What’s On The Menu?

Although we have mentioned, here and there, some of the food we have been eating while over here, for example the many banana pancakes and our fried-up dinners, I thought that a whole entry should be devoted to it. I mean, everyone’s interested in food right? Personally, it’s one of my favorite parts about Thailand! We also have a whole cast of Hang Chat characters to more fully introduce you to. As previously mentioned we have tried our best to stay away from Western food and really indulge in the local cuisine. Not that we have a choice while in Hang Chat, as Thai “restaurants” are the only option. These “restaurants” usually consist of tables, sometimes only one or two, set up in front of or inside the residences of the people that own them. Usually one big wok is set up over a transportable one-burner stove just off the sidewalk in front of the owners’ home. As we only have a microwave, Emily and I go to town to eat dinner every night, and it only sets us back about 75 cents for a huge delicious meal. Going out to dinner has also become somewhat of an event for us as we wait in anticipation for the clock to strike 6:15 every night so we can take the motorbike to meet Lan for dinner (she has only missed 2 dinners the entire time we have been here). We have created somewhat of a rotation which consists of about 5 restaurants in downtown Hang Chat that we alternate between. We don’t always know the names of the places, so for some we make up our own.

First is a place called “Lap,” which is the name of a Northern Thai dish of ground pork and herbs served at the restaurant. We have become friendly with the owners: a young Thai couple, Annie and Sak, who are about 25 years old, and Annie’s mother. The couple has been very friendly ever since we first arrived in Hang Chat due to fact that they were previously friends with Nate. They have taken us to Lampang and shown us the nightlife, as we are lacking any other friends our age, and have also brought us to see a Thai boxing match in town. The mother speaks no English, and we understand very little of the Thai she throws at us, but she seems to enjoy our visits, always giving us huge smiles when we arrive. She likes to call herself our second mother, as she always worries about us when we go away on weekend trips, and she even gave us good luck bracelets to keep us safe. The daughter has recently become pregnant (as Emily referred to in a previous post), which is a new exciting event for us to check up on each time we dine there. Although they have an extensive menu, it’s in Thai and Lun says we wouldn’t like most of it (this usually means the dish includes seafood, liver, birds eggs, or congealed animal blood). Therefore, we just order what we can see, which is pork that they cook on their roadside grill that comes with an awesome tangy dipping sauce. We also get kap moo, which is a Northern specialty of fried pork skins, and a couple serving of delicious sticky rice since Lap is the only place in town that has it.

Next, there is Lung Dang (or Uncle Dang). You may remember this character from the post about Mr. and Mrs. D’s visit to Hang Chat, as he was the honored cooker of lunch. Lung Dang may be the cutest man on Earth. He has a baby face which makes him look about 35, while he is actually turning 49 next month (we are brainstorming some great birthday plans, including a Red Sox t-shirt as a gift,) and wears an apron with baggy shorts and little rubber rain boots. Too cute! He and Nate were supposedly the best of friends and he gets sad just thinking about his long lost friend. He often wears a baseball cap that Nate gave him (we are hoping the Red Sox tee will become its replacement) and each time we go he shares a new piece of information revealing just how close him and Nate had become…Nate cried when he said goodbye, used to take him out to clubs in Lampang (can’t picture this), used to come to his house at 1 AM if he couldn’t sleep, and burnt him English CDs (which he loooves to play), just to name a few (this is all translated through Lun, as Lung Dang’s speaks no English). Emily and I feel bad that we can’t get as close with him, since he is such a nice man, because of our lack of Thais-speaking skills. Either way, his food is awesome, especially one dish in particular… LATNA! Chan chop latna (I love latna)! It is not only my favorite dish in Thailand, but very possibly my favorite dish, period (Dad, start learning the recipe). It consists of stir-fried wide noodles in a thin brown gravy-like soup with many fresh vegetables, like pea pods, baby corn, broccoli, pumpkin, etc., which are bought fresh each morning at the local market. Thai pepper, peanuts, and spicy powder can be added on top as you like. It is simply amazing and I have to admit that we have had it 3 times in one week before. We just can’t help ourselves!

Then, there is a place we call “Khow Man Guy,” because every time we go we get the dish by this name, which roughly means “chicken and its oils with rice”. Although the dish seems simple, skinless chicken pieces atop white rice, the oils give the rice a buttery taste and the ginger sauce that it comes with makes it mouth-watering! We want to take some of the sauce home with us but realized it probably won’t last unrefrigerated while we travel around before flying back to America. The sauce is so good in fact, that I pour all of it on top and mix it around until every last piece of rice and chicken is covered in it (enjoy the before and after photo). The meal also comes with a delicious chicken broth soup. The only down-side to this restaurant is that it’s only open for lunch, as are a lot of restaurants in Hang Chat, which is very unfortunate for us. Therefore, every Monday and Friday we take the trek from school at lunch time, since these are the only days we have enough time to: go home, get the motorbike, drive into town, eat, drop the motorbike back off, and get back in time for class. It’s a bit of a production but so worth it (ask Mrs. D, who after trying many different meals throughout her 2 week stay called this her favorite)! It has gotten to a point where when the owners see us we no longer have to say “khow man guy, sauwg (two),” because they just know. Also, do you see those cucumbers and herbs on our plate? Emily would like you to know that we had to fight for those! Originally, we were being served our dish without both but would notice that all the Thai customers would get them. I blame Nate for this, as we assume he didn’t like them and the owners thought we wouldn’t either…those farang are all the same! But one time we asked Lan to order for us and specify that we would like the cucumbers and herbs. Since then we have always gotten them, so we make sure to eat every last bit of each so we don’t lose our privilege!

There are a couple other places we go where we aren’t as friendly with “the management.” One is Baan Thai (The Thai House), where we like to get a dish called pat gapow, which is fried ground pork on rice with garlic and basil…pet nidnoy (just a little spicy), of course. We once ordered pat gapow and forgot to make this request and Emily and I were literally crying and sweating it was so spicy. Another place we call “The Pat Thai Place,” because we usually get pat thai, but have recently branched out to try a dish called pat see ew, which is similar to latna, with wide noodles, but is without the gravy and has egg and canna, which is a green leafy vegetable. Another place we call “The Place Across From Lap,” because it’s directly across the street from Lap Restaurant, and we always get khow pat, aka fried rice. The portions are easily the largest in Hang Chat and possibly the largest we’ve experienced in Thailand, but of course we always clear our plates. Recently we’ve also added a couple new places including “The Soup Place” and “The New Restaurant”.

Some other dishes that we have tried and really like are nam prik aung, which is the Thai version of bolognaise sauce that comes in a small dish surrounded by vegetables for dipping. Green curry is a favorite of ours when traveling since it is unfortunately not served in Hang Chat. It is not curry like one would typically think of, like an Indian curry, as it is much sweeter and without the pungent smell, although we recently discovered it is only made sweeter for foreigners. It is made with green pepper paste and coconut milk, along with chicken pieces and a vegetable similar to zucchini. It is usually served with white rice, which you pour the curry on top of. Desserts are also plentiful in Thailand, lucky for us. Our personal favorites are the Oreo shake, with pieces of cereal, gummies, and chocolate and caramel sauce on top (see below); Thai donuts with dipping sauce; and the Thai version of fried dough, called roti (Emily single-handedly keeps the Hang Chat roti stand in business).

Personally, I am so grateful that we are in a country with such great cuisine. Five months is a long time to be eating food you don’t really like. We aren’t being super adventurous, but we try to sample everything that is offered to us and are often finding new dishes that we enjoy. One of the most helpful phrases we've learned is “arroy ma”, or “very delicious,” because it is important to Thais that people enjoy their cooking. Although we say “arroy ma” every time we eat something, we are almost never lying…almost! I suggest Google-ing the recipe to some of these dishes. You won’t be disappointed! Let us know how they turn out, but don’t blame us if anything goes wrong as improvising may be necessary if some ingredients are not available in the States!