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!
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…
…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.
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.***
I must try these next time I am in Bangkok, one of my favorite food spots in the world. I had an addiction to banana pancakes which were out of this world, would love a recipe for that.
Those coconutty things are called khanom krok. Almost every day I fight the urge to eat them for breakfast (and I give in about 23% of the time). Something tells me that if I awake to toasty coconut cream, rice flour and sugar and a cup of coffee with sweet condensed milk each day, I won’t be of this world very long.
But a good one is glorious (there are bad ones, too, usually with too much rice flour and not enough coconut fat).
Thanks for letting me know the name, Jarrett! If you ate them every morning, your teeth would probably not be of this world… I asked the name at the market, and promptly forgot–or promptly forgot the important part. I asked the name of three sweet things in a row, mistakenly thinking, “If I just remember the first part, I can look it up later…” So, the only real Thai word I learned on the trip was khanom.
Sarah, I resisted banana pancakes. I knew it was a slippery slope, and I would never turn back. They looked dangerously filling, and I didn’t want to cramp my snacking style. Next time, when I’m not quite so overwhelmed by all the options…
The khanom krok (? I’m just referencing what they’re called above)–with the scallions–they have them here in Berkeley every Sunday at the Thai Temple. Next time you’re in Berkeley we should go.