farang luxury foods[going up up up]

[arunsakda]

A reputable cheese mongers would not ship to Thailand unless using 2nd or 3rd day Air courier.

Properly wrapped in insulated box with cooling packs.

[meatboy]

never thought that this topic would get over 122posts.

so its time to reveal my secret substitute for SPAM.

it cost only a third of a tin of spam and definately better than tulip..

DRUM ROLL " GULONG" PORK LUNCHEON MEAT 340grm

Edited May 5, 2016 by meatboy

[Rob13]

[worgeordie]

Was watching a program the other day about a submersible in the Marianas trench

in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,14 miles deep,along with the strange animals,it

filmed, on the sea floor was an empty SPAM can,so its gets every f£cking where.

there was also a Budweiser can

regards worgeordie

[lamplaimattlad]

ok.lets look at heinz baked beans,over a 100bht.a tin.425grms.includes sauce.

kilo of chicken breast around 50-65 bht.

how can you compare.

spam 220bht.for 340grm.tin

whats better than a chunk of spam,in a roll with salty butter and CHIPS.

can you name me anything thats produced here in thailand thats better.

anyone seen any tins of john west RED SALMON.

boil in the bag KIPPER FILLETS.

stop dreaming meatboy your on a frozen pension.

I pay 80 baht for 425 gm tins of Heinz beans,75 baht if I buy 12.

[meatboy]

there is a new kid on the block or should i say BEANS on the shelf.

has anybody tried FIAMMA imported from italy,400grm.tin,sauce a little pale,so i added some tom.ketchup and they were fine.

price was under 40bht.they even had the drained weight on the tin.

a nice small bean.

[meatboy]

On 12/8/2559 at 10:09 AM, meatboy said:

there is a new kid on the block or should i say BEANS on the shelf.

has anybody tried FIAMMA imported from italy,400grm.tin,sauce a little pale,so i added some tom.ketchup and they were fine.

price was under 40bht.they even had the drained weight on the tin.

a nice small bean.

another one bites the dust,FIAMMA no more,but another new one HOPE not bad less than 40bht.

brook are still on sale in the mall 62bht. up some 50% in over a yr.

[meatboy]

now its our humble spud thats going UP, last week up 50% in tesco to 44bht. our market supplier is charging 54bht.a kilo.

 

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before. These are luxury foods?

[wayned]

Any good Farang food in LOS is a luxury!  Have you ever had Pommes Souffle? It's simple french fried potatoes.  Betcha you can't make them with the potatoes you get here.

Edited December 14, 2016 by wayned

[meatboy]

22 hours ago, wayned said:

Any good Farang food in LOS is a luxury!  Have you ever had Pommes Souffle? It's simple french fried potatoes.  Betcha you can't make them with the potatoes you get here.

same same try making some BOXY for breakfast,tatties are full of water.

[meatboy]

has anyone seen tinned pots,jerseys would be fine,with a little mint and butter.

try boiling these spuds on sale here AWFULL,mash is ok.with butter,galic,and spring oinons,but on their own they are not fit for pigs swill.

[Pdaz]

Meanwhile, fresh fruit, veg and meat at the local market is still cheap....

[meatboy]

1 hour ago, Pdaz said:

Meanwhile, fresh fruit, veg and meat at the local market is still cheap....

i think its only meat that is cheap,eg.chicken and pork.

fruit is not cheap,apples and oranges,

veg is not cheap either,carrots,cauli,oinons,brocli.

all these compared to uk.prices are more expensive,eg.tesco uk.carrots 60p.a kilo eq.to 24bht.,thailand 35bht.

i think we loose the actual value of our currency compared to the uk.gbp.

dont forget its only 44bht.to the gbp. eg.broli tesco uk.eq.to 46bht.kilo.tesco lotus thailand 65bht.kilo.

[NickJ]

I go to the huge Star Market in Rayong at 4:30 in the morning sometimes with my gf. Most the stuff makes macro seem like Tops......

[metisdead]

An off topic deflection post has been removed as well as the well pointed out reply. 

[Pdaz]

On 16/12/2016 at 10:38 AM, meatboy said:

i think its only meat that is cheap,eg.chicken and pork.

fruit is not cheap,apples and oranges,

veg is not cheap either,carrots,cauli,oinons,brocli.

all these compared to uk.prices are more expensive,eg.tesco uk.carrots 60p.a kilo eq.to 24bht.,thailand 35bht.

i think we loose the actual value of our currency compared to the uk.gbp.

dont forget its only 44bht.to the gbp. eg.broli tesco uk.eq.to 46bht.kilo.tesco lotus thailand 65bht.kilo.

 

This is where eating a varied diet becomes important. If like some I only eat imported "farang food" yes I agree it is more expensive than the UK. But as the food we eat here is a mixture of Thai, Western and other cuisines it is easy to offset pricier imported foods with cheaper locally sourced foodstuffs. 

I don't like baked beans or Spam or other Western processed food so I don't feel deprived.

I buy imported Aussie or USA beef. NZ or Aussie lamb. But obviously pork, chicken and fish are local. About the only imported fruit I buy would be Apples, Kiwi fruit and Avocados. I prefer Asian greens/veg to Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower and Broccoli.

Only really use potatoes for mash or roasting so local ones are fine. Seafood and fish is cheap and we eat it often. I make my own sausages, pies and other western favourites when I feel the need. Coffee beans, Cheese and wine are really the only items I consider overly expensive here. But I bring in all of these from overseas a couple of times a year which helps to offset the local price.

Can only really see the prices here being significant if you expect to eat exactly what you do in the UK and fill your kitchen with Western brand name products..

 

Frankly if I hated Asian food that much I really couldn't live here.  

 

[meatboy]

thanks for your reply PDAZ,i wish i could go home a few times every yr.but my traveling days are over.

i too love nz.lamb,but welsh salt marsh is the best in the world,i have been a meat eater all my life and there is nothing better than a juicy steak, hereford blacks are exceptional,but i have had,ausi,argentina,brazilian,plenty of thai[pon -yang-kham] which is very good.

this yrs.treet is a 16oz. wagu steak this will be the first time and more than likely the last.my pension dont go that far.

as for thai food i love curries,green,red, masman and make my own indian.

same for beef and pork pies,i buy a lot of local beef flank,and striploin when i can get it cooked slow sealed in a dish it comes out well.

when living in bkk.we did a lot of shopping at food land that was 25yrs.ago,well tomorrow they open in korat so the wife is all excited.

so lets see what has changed or will it be the same quality or not. 

[Pdaz]

3 hours ago, meatboy said:

thanks for your reply PDAZ,i wish i could go home a few times every yr.but my traveling days are over.

i too love nz.lamb,but welsh salt marsh is the best in the world,i have been a meat eater all my life and there is nothing better than a juicy steak, hereford blacks are exceptional,but i have had,ausi,argentina,brazilian,plenty of thai[pon -yang-kham] which is very good.

this yrs.treet is a 16oz. wagu steak this will be the first time and more than likely the last.my pension dont go that far.

as for thai food i love curries,green,red, masman and make my own indian.

same for beef and pork pies,i buy a lot of local beef flank,and striploin when i can get it cooked slow sealed in a dish it comes out well.

when living in bkk.we did a lot of shopping at food land that was 25yrs.ago,well tomorrow they open in korat so the wife is all excited.

so lets see what has changed or will it be the same quality or not. 

 

I'm with you on the Welsh lamb. My family have been in the meat trade for three generations. We're all big meat eaters and I was brought up to enjoy everything from sweetbreads to trotters to brawn. Sadly even the best grades of beef available here are often disapointing flavour wise. Mostly due to them being vac packed primal cuts that didn't hang on the bone to develop flavour. Even a relatively cheap slice of well hung Scotch Rump in the UK beats them for flavour hands down. Veggies too often lack flavour. This makes cooking really good Brit food a challenge as most dishes rely so much in the quality of the base ingredients not added spices.

Luckily I can still visit the UK yearly and travelling for work gives me another oppotunity to stock up on "essentials"  Foodwise things have definitely improved in Thailand for me over the last 15 years in terms of availability but as many have said price is still a big factor.

[U235]

5 hours ago, meatboy said:

thanks for your reply PDAZ,i wish i could go home a few times every yr.but my traveling days are over.

i too love nz.lamb,but welsh salt marsh is the best in the world,i have been a meat eater all my life and there is nothing better than a juicy steak, hereford blacks are exceptional,but i have had,ausi,argentina,brazilian,plenty of thai[pon -yang-kham] which is very good.

this yrs.treet is a 16oz. wagu steak this will be the first time and more than likely the last.my pension dont go that far.

as for thai food i love curries,green,red, masman and make my own indian.

same for beef and pork pies,i buy a lot of local beef flank,and striploin when i can get it cooked slow sealed in a dish it comes out well.

when living in bkk.we did a lot of shopping at food land that was 25yrs.ago,well tomorrow they open in korat so the wife is all excited.

so lets see what has changed or will it be the same quality or not. 

 

I also moved from a tourist area (with a lot of falang stuff for sale) to the country side and obvious also face the lack of products over here.

 

My solution:

 

Set up a life line with the civilized world: ask a friend (in BKK, Pattaya, Phuket,....) to ship a couple of times a year some  boxes with the stuff you can not find in the boonies. Shipment can be done by bus to the next city and is really not that expensive. Had a delivery last week from Phuket and paid thb 1500 for 75 kg. Just had to pick up the goods in the bus station and take them back home. 

 

Take products with a long shelf life like hard cheeses, can's, dried foods. Don't order them in Villa or another overpriced falang supermarket, but find yourself a supplier who caters to hotels. You will need to buy a lot, but you will save tons of money at the end of the day (expect prices to be 50% from what you pay now). Only drawback: I had to install a second fridge only for my falang food ;-) If packet well, you can even ship your favorite steaks or seafood this way.

 

Learn to cook: sound obvious, but most people seem to have no idea what you can make by yourself with local ingredients. Before I often bough 'Rillettes du Mans' (some French pate like meat, available from Casino in Big C). Now I make it by myself. Same goes for a lot of thing you normally buy in the supermarket (pickled gherkins, onions, vegetables, mustard, sauerkraut, ricotta, sausages, pies, breads, fresh pasta, etc etc etc)

 

At the end of the day there are only two products left which stay out of my reach: soft cheeses and ham. The cheeses because of their short shelf life, the ham because of their weight (5-7 kg, really too much for me but if you live in an area with other falang, maybe you can share?)

 

In short: I don't have a problem with availability of falang products and I'm absolutely not moaning about their price. Adapting myself a bit and be creative is the small price I have to pay to live here.

 

 

 

 

[watcharacters]

On 12/16/2016 at 10:38 AM, meatboy said:

i think its only meat that is cheap,eg.chicken and pork.

fruit is not cheap,apples and oranges,

veg is not cheap either,carrots,cauli,oinons,brocli.

all these compared to uk.prices are more expensive,eg.tesco uk.carrots 60p.a kilo eq.to 24bht.,thailand 35bht.

i think we loose the actual value of our currency compared to the uk.gbp.

dont forget its only 44bht.to the gbp. eg.broli tesco uk.eq.to 46bht.kilo.tesco lotus thailand 65bht.kilo.

 

 

 

 

I nearly passed out when I found celery selling for 125 THB.    That ain't cheep to me.

[meatboy]

20 hours ago, U235 said:

 

I also moved from a tourist area (with a lot of falang stuff for sale) to the country side and obvious also face the lack of products over here.

 

My solution:

 

Set up a life line with the civilized world: ask a friend (in BKK, Pattaya, Phuket,....) to ship a couple of times a year some  boxes with the stuff you can not find in the boonies. Shipment can be done by bus to the next city and is really not that expensive. Had a delivery last week from Phuket and paid thb 1500 for 75 kg. Just had to pick up the goods in the bus station and take them back home. 

 

Take products with a long shelf life like hard cheeses, can's, dried foods. Don't order them in Villa or another overpriced falang supermarket, but find yourself a supplier who caters to hotels. You will need to buy a lot, but you will save tons of money at the end of the day (expect prices to be 50% from what you pay now). Only drawback: I had to install a second fridge only for my falang food ;-) If packet well, you can even ship your favorite steaks or seafood this way.

 

Learn to cook: sound obvious, but most people seem to have no idea what you can make by yourself with local ingredients. Before I often bough 'Rillettes du Mans' (some French pate like meat, available from Casino in Big C). Now I make it by myself. Same goes for a lot of thing you normally buy in the supermarket (pickled gherkins, onions, vegetables, mustard, sauerkraut, ricotta, sausages, pies, breads, fresh pasta, etc etc etc)

 

At the end of the day there are only two products left which stay out of my reach: soft cheeses and ham. The cheeses because of their short shelf life, the ham because of their weight (5-7 kg, really too much for me but if you live in an area with other falang, maybe you can share?)

 

In short: I don't have a problem with availability of falang products and I'm absolutely not moaning about their price. Adapting myself a bit and be creative is the small price I have to pay to live here.

 

 

 

 

we have used the bus service quiet often,coffee from chiang mai,strawberry jam CM,indian curries.

i have bought large amounts of ham and find it ok.to freeze.

wrap each portion in foil and then wrap it tight in cling film,actually the wife is in the new foodland supermarket that opens today and that is what she will be buying,cooked gammon and smoked ham.

[wayned]

1 hour ago, meatboy said:

we have used the bus service quiet often,coffee from chiang mai,strawberry jam CM,indian curries.

i have bought large amounts of ham and find it ok.to freeze.

wrap each portion in foil and then wrap it tight in cling film,actually the wife is in the new foodland supermarket that opens today and that is what she will be buying,cooked gammon and smoked ham.

I cure and cook my own ham and corned beef.  I boil both in double plastic bags in my slow cooker for 11 hours and then eat one meal of each.  I cut the remaining paper thin on my meat slicer and freeze it in individual large sandwich size servings, comes out great.  I also cure individual pork chops and freeze them to pan fry.

 

As far as lamb, Foodland is expensive, actually everything is expensive but beggars can't be choosers.   I buy my lamb at Makro, boneless shoulder and rack.  The racks at Foodland are twice as much as Makro and they are the same.  The fat cap is still on and the chine bone has not been cut so that you get individual chops when you cook it.  I cut the chine bone with a hacksaw but leave the fat cap on when I roast it as it adds flavor when cooking and remove it when it is done.  You can get lamb racks from Passion Delivery that are frenched with the fat cap removed but they cost 995 baht and I usually pay between 400 and 500 baht in Makro.  I had half a rack yeaterday for lunch, raosted in the counter top convection oven to 50 degrees C  accompanied by fried baked potatoes and onions and it came out delicious.

[meatboy]

15 minutes ago, wayned said:

I cure and cook my own ham and corned beef.  I boil both in double plastic bags in my slow cooker for 11 hours and then eat one meal of each.  I cut the remaining paper thin on my meat slicer and freeze it in individual large sandwich size servings, comes out great.  I also cure individual pork chops and freeze them to pan fry.

 

As far as lamb, Foodland is expensive, actually everything is expensive but beggars can't be choosers.   I buy my lamb at Makro, boneless shoulder and rack.  The racks at Foodland are twice as much as Makro and they are the same.  The fat cap is still on and the chine bone has not been cut so that you get individual chops when you cook it.  I cut the chine bone with a hacksaw but leave the fat cap on when I roast it as it adds flavor when cooking and remove it when it is done.  You can get lamb racks from Passion Delivery that are frenched with the fat cap removed but they cost 995 baht and I usually pay between 400 and 500 baht in Makro.  I had half a rack yeaterday for lunch, raosted in the counter top convection oven to 50 degrees C  accompanied by fried baked potatoes and onions and it came out delicious.

i useally have the boneless lamb shoulders from makro not bad with colemans mince sauce,the wife did get a rack of nz.lamb chops from makro last week i am yet to try them i thought they had the wrong price on them.some new pots.would go well with them,so she's hunting in foodland. not at the moment she aint she's having a full english breakfast 100bht.i have to look after my beloved.

[wayned]

If you bought  the rack in Makro, unless you breakout a hacksaw or a chopping clever you won't get individual chops as the chine bone is not cut through. I cut it myself with a hacksaw.  I usually roast 1/2 rack with the fat cap on and after it is cooked I remove the fat cap. I then remove the layer of gristle from the fat cap and eat the fat with the chops.  Delicious but I'm told very unhealthy but I'm 72 and my cholesterol is only  174!  I bough some local "new potatoes" and after boiling them for over and hour they were still like golf balls, good luck on finding some.

 

My trip to Foodland occurs once a year in October when I go to the US Embassy to get my yearly income affidavit and park and shop at Foodland on Soi 5 on the way, usually at about 0600 since I leave home at 0330.  Makro in Nakhon Sawan is a little closer, only a 200 kilometer round trip!

[U235]

2 hours ago, wayned said:

I cure and cook my own ham and corned beef. 

 

Which cut do you use for the ham? Have been thinking about making my own ham too, but there is no way to put a 7 kg pork leg for weeks in my fridge. So I'm looking for something smaller 

[wayned]

21 minutes ago, U235 said:

 

Which cut do you use for the ham? Have been thinking about making my own ham too, but there is no way to put a 7 kg pork leg for weeks in my fridge. So I'm looking for something smaller 

I usually use a 2kg chunk of pork collar.  It's nicely marbled with fat and comes out nice especially for sandwiches.

[U235]

16 minutes ago, wayned said:

I usually use a 2kg chunk of pork collar.  It's nicely marbled with fat and comes out nice especially for sandwiches.

 

Thanks, will give it a try. How long do you cure it?

[wayned]

24 minutes ago, U235 said:

 

Thanks, will give it a try. How long do you cure it?

Usually 12 - 15 days.  When I take it out I rinse it well and put it back to soak in plain water for 1 more day to remove some of the saltiness.  I then double bag it getting as much air out as possible and put it in my slow cooker on low for about 11 hours.  I fill the cooker with water and cover it with a plate weighted down with the heavy mortar.The temp of my cooker on low is 82 degrees C..  When I take it out I cut some off for dinner and put the rest in the fridge overnight and slice ,shave, it in the morning when its cold. I have a professional meat slicer that I acquired from a defunct Subway many years ago. I do beef brisket the same way.

[migrant]

Regarding freezing meat, I had a vacuum sealer in the US.  Initial investment wasn't bad, bags a little expensive, but it enabled me to buy bulk and freeze long time without loss of flavor.  I have seen them around Thailand and think a not unreasonable price (Maybe Lazada??).  Once we finish our house, and have a proper kitchen, it's on the list