Last post on Chiang Mai – finally! I’ve uploaded so many photos (377!) to my Flickr and it’s taken so long that it feels like the trip was ages ago. The trip was fantastic…but I’m going to be glad to go back to my regular food photos!
This final post will again be on various memorable food photos that didn’t make their own blog posts. This pork, chili and basil dish on rice, with a fried egg on top, was eaten at a tiny restaurant outside Wat Doi Suthep, the temple on the mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. We had gone there as a group of both us foreigners and one Thai visitor from Bangkok whom we had met at the workshop we were attending. She too had not been to that temple. Just before lunchtime, she started talking about how she wanted to eat pork with basil for lunch. And she went on and on and on and then we all wanted the same thing! We could already taste it! And when we ordered it at the restaurant, it was fantastic! Loads of salty fish sauce and hot chillies and fresh basil – and the egg on top! Wow!
That night, I picked up a bag of sliced green mango with a smaller baggie of salt and sugar and chili powder. I loved this non-sour green mango that reminded me of a crunchy guava and the chili mixture went very well with it – it was commented that it was like a Thai fizzy sherbet!
And this one is added to my long list of “I wish I tried that”! This pile of mee krob (fried rice vermicelli in a sweet and spicy sauce) looked so appealing. I suppose I could have purchased a bagful of this to take home (I saw it on the day I flew back).
Finally, I’ll end this Chiang Mai series with my Qantas breakfast en route from Bangkok to London. I had a horribly long stopover at the airport in Bangkok as this connecting flight was delayed. I was exhausted and ended up missing the first meal (I really didn’t want “supper” at 4am) and woke up just before this breakfast before landing in London. The fruit bowl was nice, as was the yogurt, surprisingly. The cooked meal was, quite frankly, awful.
Tamarind and Thyme 
Fri, 25 Apr, 2008 at 20:38
Mmmm, this looks more like real Thai food! The mee krob looks absolutely delicious, as does the dish in the first photo…Charmaine from tasty treats and I went to Nahm two days ago. The food was a bit of a let-down, to be honest. We should have jumped on a plane instead!
Fri, 25 Apr, 2008 at 22:31
such beautiful pictures and delicious descriptions! The mee krob noodles look so tantalizing too. I know what you mean about the daunting task of trying to process 400 digital pictures! I’ll have to check them out!
Sat, 26 Apr, 2008 at 09:03
In Hawaii, many people eat green mango with soy sauce, vinegar and black pepper. Looks like you had a delicious adventure.
Sat, 26 Apr, 2008 at 20:22
foodieguide: Sorry about your experience of Nahm! I have David Thompson’s “Thai Food” which all looks very authentic but I have no idea what he serves at his restaurant.
foodhoe: Thank you! The 377 photos were chosen from approx 1000. But most were multiples of the same thing! Yes, I know I’m insane.
kat: Now that’s a combination I’ve never heard of! Do you have a particular ratio you can recommend? What kind of vinegar is used?
Thu, 1 May, 2008 at 00:58
white vinegar, no proportions, you could try 1:1.
Thu, 1 May, 2008 at 22:07
Your photos look great – very jealous, I’d love to be in Chiang Mai right now. My foodie memories of Thailand are nothing but great.
Sat, 3 May, 2008 at 20:24
Thanks, kat!
Lizzie: Thank you! I’m missing the food terribly…
Mon, 12 May, 2008 at 19:06
Pork, chili and basil dish on rice, with a fried egg on top…. absolutely delicious… I’m hungry now.
Wed, 14 May, 2008 at 20:29
mycookinghut: I’m hoping to recreate it soon!
Fri, 1 Aug, 2008 at 21:37
[…] since I got back from Thailand, I’ve been thinking occasionally about that dish, the pork and basil on rice. It had also been one of the dishes at the cooking school but I had chosen to make something else; […]