A Food Holiday

I hope that you're not tired of seeing my food photos yet because you're about to get a helping of food-talk as filling as my meal. I could continue to talk about the Thai food here for hours and hours. Here's some truly interesting stuff. I made my way out to a restaurant called Krau Ya. It was well off of my usual beaten path but well worth the journey. My generous host proclaimed for me that it was an official "Food Holiday." He started me off with a Rosella Drink and a Lemongrass Juice. Both were delicious. The Lemongrass Juice gets its brilliantly blue coloring from an Asian legume called a Butterfly Pea. It's in my juice and it shows up later in the meal as well. The naturally refreshing lemongrass taste made this juice particularly perfect for the hot weather.
Next, came the Kanom Jeen Sao Narm. The dish is centered around a pile of rice noodles surrounded by fresh pineapple, ginger, chiles, and garlic. The dish is sprinkled with fresh lime juice. I was encouraged to mix all of the ingredients together. Now you and I have all eaten these ingredients on their own, but the combining of each of these unique flavors makes for a truly new and exciting experience. There's little more that I can say about this dish that will do it any justice at all; you really have to try it for yourself. I was warned that it may be an acquired taste but I loved it right off the bat. Sweet and spicy, pungent and smooth: probably the most exotic and interesting taste I've encountered so far on my Thailand journeys.
Added to that was my staple Thai dish, Kao Mun Som Tum (Thai Papaya Salad with Steamed Coconut Rice.) It's the dish that I've had most frequently over the course of the past month. My host Aon, is the son of the woman who opened this restaurant twenty years ago and it's been in the family ever since. I had the pleasure of meeting his mother and enjoying this dish which has clearly been perfected over the course of the twenty years. It was delightful. And after having coconut rice a few times here in Thailand, I doubt that I'll ever be able to go back to regular old rice again. To add a little twist to my usual Green Papaya experience, Aon hooked me up with some Deep Fried Greens (including Butterfly Pea and Chinese Coriander,) which I used to scoop up the papaya and noodles (which were drenched in garlic, chiles, lime juice, soy sauce, and tomatoes.)
I was considering this to be the completion of my meal until I was convinced to also try the Kanom Jeen Narm Prik. On one plate, you'll see the delicate nests of rice noodles supporting tiny hard-boiled eggs. The second plate contains more deep fried greens as well as some banana blossoms and a star-shaped vegetable which I'm pretty sure is okra. All of that is drizzled with what you'll find in the bowl which is a sauce made of roasted mung beans. And why not? After all … it is a food holiday!