Being an adventurous eater in Thailand nearly always ends up deliciously.. But every once in a while, I'm afraid, this is just not the case. I recently ran across one of those rare items that made my stomach fall to its knees and beg me not to ingest another mouthful...
fishy, juicy seafood carcass medleyThe way this stuff was neatly packaged in the grocery store with the dark, vile contents of the little baggie hidden from view - and the way it was displayed alongside packets of sweet mangoes with sticky rice and other desserts - was terribly misleading. Additionally, they had the nerve to write the entire label in Thai, leaving me oblivious as to what I was purchasing and to the fact that it was one of the more disgusting foods ever produced. in my humble opinion. This stuff is a fishy, salty, oozy, crunchy melange of what appear to be skins, bones, carapaces and legs of various sea-dwelling creatures, most of which smelled and tasted as though they'd been out of the ocean for a few months too many. This dark, drippy bag of rotting seafood scraps was served alongside a styrofoam tray of crunchy sliced green mango, which could only mean that they're meant to be eaten together... I bravely tried a mouthful of this combo, but not a bite more. The feral dogs who live amongst the garbage bins on my street corner got to enjoy the remainder of this dish.
The second seafood surprise of the day was far less repulsive. In fact, it was almost delicious. At the market this evening I ran across a woman selling lovely little single serving packages of god-knows-what wrapped in banana leaves and topped with something white and something green. So... I asked for "song" (two) and she laughed (most likely at my butchering of this simplest of Thai words) and packaged them up in styrofoam (EVERYTHING is packaged in styrofoam here) and took my 40 baht.
I thought this was some sort of steamed curry dish at first, but it turned out to be a lot of slippery steamed/boiled cabbage layered in the bottom of the parcel and topped with a thick layer of spongy, reddish brown, distinctly fishy-tasting, eggy stuff. not curry. Throughout the seafood sponge layer were whole prawns and calamari, which tasted fresh and weren't completely overcooked. Overall, the little seafood parcel was fine - i ended up just picking out the prawns and calamari and eating them with the coconut cream that was squeezed on top. I had trouble with the slick, flabby boiled cabbage leaves and the grainy, overwhelmingly fishy sponge layer...
The second seafood surprise of the day was far less repulsive. In fact, it was almost delicious. At the market this evening I ran across a woman selling lovely little single serving packages of god-knows-what wrapped in banana leaves and topped with something white and something green. So... I asked for "song" (two) and she laughed (most likely at my butchering of this simplest of Thai words) and packaged them up in styrofoam (EVERYTHING is packaged in styrofoam here) and took my 40 baht.
I thought this was some sort of steamed curry dish at first, but it turned out to be a lot of slippery steamed/boiled cabbage layered in the bottom of the parcel and topped with a thick layer of spongy, reddish brown, distinctly fishy-tasting, eggy stuff. not curry. Throughout the seafood sponge layer were whole prawns and calamari, which tasted fresh and weren't completely overcooked. Overall, the little seafood parcel was fine - i ended up just picking out the prawns and calamari and eating them with the coconut cream that was squeezed on top. I had trouble with the slick, flabby boiled cabbage leaves and the grainy, overwhelmingly fishy sponge layer...
interior of the fishy cabbage bundle
mmmm... Cioppino in a bag, eh? what is it about serving all meals from plastic bags, anyway??
ReplyDeletemm yes, they're not quite as concerned with their carbon footprint here as you bunch of hippies are over in oregon
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