I’ve been eating a lot of Thai food lately. Which makes sense, seeing as to how I’m in Thailand. Not that you’d have to work that hard not to eat Thai food here. Spent the first portion of the vacation in a bunch of uber-touristy places, where non-Thai options abound for the closed minded or those who long for a taste of home, wherever that may be (read Australia, Europe, or Russia). But if you want Thai food, Thailand is certainly a good place to get it. And I want Thai food. The food may wind up being the highlight of the trip, and I’ve seen some pretty cool stuff so far. Two of my top ten foods of all time are of the Thai persuasion, and you can get them just about everywhere here. So I do. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Coconut milk, lean pork, chicken, or seafood, and fresh veggies over rice or noodles in one form or another. Cooked to order with fresh ingredients in sit down restaurants, outdoor cafes, beach huts, airport kiosks, and, my favorite, stalls on the street. Despite best third world judgement, I’m generally pro street stall food, and the Thais make it easy with their focus on fresh ingredients and general cleanliness. I’ve mostly, ahem, mostly avoided eating pre-prepared foods from serving bowls that have been sitting at room temperature for who knows how long, sticking instead to dishes made to order, and so far so good. False sense of security due to the hepatitis A vaccine I got when I arrived? Maybe. But combating whatever may be lurking in the food by scorching it with hot peppers and drowning it in local beer seems to be working. By the end of this trip I am going to bleed coconut milk if wounded. I may get tired of it by the time I leave, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Galangal, anyone?
