Question for Old Thai Hand
What was the exchange rate 9 1/2 years ago? If I remember correctly the Baht was pegged to the Dollar at a fixed rate of 25 to 1. With the current rate of 38-40 that would account for some of the price increase.
4 photos
Thai Cultural Lesson 1: FOOD
Possibly the number one thing to understand when trying to understand Thai culture is Thai food. This lesson will supply the novice with enough information to prepare a home-cooked meal, Thai style! So without further adieu, let’s start cooking!
The typical Thai meal requires four main ingredients: raw food, water, power (electricity will be used for this lesson), and a rice cooker.
RICE AND THE RICE COOKER
The first thing to understand about Thai culture is rice. Thai people eat rice on a daily basis and you will never understand Thai people if you don’t understand rice.
I don’t know a thing about rice farming so this article will be limited to what you do with the finished product, which is purchased at the local market. I purchase my rice at the BIG C superstore, which is the normal way for buying rice if you live in central Bangkok.
Making rice is easy. Pour a cup of rice in your rice cooker (see photo below), add water, put the lid on the rice cooker, then turn it on. Be careful that you flip the toggle switch to cook and not to warm. Your rice will not cook properly unless the switch is set to the cook position.
About the water: in Bangkok it’s okay to use tap water because you’re going to boil it anyway. Fill the rice cooker with water until the water level is the same depth as the length from the tip of your forefinger to the first knuckle, no more no less. It helps if you actually stick your finger inside the cooker while you are pouring the water. Let the rice cook until you no longer see any steam coming out from under the cooker’s lid or top.
Now that you know how to cook rice, we’ll move on to something a little more exotic:
HOT POT SOUP or SUKI
Ingredients:
49.00 pork chicken suki set
16.75 white shrimp 20 cnt
29.00 oyster meat pack 100 cnt
32.50 beef shank
50.00 suki sauce 2 count
12.00 spring onion
10.00 morning glory
=====
199.25
All of the above ingredients were purchased at BIG C for 199 Baht and 25 Satang (excluding tax).
This is a whopping big huge amount of food that will easily feed four people and most likely six (See photo below). Heck! The 49 Baht pork chicken suki set would feed four people well enough. :)
Fill rice cooker 2/3 full with water. Open the pork/chicken suki set and add the spice packet to the water in the rice cooker and set it to boil.
Clean and chop/slice the vegetables and the beef and the pork while waiting for the water to boil. It sure beats starring at your rice cooker wishing that the water was boiling already.
After the water is boiling add all the vegetables and as much meat as you want for the first course. Next, crack the egg that is included in the Suki set and add it to the rice cooker. After about five minutes you will have a delicious meal on your hands. Hope you are hungry! :)
Oh yes! Don’t forget to add some of the suki sauce to your bowl of suki: DELICIOUS!
ANOTHER WORD ABOUT WATER:
If you are living a bit on the LoSo side of life, your apartment will not have running water. That’s why you’ll need an ice cooler (see photo). Simply buy a bag of ice and pour it into the ice cooler and you’ve got water for a day. Hint: It’s not impolite to use a straw and drink directly from the cooler.
I intentionally left out the price of the rice cooker and the ice cooler because I’ve no idea how much they cost. I obtained mine by digging through the trash cans at my apartment complex. Hey! What can I say? I’ve got survival skills and so do most Thais. :)
Enjoy your Thai lifestyle,
poster . . .
1 photos
Thai Cultural Lesson 2: FARANG FOOD
So you’ve made the move from your home country and now you’re living in Thailand, but there is a problem, you miss your beloved farang food. Sometimes you just gotta have it, but it’s so damn expensive! Am I right?
The truth is not what you think. It’s actually cheaper to make farang food in Thailand than it is to make Thai food in Thailand. It you don’t believe me, just read on. :)
The typical farang meal requires four main ingredients: raw food, water, power (electricity will be used for this lesson), and a rice cooker.
SWEET BASIL AND GARLIC SPAGHETTI
Ingredients:
05.00 - Fresh Basil
05.00 - Garlic
40.00 - Pesto Spaghetti Sauce
35.00 - Dry Spaghetti
37.00 - Hamburger (Grade A)
05.00 - Salt
18.00 - Cooking oil
======
145.00
All of the above ingredients were purchased at BIG C for 145 Baht (excluding tax). This is a whopping big huge amount of food that will easily feed four people and most likely six.
Fill rice cooker 2/3 full with water, add a teaspoon or two of salt set it to boil.
Clean and chop the garlic and Basil while waiting for the water to boil. It sure beats starring at your rice cooker wishing that the water was boiling already.
After the water is boiling add a tablespoon of oil and the amount of spaghetti you wish to devour. Me and my girlfriend just add the whole package and put what we don’t eat in the refrigerator for later.
After about ten minutes the spaghetti should be done. Strain the spaghetti into whatever container is available and set it aside. Now it’s time to cook the meat and the sauce.
Put the aluminum bowl back in the rice cooker and add the hamburger and the garlic and a little oil. Turn on the cooker and brown the hamburger to your preferred level of doneness then add the spaghetti sauce and simmer until done. Beware . . . You’re neighbors may come a knocking because your room is going to smell like an Italian eatery by the time you are finished. So be prepared and have some extra dishes ready just in case!
Now it’s time to put it all together. Break out some nice plates and put the cooked spaghetti on them. Next ladle that beautiful smelling sauce on top and garish with fresh Basil.
PRESTO!
You’re eating your beloved farang food and it’s all the better because it’s less expensive than the hot pot you made the night before (see photo below). :)
This article might well have been titled FARANG CULTURAL LESSON 1, but it was my Thai girlfriend that showed me how to prepare this dish. WOW! She is THE shit, and much much more. :)
Enjoy your Farang lifestyle,
poster . . .
Net connections - how quick to set up and which cities best...?
comrades -
last year i lived in brasil (but did my us work via high speed net connection) and i learned that when renting an apartment the first question one must always ask is
1) how quickly can i get an internet connection and
2) is a good cable type connection or some bad dsl gvmt telco?
so i will soon leave to live every other month in thailand but i need to get rolling with an internet connection in a house or apmt i'd rent.
also i imagine that i'd need a bank account there for basic bills like utilities/etc so i hope it's not too hard to open a bk account in thailand... (in brasil it was nuts but finally i got it done legit...)
yes, i know in pattaya or bangkok it's possible to get places ready to roll with 'net connections but i seek a nicer locale - i loved the andaman sea (but phuket was too touristy and rip-off oriented...), samui has too many falangs and the rampant building of villas is rapidly changing the place...
so the question is this - how quickly can one get a 'net connection typically in mid sized cities like pg nga, hua hin, chiang rai, nong khai, etc...?
it's kind of funny but net connectivity drives where i'll be renting a place...
one alternative is to rent a place in, say, jomtiem (close to action but could still do work....) for just one month and then time permitting find a nicer place/city for longer term...
anyways, your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
rendorseg