Our property is located next to a tiny village about 2.5 hours east of Bangkok. In recent years there have been plenty of changes here. We now have running water, Internet access and most of the wooden homes in the village have been taken down and many of the villagers have moved nearby into western style buildings (especially as the nearby industrial park continues to experience rapid growth and starts to further exert its influence over this still surrounding rural landscape) – and it will for both good and bad.
But with all these changes – the food remains the same.
Our food comes from several sources – what is grown in the village – lots of veggies and a number of fruit trees – and from local markets. The best market by far in the immediate area is located in the town of Kabinburi right next to the bus station. Kabinburi is located along highway 33 – about an hour and twenty minutes from Paoy Paet, the border town where Thailand meets Cambodia. At this market you can choose from a variety of vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables, meats and tons of seafood (even though we are several hours inland from the ocean).
Our kitchen is small and contains a stove powered by propane. Sometime we cook outside – especially if we are grilling seafood. Our meals always are accompanied by rice and usually some sort of Nam Prik (a Thai sauce made from hot chili peppers, lime juice, sugar and fish sauce with a sprinkling of cilantro) or various types of fish paste to go with the diversity of dishes (veggies, pork, chicken and often fish – either bought from the market or caught in one of the local ponds).
We save the thick rinds from pomelo fruit, dry them and then burn them which creates a lot of smoke that the mosquitoes don’t like (a natural citronella).
What we don’t finish for dinner is often breakfast the next morning.
With chickens raised on site (mostly for fighting purposes) we have another source of meat locally. However there are always predators – wild dogs and snakes. In fact several days ago a large python got into one of the cages and ate three of the best fighting cocks. These cocks are not small birds either – this was clearly a large python.
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- Making Nam Prik sauce to go with the giant prawns
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- Pomelo rinds drying to be burned when lots of mosquitos around
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- Cooking giant Prawns over open coals
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- Rat curry, fish paste and other veggies from the garden
Sabai dee ka Dave,
Thanks for the update on your home and activity settling in. We enjoyed reading your article.
We wish you and family our best settling in. Enjoy your day and have a wonderful weekend.
Sawatdi,
M and G
Bangkok
Thanks Michael – we look forward to your upcoming move to Japan and hope you are recovering quickly from the nasty accident up in Laos 🙁
Life is never dull in a Thai village … want to sample the food there too, sounds amazing!
Yes the culinary aspects ensure that – at least at meals – food is not boring! We have plenty of downtime though 🙂
Thanks for an inside look on Thai food. It\’s really nice to live in a Village that grows its own food. Freshly picked, homegrown veggies are so tasty and delicious. Nice advice on the pomelo skin. Will try that out for next time. You have such a frugal existence, it\’s just charming and lovely. Thanks for sharing part of your culture with us!
Complete food info of Thai, i know all traditional food as one of the food we have tested in your country. I love Thai food is quite different with Indonesian food but mostly all spicy