like it, and eventually it became like an addiction, that something was missing if I didn't get my fix. I could by that time eat spice with the best of them.

I haven't had Thai food for a while, but last night I realised I hadn't eaten for most of the day and was peckish I also happened to be near a food place so got a rice dish (Kapow), and started piling on the various chilli stuff they have in the pots on the table. I noticed from the corner of my eye that the owner was staring at me eating, and when I'd finished she said "oh you very strong man" (I'm not, I'm a weakling), but assume she was referring to chilli tolerance rather than some invented Adonis physique. The only thing softer than us Brits when it comes to spice I've found are the Aussies ...unless anyone wants to claim that Vegemite is a spice

[awaiting abuse for that last statement]

Edited April 11, 2015 by Shiver

[Vogele123]

When I first got off the boat here, just the smell of any version of Som Tam was extremely repulsive. Eventually I decided to man up and try it, then I started to like it, and eventually it became like an addiction, that something was missing if I didn't get my fix. I could by that time eat spice with the best of them.

I haven't had Thai food for a while, but last night I realised I hadn't eaten for most of the day and was peckish I also happened to be near a food place so got a rice dish (Kapow), and started piling on the various chilli stuff they have in the pots on the table. I noticed from the corner of my eye that the owner was staring at me eating, and when I'd finished she said "oh you very strong man" (I'm not, I'm a weakling), but assume she was referring to chilli tolerance rather than some invented Adonis physique. The only thing softer than us Brits when it comes to spice I've found are the Aussies ...unless anyone wants to claim that Vegemite is a spice

[awaiting abuse for that last statement]

I wouldn't worry about Vegemite, or Marmite, wasn't it Ronald Reagan that said Tomato Ketchup was a vegetable?

[rametindallas]

I gave up eating Thai food years ago, cant remember having an upset stomach since, whereas my Thai girlfriend, insists on eating that deadly Pappaya salad

and will not accept that it is the cause of her frequent painful squits, heard a rumour the state of Texas were considering importing Pappaya salad in bulk, as an alternative to lethal injection

The State Legislature tried to do that but the courts put the kibosh on it as 'cruel and unusual' punishment.

[tifino]

p.s. anybody worried about vegemite - just mix it in equal parts with honey

mind you - marinating puu in some vegemite will sort those tough Thais out

[3NUMBAS]

its the remains of the black crabs and the filthy mortars that harbor bacteria ,they never get properly cleaned out

their guts are stronger than farangs and can take it

Edited April 11, 2015 by 3NUMBAS

[E Max]

Somtam smells all the time like rotten food.

What about rotten raw crab into the wood growing bacteria ?

[umbanda]

I love somtam but......without the crab. I do not know exactly the reason, but in Brazil crab is eaten after cooking it alive. Not even frozen. After dying, all dead crabs go to the trash, sometimes in enormous amounts that didn't sell in time in the markets....and it is not cheap.

Locals said that dead crab meat is poisonous.

[timsharkythailand]

The only problem I ever encountered, in 8 years, after eating Som Tam, is the burning ring when I go to the toilet.

As about the "This means people should check well when buying ready-to-eat food too."

How the heck do you check the food?

The food will check you out, a little later if no good.

Just don't buy it in the street or at any shop that doesn't have aircon or fridge !

[Vogele123]

Does anyone remember in 1970's back in the UK it was rather "Hip" to buy posters that said "EAT SH!T 50 Million flies can't be wrong" How trendy! Handyside Arcade Newcastle Upon Tyne Sham Army! RIP!

[Vogele123]

The only problem I ever encountered, in 8 years, after eating Som Tam, is the burning ring when I go to the toilet.

As about the "This means people should check well when buying ready-to-eat food too."

How the heck do you check the food?

The food will check you out, a little later if no good.

Just don't buy it in the street or at any shop that doesn't have aircon or fridge !

Night Bazarre 10 years ago, Nam Prik Ong (Pork Crap) 2 Beers, 45 km drive home in a Yellow car, takes about 2 hours, the bacteria reached my gut just at the right time (home rather than the car) There was an anal fountain that sprayed bottom trouble all over the room for almost 12 hours, honestly I could not run the 12 feet to the toilet before the wife ended up with at least a 15 foot backspray heading her way in the wrong direction.

The absolute worst I have ever been here, and after that, never sick again with food, eaten insects rats loads of rubbish, nothing made me sicker than the ROTTEN food market (That flooded and is now closed down, thank god, near the night bazzare)

End of the day, you really cannot tell in most cases if the food you eat is going to kill you, it can taste fine (When I worked in Germany when I was young a Yugoslavian restaurant nearly killed me - but at the time it tasted pretty good...BEEF with peppers) So you take your chances!

[Vogele123]

I love somtam but......without the crab. I do not know exactly the reason, but in Brazil crab is eaten after cooking it alive. Not even frozen. After dying, all dead crabs go to the trash, sometimes in enormous amounts that didn't sell in time in the markets....and it is not cheap.

Locals said that dead crab meat is poisonous.

You are probably correct.

A few years back some beasts next door to my mother in laws poisoned a dog that the family had using some extract from those disgusting black land crabs that live in the rice fields.

It was the most horrific death of an animal I have ever seen. A night I will not forget, trying to get my hand down a dogs throat, with a hose pipe to try to flush out its stomach....cannot breath, going into fits, convulsions. These spineless ba$tards didn't have the balls to just kill it, it died a terrible death panting for about 4 hours, we brought vets, no one could do anything.

It was pleasant to hear that the neighbor (who we know killed the dog) died recently of a really juicy cancer, it was good that it took it ten years to eat the tw@t alive!

Believe me, I have no hesitation at shooting a cat / dog...here if they are causing trouble biting, shyting destroying etc. , but there is no way I would poison an animal like that, that was evil.

[Gonsalviz]

Good God, what a bunch of whiners.

If you don't like the food and the holidays, go home.

[MickGC]

Just substitute the word "love" with "somtam". Of course we all know where the "ring of fire" is after a good feed of somtam or curry.

[misterme]

The MSG in street food like Som Tam is the reason I avoid it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

AFAICT, the average Thai seems to have some kind of phobia about refrigerating things.

But, of all the Thai food things and practices to get concerned about, I don't quite understand why som tam, at least som tom Thai, belongs on the list.

Unlike a lot of the raw food ingredients and cooked dishes that sit out and sit around un-refrigerated for hours and hours at food courts, supermarkets and street food carts, som tam Thai is usually prepared fresh to order. And most places only shred so much papaya in advance, and what they shred usually goes pretty fast. So it's not like the main ingredients are sitting around rotting all day. What else, roasted peanuts, freshly sliced tomatoes, some chilis, fresh cut limes and the freshly prepared sauce. That normally isn't going to have the makings of a rotting, bacteria laden dish.

But compare that with the roasted chickens or stir fried pork dishes or curry sauce dishes that sit out all day at supermarkets in packages or in trays at food courts, or the raw meats that hang for hours in the streetside cards waiting to be used little by little through the evening. It's those kinds of things where it seems to me the likelihood of bacterial illness is more likely to occur.

I've only gotten seriously sick one time in Thailand that I can recall from eating food, and that occurred just after buying and eating a cooked meat and rice dish that had been sitting packaged on the ready-to-eat section of one of the major Thai supermarket chains. Ever since that pretty bad episode -- and by that I mean much worse than diarrhea -- I avoid the pre-prepared, unrefrigerated stuff entirely.

[LesT21]

Here's a local version of 'Ring of Fire':

BTW, I like Isaan and Lao versions of som tam, it's my favorite lite meal on hot days. Like it with the little dried shrimp.

[jacko45k]

The only problem I ever encountered, in 8 years, after eating Som Tam, is the burning ring when I go to the toilet.

As about the "This means people should check well when buying ready-to-eat food too."

How the heck do you check the food?

The food will check you out, a little later if no good.

Are you one of those performing circus dogs?

I watched someone devour a plate of raw oysters the other evening and that reminded me it was the season to be careful.

[Iamemjay]

Onya Barin. I'm with you. Som Tum is safe and those who refuse to eat it are missing out on one of the real treats of living in Thailand. Yes, the chilli does act as an antiseptic, and if the critics knew anything at all about Som Tum they would realise that it has to be eaten almost immediately otherwise it loses its taste and freshness.

As for the comments about the smell, that just shows another level of ignorance about Thai food. Eat Som Tum with BBQ'd chicken and those wonderful water-greens - heaven!

[northernphil]

Going overland to India in 1970 we got ' Delhi Belly'

' The Darjeeling Feeling '

The Shalamar shakes and The Tabritz Squits

Are there similar conditions to get over here ?

[craigt3365]

Somtam stomach??? 55555

[SantiSuk]

Onya Barin. I'm with you. Som Tum is safe and those who refuse to eat it are missing out on one of the real treats of living in Thailand. Yes, the chilli does act as an antiseptic, and if the critics knew anything at all about Som Tum they would realise that it has to be eaten almost immediately otherwise it loses its taste and freshness.

As for the comments about the smell, that just shows another level of ignorance about Thai food. Eat Som Tum with BBQ'd chicken and those wonderful water-greens - heaven!

Obviously you are oblivious to the parasitic disease Opithsorciarsis that is not uncommon in rotten fish (think palaar which is the essential ingredient in classic somtam) and in raw fish (think laap plaa) particularly in Isaan.

Causes a series of unpleasant fevers. If untreated the fevers die back but the disease comes back later and can give you bile duct or liver cancer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opisthorchiasis

{Selected quotes "...Infection of Opisthorchis viverrini and of other liver flukes in Asia affect the poor and poorest people. Opisthorchiasis has received less attention than other diseases and is a neglected disease in Asia.......In Thailand, the prevalence of opisthorchiasis is 9.4% in 2001, causing about 6 million people are infected with Opisthorchis viverrini...In humans, the onset of cholangiocarcinoma occurs with chronic opisthorchiasis ...In regions where Opisthorchis viverrini is highly endemic, the incidence of cholangiocarcinoma is unprecedented. For instance, cholangiocarcinomas represent 15% of primary liver cancer worldwide, but in Thailand's Khon Kaen region, this figure escalates to 90%, the highest recorded incidence of this cancer in the world"}

Strange that The Disease Control Department forgot to mention the killer element.

[buhi]

At the end of our soi there used to be a somtam vendor. Unfortunately she is infirm now, and a great loss. Once I ordered my style somtam, which was quite different to my wife's prefered mix and the lovely woman knew exactly how I liked it.Once I ordered a dish on my way to the shops and was surprised on my return that it was not prepared. Simple answer, it had to be fresh, made before my eyes, she would not make sub standard food. Miss her, another guy can make for me, but never quite gets it right, but the charcoal fish, only just killed is out of this world.

[buhi]

The fish I refer to, for the uninitiated, is heavily salted and cooked before my eyes too.

Once, many years ago, I was in England with my wife and tried to buy fish at the market; my wife was horrified, "It's dead !" she said, "you will get ill!"

A lesson from a true Thai.

She meant it was long dead, not fresh; just look at the eyes, not red!

Edited April 12, 2015 by buhi

[sunshine51]

Somtam stomach??? 55555

Somtam Trots?

I've been eating ST for well over 35 years & never been sick once.

Always have a plate when feeling bloated then hit the loo for a massive

evacuation. Works great all the time. As for the ring of fire...I'm used to

it because me guts are made from nuclear grade stainless steel.

But I do know people who have eaten ST once & been in the hospital

for a couple days with severe gut cramps, severe nausea & coming

& going from both ends....these folks shouldn't eat ST.

[kbelyeu]

I love spicy Somtam but sans the fish sauce... never been able to take that stuff.

Kurt

[Maggusoil]

I eat somtam all the time. No problem.

In fact, I have the opposite problem: constipation.

I think it's the noodles. Maybe they add glue as a cheap filler...

I always thought it was the chilli. I used to quite like it but not the after effects.

However, however, I noticed a weird smell in the kitchen. There was a bowl of rotting fish sauce with a plastic bag around it.

Actual small fish and some sauce which is left for up to a week, like very old soup.

Aha. This I am told is the additive that the Thais like so much in this papaya food. So here is rotting fish being added to the dish

which gives it its unique taste.

No wonder the gut goes "Oh no. OMG!!" Get it out of me.

Problem known now. I don't eat it much any more.