Currently viewing the tag: "kow dom mat"
The one challenge of living on Long Island once again is the availability of vegan options. There has not been much progress since I went vegan here 16 years ago. Though this fact helps me save discretionary funds I would freely give away at restaurants and pushes me back into the kitchen, it takes a bit longer to decide where to spend a special night out. Luckily there is an authentic Thai restaurant in Williston Park: SriPraPhai.
If the name rings a bell, maybe it’s from my visit to their Woodside location in October 2011. SriPraPhai is what I would describe as “the real deal,” the most accurate match to the street food and dishes I savored during my months in Thailand. I love that they have a location on Long Island, though it seems quite random. In a way it contributes to their authenticity. It’s not glamorous, Thai fusion on overly-sized white plates. It’s not a concept. It’s just great Thai food.
For an appetizer, we had to have something deep-fried. Deep-frying adds deliciousness, I’ll freely admit. We threw around the idea of ordering the “Stuffed Golden Bag,” just because it sounds funny. But we decided on the scallion dumpling, a simple deep-fried scallion and dough. It arrived glistening and tasted delicious.
Their vegetarian menu is a few pages and descriptions are simple translation. With an open mind ready to explore new bites, I decided on the exact same entree I ordered on my Woodside visit. A food blogging no no! But I know exactly what got me so excited: the coconut rice. If the whole plate was a pile of their coconut rice, I’d be happy. However, a pile of wettish mushroom disc shared the stage. The mushrooms didn’t have much flavor, so the pile remained intact. The papaya salad was outstanding, the perfect mix of sweet, salty and crunchy.
For dessert, the sweet treat I was obsessed with in Thailand: kow dom mat.
Sweet coconut sticky rice and a steamed banana… fantastic as ever.
After dinner we headed to Baci Gelato, a popular spot that offers a selection of dairy-free gelato. Creamy, delicious soy-based and coconut-based options–oh yeah! The whole case here was vegan-friendly.
I chose mango and coconut scoops, topped with a mini sugar cone. It felt like summer spooning that little bitty spoon in my mouth and enjoying this cold treat. Too bad it was a brisk, unseasonably cold spring evening.
With the green budding trees and the singing bird mornings, summer’s coming. And I’m ready!
Sripraphai in Woodside, Queens could be the best Thai food in New York City. And I’ve eaten a lot of Thai food through the years. At Sri Pra Phai, named after the owner, you’ll find Thais dining in, as well as countless other ethnicities within the melting pot that hugs Roosevelt avenue. You’ll find a huge menu with colorful pictures with descriptions in Thai and English containing a full selection of authentic Thai dishes. This isn’t fusion; this isn’t cookie-cutter, lunch special 1-2-3 Thai. It’s the real deal.
Besides authenticity, they have a full vegetarian menu. And after an all day trip to the American Museum of Natural History with a hundred kids, I needed a huge dinner. Luckily my friend lives in the area and supplemented the delicious meal with in depth analysis on the Kubrick/Illuminati conspiracy theory. For an appetizer I got the fried shredded tarot and peanut with a sweet chili dipping sauce. The little birds nest-looking fried delights were wonderful.
For an entree, a medley of heat, sweetness and salty: a spicy shredded papaya, utterly divine coconut rice and a pile of sauteed mushrooms-accompanied by that succulently sweet chili sauce. It was a well balanced plate and perfect for the diner who plans to order dessert. The papaya salad was sinus-clearing hot at “medium spice.” 
Time for dessert. My favorite: kow dom mat! Though they had a slew of coconut milk sweet bites just like I ate for weeks in Thailand, I knew it was the banana staple that I had to have. 
Remember that cooked banana turns pink! How pretty.
Next time I’ll go just for dessert and buy everything vegan. This place (with a location on Long Island in Williston Park) is certainly worth the trip off the beaten path.
Remember, faithful reader, my obsession with Kow Dom Mat, the local dessert I lived off of for two months in Thailand? Save for Sookk on Manhattan’s West Side, I have basked in memories of the street delicacy since then. Surface perusal of Asian bakeries in and about New York’s Chinatown were fruitless and, well, geared towards Chinese confections. But there was one lead I hadn’t pursued in my quest–a website bookmarked in subfolder “To Go & Eat”: Bangkok Center Grocery–a website that had been past on by a roommate-hopeful in my last search over a year ago. I was full of optimism as I set out for Canal Street in the sweltering heat.
Bangkok Center Grocery is located on Mosco street, a narrow little curve connecting Mott and Mulberry streets. Inside I was met with part confused-part amused glances from patrons and store employees, just like it had been in my Thailand travels. Unfazed, I was immediately mesmerized y the hum of the refrigerators. I knew I was onto something. I saw right away the bright, gelatinous confections I had once loved in Thailand! {See here and here and here} I think I started talking to myself and my nose was certainly on the glass when a young Thai women walked towards me, delighted in my delight. I conjured up my best Thai to ask for my beloved Kow Dom Mat. With an immediate spark of understanding, she hurried me to the freezer where there lay Kow Dom Mat–in banana and in tarot. I immediately began babbling on about how I loved them.
Here they are. Four big, frozen Kow Dom Mats or “Frozen Banana Dumpling”, exported by Sethachon or “Food Hut” and distributed in the states by the Maryland-based Eastland Food Corporation. For four big ones, I paid $4.00, far better than Sookk’s $6.00 for one.
Two babies wrapped up tight in banana leaf pose for a picture for a minute in the microwave.
The glistening coconut milk creeps from the folds of banana leaf as my first sits waiting on a doily. I broke out the fancy plate for this occasion.
Unwrapped. Remember the steamed banana turns pink… and those little black beans add some texture. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the sweetened coconut milk infused sticky rice.
Exactly how I remember it. Taste sure holds onto memories.
Perfect. Now I have a place to satisfy my Kow Dom Mat needs.
Along with the Kow Dom Mat, I just had to pick up some other sweet treats. These simple, sugar-laden Thai desserts use minimal ingredients and are all about the coconut. The green Kanom Chan is made of the highly-glutinous Chan flour (tapioca starch and sweet potato flour), coconut cream and sugar. These beauties are locally made in the Bronx by “O Thai Dessert”. $3
These are almost exact replicas of ones I ate in Sukhothai.
I also picked up “Cassava Dessert” made from cassava (tapioca), shredded coconut and sugar. These I bought because they reminded me of the coconut dreams pictured here my host Urai whipped up for me when I stayed in Bangsai. Here is Urai with some of the kids I met while I was there, from some Canadian guy’s Flickr photostream.
What a wonderful discovery! I will be returning to Bangkok Center Grocery real soon. And someday, back to Thailand to attend their Vegetarian Food Festival… but until then…
If I blogged even 1/4 of the times I’ve eaten Thai, my blog would explode. I eat it at least twice a week. So much do I love Thai food that I am often half-way through a dish before realizing my camera is right there next to me. That I could have captured the glistening sweet drizzle on my saturated spring roll… the shreds of tarot and bean sprout… the sloppy broad noodle drenched in sweet soy sauce… is a regret lost by the next bite. So, though I rarely blog about it, Thai is one of the cornerstones of my food life. Of course I also feel less inclined to blog about Thai food here in the States because I blogged daily from Thailand for two months. Taking advantage of the favorable exchange rate, I feasted like a princess on sought after “Jai” food in countless eateries and bit off more than I could chew on the regular at the street markets. I may have blogged enough Thai to last several lifetimes, but… here I go, blogging about more Thai.
After catching a glimpse of Sookk‘s dessert menu, I recruited my pal CP for another tasty Tuesday expedition. Why would we treck all the way to 102nd street and Broadway? I’ll tell you why: kow dom mat. Kow dom mat was my obsession when I was in Thailand. And I have never seen it on any menu here. (Maybe because it’s referred to as Kao-Thom-Mud, like on Sookk’s menu?) Anyway, we made it all the way up to the Upper West Side and battled the posh spot’s lukewarm service for a taste of the authentic Thai sweet treat. Here are the details:
Dumplings are a must. Always. Sookk’s veggie dumplings (or Green Leaf dumplings) were delicious, stuffed with hearty vegetables. The thin skin of the Thai dumpling makes them my favorite kind of all the Asian cuisines, however tears and holes and a flood of hot water is always a risk. A big plus is a Thai joint that garnishes with dried garlic. Bring on the heat.
Two days in to an already hectic week, CP and I split the Detox drink for two. It had sake, other tasty things and, obviously, lychees. It was potent.
I ordered the Tamarind Dish with a nice firm tofu. It had great flavor and texture: sweet tamarind-chili sauce with sweet peppers, crispy broccoli, scallions and cilantro. Very good but a bit tofu-centric. I wanted more crisp veggies to balance out the huge, firm chunks of tofu.
There is the kow dom mat! Sweetened sticky rice encased banana wrapped in banana leaf. By the time it was served, the lights in the restaurant were dim, draining the photo of some life. But this sweet thing was absolutely amazing. The taste, like nothing I’ve had before or after my brief obsession, transformed me. It was magical. I may soon have to return…
Sacrificing virgin coconut oil. With my apartment’s thin windows chilling the kitchen, my coconut oil was in the solid phase. To utilize it for a summer-inspired Bahama cake, I let her toast ‘er bottom on my stovetop, very briefly. Anyone who’s ever had a bowl of pyrex [or multiple glass kettles] explode on the burner knows very well how to monitor things like this. Otherwise, wear goggles.
Yes! Flour turnover! After having half a box of cake flour [Softasilk] sit in the cupboard since I 2009′s father’s day cake [here], it was time to cut my dwindling all-purpose flour with some of its fine graininess. I added more of this flour mixture than advised in the recipe, given the texture difference.
I buy a bunch of bananas… sometimes to create fruit flies, sometimes to mash in breads, muffins and pancakes but seemingly never to eat completely. Freshdirect does not let you buy half a bunch and the size of their nanners varies with no rhyme or reason. Lesson learned. Buy the bananas buy the piece from the guys on the street. Here I made the recipe into a layer cake by layering half the batter with banana slices.
On top of layer one, some unsweetened coconut I’ve been hoping to use. May have to make some cookies next week as I have 1/4 of a bag left.
Baking time was way off from recipe in light of my layers and flour substitution. I also poured some pineapple juice into the batter because I just happened to be drinking it and thought it fitting. Here is the messy, delicious outcome. The bananas inside were steamed beautiful pink as the layers around them baked. Like kow dom mat, my beloved treat from Thailand.
My sweet treat for the week is done!
For the week’s lunch, I broke the awesome tofu press I got for Christmas and gave the brick a good squeeze. This thing is a real investment for tofu lovers. It also helps you marinate. Did I blog about this gadget in the past? I can’t remember. Anyway, it’s the TofuXpress.
A simple lasagna for the week: 4 portions because I eat Thai every Monday. No fake meat, no fake cheese– just whole wheat noodles, marinara and a zesty basil tofu ricotta. Lasagna reheats so well that I want to flash-forward to Thursday. Ok, that’s not the only reason I want to flash-forward to Thursday! Happy Monday to all!
CandyPenny is off to Japan for some roaming and vegan reporting! In light of this exciting adventure, friends and I bid farewell with a Asian-themed party.
I was excited to have a go at a Thai-inspired dessert for the occasion: sweet sticky rice! In fact, since my time in Thailand I had imagined turning the whole world on to the salty sweet pleasure of coconut-sweetened sticky rice. Many a hungry day was spent perusing markets for kao nio ma muang (mango with sticky rice) and kow dom mat (sticky rice encased banana). Obtaining ingredients here in the states required a bit of running around. But after my experience in making kow dom mat from scratch in a rural Thai village, shredding coconuts barefoot on the kitchen floor, I was thankful for the convenience of canned coconut milk.
Sweet & sticky: mmmm.
1) Prepare the sticky rice:
You can buy “sticky rice” from an Asian market or gourmet grocer. Cover 1 cup of the rice with cold water and soak overnight. “This is very important!” I remember my guide at the Thai Farm Cooking School exclaiming. Afterwards, rinse the rice till the water runs clear. Then repeat the rinsing. Steam the rice in cheesecloth in a bamboo steamer for 25 minutes or so until rice is very soft.
2) Prepare sweetened coconut milkWhile rice is steaming, pour a cup of coconut milk in a saucepan. Add 3 TB of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Turn on low heat and stir to a boil.
3) Combine coconut milk and cooked sticky rice
Add cooked rice into boiling coconut milk and mix well. Allow to cool. Do not refrigerate!
6) Add-insI cut up some ripe mango and banana to throw into the mix. So good. Finish your dessert off with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. 
Other delectables included: vegetarian duck from Lily Thai, soy bean and broccoli pilaf and cucumber and seaweed salad.
Farewell CandyPenny!!
After last evening’s a 1-hour boat ride from Ko Samui, where I was determined not to spend the night, I found myself amidst more of the same tourist hustle and bustle on the home to the infamous Full Moon Party, Ko Phangan. After trekking the entire island for cheap accommodations, even more so an impossibility than last year when my tour guide published the cheapest bed on the island was at Tommy Resort. (Tommy is now a full blown resort with brand new bungalows fetching 1000+ baht a night.), I found nothing. Some fly to Samui and travel to Phangan for a full blown island get-away. Breezing through myself, I couldn’t find any justification to pay American prices for ample shell and sarong shops and crowded beaches lined with bars. I made my way to the quieter neighboring beach, Hat Thien, by way of an expensive longtail boat taxi, to nab a dorm bed at The Sanctuary, an “alternative” resort perched on the cliffs of the beach.
The spa supposedly offered health and wellness services at “backpacker” prices. Of this claim being true, I wasn’t certain. But of vegetarian options at their restaurant, I was. (The journey not completely fruitless with the presence of fruit.) I wound up getting one of their last dorm beds, which pleased me fine as the next step up would have set me back an additional 500 baht. I quickly had a seat in the open-air restaurant facing the shore and ordered a dinner that was completely unnecessary considering my lunch. The usual pretentious conversations were going on around me, in higher pitch because of a burgeoning migraine. 
I devoured my tofu burger, which was scrumptious, and my pineapple shake, which was mostly ice, as if they were the secret anecdote to cure my throbbing head. Neither helped, unfortunately, and soon I was in my dorm bed, immobilized by my now full-fledged migraine. Feeling every creak in the wooden floor layout of the resort, the new-age music seeping in the room from the cafe like some nimble vaporous cartoon cat responding to the aroma of a roast and, later, Al Gore’s voice during the 9 o’clock showing of An Inconvenient Truth and, later still, the distant echo of my text messages breaking through the island’s iffy service: all mixed within dream and reality. After ear plug insertion and the utilization of my sleep mask (purchased at Rite Aid by Union Square. Aw, Union Square.), sleep came deeply finally.
After that evening, I hoped to start the day on an invigorating note. I was well-situated to do so at The Sanctuary… though not as much as I had expected. I had learned that their services, like Tommy Resort, experienced a dramatic inflation over the past year. With massage at 600 baht an hour, internet at 240 baht an hour and a 1-day fasting program (my primary interest) at 2,500 baht, not including its regimented menu of cleansing shakes and broths, all of which out of my price range to humorous levels. 
I partook in the morning yoga at 250 baht and a fruitie (fruit foodie) breakfast of sliced mango, papaya, banana, watermelon and pineapple, a energy boosting blueberry smoothy and a slice of wheat with jam. The yoga class wasn’t very challenging and extremely repetitive; I’ve had better impromptu classes in motel rooms in New Hampshire! But the beautiful Amazonian instructor was very thorough, sneaking up on my feet during the ending guided meditation in corpse pose and massaging out the, I suppose, visible tension of my feet like a neat freak would straighten a crooked frame out of habit. She then traveled to my shoulders and head’s temples like she had some kind of stress radar! (I know, pictures of the toast and jam but not the Amazonian yoga instructor…priorities!)
Alas, it was time to quickly bid farewell to the Sanctuary and Ko Phangan, in fact all of the islands. My journey to the mainland would utilize every mode of transport and settle me far North from the scalding sun that has shattered my skin into a mosaic of peeling brown and bright new pink. After my longtail boat ride from Hat Thian, a minivan to the pier on the other side of the island, a 4-hour catamaran trip up the Gulf to Chumphon, to another minivan ride of 3 hours to Hua Hin, to a motorbike ride, the scariest one yet, to my accommodation for the next 2 nights, my cranium cradles yet another headache. Convinced it has something to do with: A) being island-bound for a prolonged period of time (says the Long Islander turned Brooklynite) B) my dramatic intake of saturated fats, new to my system, via coconut oil C) caffeine uptake, I hope to get to the source of my headaches by beginning my own Thailand detox. 2 weeks to ween myself off this way of life!
Goodbye to these weird congealed concoctions:
The biggest kow dom mat ever.
Coconut mystery treats purchased at the coconut capital of Thailand, Surat Thani.
The mystery is over: They have corn in them (!?)
And the kow dom mat, made with black sticky rice. Another first.
After escaping King Cobra Village unscathed and returning to town, I walked to a vegetarian restaurant a few blocks from the bus terminal. Communication problems left me with two entrees and a chalky smoothie, all of which I ate but none of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I had about 5 hours to kill before my overnight bus to Bangkok so I spent some time with the local young gamers in the internet store (“internet store” sounds like something Homer Simpson would say, King of the dadisms… second place: Guy Penny.) There were errands to run as I sat on my butt: clearing the inbox, checking finances/bills, this blog, research on the current state of affairs between the US and Cambodia, etc. Making my way over to the other bus terminal afterwards, the one with the more expensive buses, the sun was gone and the night food vendors set up. I searched for the dessert area to pick up breakfast for the following morning: mango with sticky rice. Sooner than later, my bus pulled in and I boarded, settled into my reclining chair for the overnight trip and finally remembered not to stow away my earplugs and Tylenol p.m. I have a hard time sleeping in non-bed situations and these buses blast violent movies on maximum volume. Hiding every inch of skin in an itchy plaid blanket, I hoped keep the pesky mosquitoes at bay. I crashed hard, waking at 5 a.m. as the bus creeped towards the Eastern Bus Terminal. There, in the open-air terminal of hundreds of buses, I ate my mango and sticky rice… with a side order of exhaust clouds. After, I strolled the waiting area and tried to decide where the hell to go at 6 a.m. on a Monday morning in Bangkok. I decided to make my way to where I hoped to eventually check-in later in the morning, by Khaosan road. It’s not that i like this place (think East Village on a Saturday night, all the time) but the area has the cheapest accommodations in the city. I slowed for the 2nd or 3rd harassing motorbike taxi herd and asked they put me closer to the city’s sky train. Killing time taking the subway, to a bus to a walk lost its luster, however, when I learned they’d take me straight to Khaosan for 150 baht. Clear on the other side of the city, it made sense. They were charging me 40 baht to the sky train about 500 meters away (a chaotic and dangerous walk through bikers and buses). So what the hell, I’d find a 24-hour restaurant and load up on instant coffee. Ok, almost 7 a.m. I saw that the guest house with the cheapest accommodations in the area (180 baht) was looking alive and I was able to check-in immediately. I took a short nap, satisfied with scoring pretty much two nights for the price of one. The room, like most budget guest house rooms off Khaosan, are prison cell in size and concrete color scheme. Ants are always a given and I don’t mind them, the most innocuous of insects. After my nap I decided to try to make friends with Bangkok, who’s done nothing but frazzle me with each visit. Tried to do as the Romans… Australians, British, German, Danish and Russians do here: walk the streets and spend money. I got a traditional Thai massage. And noticing the condition of my feet in the fluorescent lighting, I got a pedicure. And seeing it was a better deal to get both a manicure and a pedicure, I got a manicure, too. I can count all the times I’ve gotten a manicure/pedicure on my right hand. And that is in my entire life. Suffice to say, my “mani/pedi”s take much longer than other’s and are often accompanied by much shame and embarrassment. My feet have paid the price of this journey and I promised their newly delicate forms that I’d treat them better in the future. Sociological note: The masseuse asked the usual questions during our hour together: how old am I? where do I come from? (She guessed London.) do I have a boyfriend? (Nosy nelly!) After pampering myself, it was time for a good lunch. I went to Ethos International Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant. I took a mental note of it during my last visit to Bangkok, excited with “vegan” being in its name. The menu was ten pages of color-coded options. Most items made the vegan cut and their text was in red. I opted for a vegan burger on a whole wheat bun billed as “farang favorite”. The delivered product blew my expectations out of the water. The burger, made of tofu and vegetables, was of the delicate kind… crumbling deliciousness coated in spicy ketchup along with tomato, cucumber and greens. The bun, which was 80% of my decision in getting the dish, was sublime. My usual pineapple shake accompanied my meal. Noting they had a vegan chocolate cake as a dessert option (!), I squeezed that in, too. The dense but moist cake was drizzled in chocolate sauce and banana slices. So being thoroughly stuffed, I waddled away from the restaurant, passing the empty May Kaidee’s. Can’t see any other veg restaurant in Bangkok doing it better than Ethos. Ok, so I blew through a good deal of baht in just a few hours. I decided I needed to walk a bit, especially after such a meal. But the heat in the city is so thick that explorations were curtailed. I spent more money on coffee to have a place to write in the AC. I spent more money on kow dom mat, knowing I’d be strickened to airport offerings the next day. I inquired about transportation to Cambodia in several of the hundreds of tour bookers on Khaosan. I used to internet. I booked my 4:30 a.m. taxi to the airport the next day and hit the hay.
This blog is dedicated to those who are convinced every moment here is an exciting and exotic adventure. Nope.
Here is a photo recap of the tasty morsels I munched on in Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phimai and Nong Kaen.
I must make special mention of Ban Thai Guesthouse‘s food. The best I’ve had in Thailand so far. The menu is huge and they sub tofu for meat in any dish. The chef’s recommended King Sweet & Sour was perfection. 
Also in Sukhothai, an amazing Thai dessert stand at the night market. Most of them were totally vegan so I tried, you guested it, most of them.
If you’re ever in Phitsanulok, let me tell you were to get substansive veggie fare. This place at 55 Srithammatripidok Rd, across from the hospital.
And this place, on the way to the folk museum on Wisutkaset Rd.
In Phimai, I pigged out on junk. A sweet women frying up these coconut cakes on the street had no idea how she helped curb my craving for vegan baked goods, which are nonexistent here. 
Eating at the night market is tough for a vegetarian. Along with pig’s heads, chicken on a stick and other meat delicacies, there is maybe 2 or 3 options for me, all being deep-fried. For the occasion, I opted for another Coke with my batter-dipped chilies in sweet & sour sauce.
But dessert is a different story. I scored a big portion of mango & sticky rice and kow dom mats… but this time not only did they have my standard banana kow dom mat but also ones with tarot. Holy moly.
More delicious crap for breakfast. These steamed little gems are much like the vegetable buns at Zen Palate ‘cept inside ain’t veggies but some sugary sweet pineapple concoction. 
Cooking a four-course Thai meal with ingredients picked from the local market and from the grounds of an organic farm, I brought my appetite and anticipation from the night before. The full day class, offered by the Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School, gave me yet another escape from the familiar streets of Chiang Mai. After just barely making this morning’s count, bringing both of the daily classes offered to full capacity. I was off to the farm with 3 Alaskans, 2 Australians, 2 Germans, 3 Israelis, a Brit and French woman.
But first, the local market to learn a bit about Thai cooking’s food staples: rice and coconut milk. Being granted 20 minutes of free time to wander the busy market’s aisles, I had to hunt down some kow dom mat, a quick handheld breakfast wrapped in a banana leaf to tie me over til feeding time. My love for these 4″ wonders is now bordering on obsession. Mission accomplished. The rest of my 20 minutes was spent leering at the whole decapitated pig’s that was for sale. Also worth a mention, my Food Fight tote bag got some more attention from dislocated Americans. It caught the eye of two zany gentlemen from Portland also signed up for the cooking course. This bag is a reliable source of social outreach!
At the farm, we met our ingredients. Bitter eggplant, sweet eggplant, lemongrass, galangal (Siamese ginger), Thai ginseng, Thai parsley, sweet and holy basils, chilis, tamarind… the grounds have everything! Our instructor let use all our senses: we smelt, felt and tastlt (new word) everything under the shade of our wicker hats of enormous diameter. After, at my indiviual cooking station, I made all of the dishes below from scratch! Not only did I build my kitchen confidence by following the instructions with ease but my food turned out scrumptious. Thai cooking party at Olive when I return!
Kaeng Phed with Tofu (Red curry)
Tom Phak Ruam (Thai vegetables soup)
Phad Kaprao with Tofu (Fried tofu with basil)
Poh Piah (Spring rolls)
Kao Nio Ma Muang (Mango with sticky rice)
With travelers passing through Chiang Mai from all over the world, the city caters to their bellies with care. Vegetarians also get special treatment, as every restaurant and food stall offer us options, often very easily veganized. Here is a sampling of some of the goodies I’ve tried here in Chiang Mai. As you may pick up on, I relished the opportunity not to eat Thai food. Yes, I am getting sick of it!
Coming from a city with ample availability of middle eastern delights like falafel and hummus, I would not expect it to be done right all the way over here in North Thailand. However, The nice Jewish woman who owns Jerusalem Falafel served the most tasty falafel and hummus pita I ever did eat. The pita alone, fresh & doughy, was worth my 100 baht alone. But it didn’t stop there: falafel- spot on, tahini- just enough, veggies- fresh, crisp and the perfect compliment, hummus- sublime. The perfect meal.
Authentic Mexican food in Thailand? For some reason, maybe because the broad spectrum of Mexican on the East coast, I thought this would be an impossibility. I was pleasantly surprised by Miguel’s Cafe. The chips, for starters, were made in-house, still glistening with grease. The guacamole, the cornerstone of any Mexi-menu, blew me away. Big chunks of ripe avocado, second fiddle (as they should be) to those chunks were diced tomato and onion and ample cilantro in every bite. My taco was simple, yet delicious: refried bean, pico de gallo and lettuce in two toasted soft tortillas.
Next on my world cuisine tour of Chiang Mai was Italian at Girasole, a posh restaurant with mist upon entrance overlooking the Sunday night market action. Again, I was not disappointed at all. I ordered penne with garlic, oil, diced tomato and a kick of chili. It was quite a tasty break from Thai food (re: rice-based dishes). The only thing a bit off was the ratio of pasta to sauce… but this seems to the case with Thai food, as well. Far too much sauce! Luckily the dish was served with a couple of slices of fresh Italian bread. But I would have needed a loaf to mop it all up. Funny: The manager dropped by my table to check on how everything was after he noticed my writing and snapping a pic of the dish in passing. Not Zagat… Zacconi!
So I have been craving bread in a big way. Fresh from the oven, artisan baked bread. But alas, all I come across is white bread (containing milk!) and wheat bread with 1 or 2 strands of wheat mixed within the white. Whole grains are rare here in Thailand. So when I passed Juicy4U and saw that I can creat a whole wheat triple-decker with my choice of 10 veggie innards, I nearly flipped. I chose avocado, carrot, red cabbage, sunflower seeds, sweet peppers, onion, spinach, tomato and 2 other ingredients I forgot. But c’mon, I had you at avocado. Juicy4U also offered fresh juices and smoothies, as well as wheatgrass shots, but I frequented the nice man with the table set up tow doors down instead for my daily pineapple-mango smoothy.
Back to Thai food. Fried rice with chunks of fresh pineapple, tofu and tomato. Simple, delicious and cheap (as in less than a $1US). I am obsessed with Thailand’s pineapple and stop at every vendor selling chunks. It is like delicous pieces of candy. Infused in the rice, I am able to overlook all the darn whiteness.
Speaking of white rice, there is another form I will most certainly devour without hesitation… within the beloved banana leaf of my favorite and most-hunted Thai snack, kow dom mat. The sweet sticky rice overtaking the banana slice in these especially delicous (I’m learning there is a broad range of quality in these homemade treats.) were picked up daily at the Somphet Market. 5 baht for two. That is like a couple of cents.
Aum Vegetarian Restuarant kicks May Kaidee’s veggie butt. May Kaidee has restaurants in Bangkok and Chiang Mai and also offer cooking classes. Relatively well-known, I was eager to try their food. My dissappointment lead me to believe that standards of tourist-geared vegetarian restaurants were just low… but then came AUM. They do vegetarian right: fresh, not too oily, flavorful and no gimmicks (like traditional Thai dancers squeezing around the cramped tables). I ordered the fresh rolls and, my usual, the pad see ew.
I am getting used to sordid guest house conditions. My room at the King Hotel in Udon Thani is a step above the spider/roach/dog-infested New Nakornhuang Hotel of Ubon Ratchathani, as I share it with no vermin and it is pretty clean, but they both have dismal light, obscenely stained bathroom tiles and the shine of decades of gosh knows what. (They also both have angular Eames-style furniture that, if shined up, would pull in thousands at high-end resale shops.) Rumored to be the first hotel built for the American G.I.s stationed here during the war, King has almost a prison-y dorm-like feel.
Spending the entirety of the previous afternoon on a bus, I wanted to traverse Udon Thani’s attractions on my feet, much to the bafflement of soliciting tuk-tuks. My first order of the day was a good meal. My guidebook pointed me in the direction of a now-defunct vegetarian restaurant. Finding where it once stood was encouraging, however. With each new city I orientate more and more quickly to my surroundings. I decided to skip any further fantasies of a good meal and make my way towards destination number 2, Udorn Sunshine Fragrant Orchid Farm. I was sure I’d find something to nibble on during the 3 km walk from town.
Just a few blocks from this decision, I happen upon this sign and this woman. Kismet! Although hot meals were not offered here, they had my favorite sweet banana dessert, kow dom mat. The nice woman unwrapped the banana leaves for me and sat with me as I enjoyed this treat, along with her fresh-squeezed carrot-papaya juice. The store, as far as I can understand, sells vegetarian groceries and other health food items. I wanted to make some purchases but, not having a stove top, they’d be more dead weight in my backpack. I was more interested in helping the woman out with my business but, to my surprise, she insisted the treat and juice was on the house! I told her I would be back. I knew I would want more kow dom mat anyway.
I continued onward to get to the orchid farm, passing the large reservoir and public park in the middle of the city’s center. After about 25 minutes and some wrong turns, I found my way to the farm, trepidatiously passing the two dogs lounging by its entrance. (Note: The dogs here in the Northeast are more often companion animals and not derelict strays. The kind whose tails start a-wagging as you approach. But I am still cautious.) Inside the Udorn Sunshine Farm was the sweet aroma of an obsessed orchidist, Mr. Pradith Kampermpoon, who spent over 10 years of his life cross-breeding species to create Udorn Orchid. I zig-zagged the rows of his special blooms, snapping portraits of their flirting faces and, of course, stopping to smell the flowers. The scent was nothing out of the ordinary however he registered a copyright on it with the Worlds Orchid Association. It was also extracted into perfume form and was for sale, along with other interesting scents including one extracted from mashed insect!
Along with all these beautiful orchids, the farm has another claim to fame: The Uborn Dancing Plant, a special hybrid “telegraph” plant that responds to music and the human voice by perking and moving its leaves. Although you mostly notice movement from the wind, here is some video of the farm employee hoping to set the plant to a dancing frenzy for me. She told me that it gets a bit more active later in the morning.
I certainly worked up an appetite at the orchid farm and returned back to goal number 1, the good meal. Trekking the kms back into town (and stopping in for more kow dom mat, as promised), I made my way to another suggestion from the faulty guidebook. Passing through a shopping hub, there were plenty of street vendors. I scoured them for sweet Thai coconut and banana desserts, as I had grown accustom to doing, and with much success! I bought a cluster of them gelatinous coconut-milked globs of goodness, as well as more kow dom mat. Further down the road, a new version of my fave which included 2 bananas in a triangle of sticky rice. Ok, I was now well-stocked for the next few days.
On my way to the restaurant, kismet struck again. This sign grabbed my attention and immediately became my new lunch destination. I had unbelievably stumbled upon another vegetarian heaven. All items jae (i.e. vegan)! Veggie burgers, assorted fried vegetables, noodles, curries, soups… textured tofu abound. Mission accomplished.
Vegan Reporting By Location
