Tag: goose

Thailand, Digested: Top 5 Delights, Part 4

I’m usually a sweet breakfast person. (A wise friend once said: “For breakfast and dessert, you’re totally allowed to stick with your own culture.” This was after she’d had to endure too many nasty Japanese “desserts,” I think.)

But Thailand changed all that. When the food is this amazingly good, why pussy-foot around just because it’s before noon? Bring on the noodles! (It helps that you can get crazy-sweet iced coffee and tea first thing in the a.m., though.)

Which brings us to the next tasty item…

4) Goose. In a culture where there’s not much roasting going on, I was a little leery of going to a Chinese restaurant that served nothing but goose. I could only think of fat and flabby skin. But how can you argue with the man at the Atlanta Hotel who describes it in swooning tones? And who makes the front-desk girl call the restaurant, ask if they still have goose (at 11am–apparently they usually run out before noon), and write down the directions for a cab driver?

Goose Directions

So we go. The cabbie gets frustrated by traffic and lets us out early. We show our piece of paper to various people on the sidewalk. They squint, then their eyes light up with delight. Yes! That goose place! They point enthusiastically down the street. One man even shadows us for a couple of blocks, pointing straight ahead every time we pause and look doubtful.

There are still two geese hanging from hooks when we get there. (Yes, we even have to show the piece of paper to the woman at the restaurant–Are you this? we gesture.) One is chopped up for us, served with its poaching liquid, all star anise-y, and a killer garlic relish. Rice on the side. Cold tea to wash it down. We are content. It is the best breakfast ever.

Goose--Before

As a bonus, on the way back down the street, we pass everyone we’d asked for directions. Did you find it? they gesture. Yes! we gesture back. Two thumbs up! Thank you kindly! They smile.

**For more pics, see my Flickr set.***

Thailand, Digested: Top 5 Delights, Part 3

What else did I eat in Thailand? Well…there was a larger category of:

3) Things that looked like other things. Early in our Bangkok visit, we found a little food court setup–a bunch of carts around a huge collection of plastic tables, all set in what looked like a converted parking lot. We foolishly thought, What luck! We’ve wound up near some exceptional street food!

Food Court

That was before we understood that there was a food court like this, oh, every other block?

But one thing they had at this market that I didn’t see anywhere else in quite the same form was…

Faux Taco

…tacos?

No–they were sweet. I had such cognitive dissonance while eating it that I couldn’t figure out what was in it. (This is what I imagine the entire meal at El Bulli is like?) But generous food expert and fellow Lonely Planet writer Austin Bush, who happens to live right around the corner from this particular food court and maintains the excellent Bangkok food map, was able to tell me they’re khanom beuang, “made from a bean-based batter and filled with sweetened egg yolks and dried fruit.” Ah-ha. (Also, he says there is a savory version, with shrimp in. They probably look like waffles or something… Which reminds me, the waffles in Thailand are delicious too!)

Another confusing thing we ate, though not nearly so mind-bending, were these poffertjes.

Coconut Poffertjes

Oh, no–wait. Poffertjes are Dutch mini-pancakes. These were made in the exact same cast-iron trays, but distinctly non-European–the batter was made with coconut milk, and there were scallions sprinkled on top. (And of course no butter on top–I actually heard someone laugh at the idea of cooking with butter while I was in Thailand.)
Certainly the first time I’ve encountered scallions in a sweet context. These were in Chiang Mai, in a totally fabulous market we just happened to walk by–as we were getting very used to doing by that time, and it was only Day 3.

**For more pics, see my Flickr set.***