I’d heard that cooking schools in Chiang Mai are a dime a dozen and after getting a recommedation from Boots in the Oven, I signed up for a day’s course at the Thai Farm Cooking School. After being picked up from our respective hotels, we’re first brought to Ruamchook Market, a medium sized food market about 20 minutes drive out of Chiang Mai. I adored this market – favouring it to the markets in Chiang Mai. There’s a slower pace to the market that allows one to slowly walk from stall to stall at one’s own pace, without the crowds pushing against you. We only had about 10 minutes for a quick lookaround though and I’m showing the few food photos I managed to take.
Alongside the usual market offerings of meat and fish and dry goods, there were vegetables galore,
pink preserved eggs,
and lots of ready to eat, prepared foods.
But the most interesting stall was this one:
Highlights included fried silkworm pupae (through the power of pseudo-sign language, I bought some of these – crispy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside…),
fried black shiny beetles,
fried giant water beetles (each was about 8cm long!),
and um…these things.
Can’t tell what they are? Click on the photo for a closer look and the answer.
Um, no thanks.
Tue, 15 Apr, 2008 at 23:40
eew, the last one looks like frogs. I give you credit for trying those pupae.
Wed, 16 Apr, 2008 at 02:17
Yay for the Thai Farm Cooking Course! I do hope you enjoyed it.
Wow to the frogs.
Wed, 16 Apr, 2008 at 07:46
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Wed, 16 Apr, 2008 at 18:42
In certain parts of the world, all that’s regarded as good ‘Bush Tucker’. And, as for the frogs … well, call them ‘grenouilles’, don’t let on what they are till all has been eaten, and thy’re really quite tasty. (I speak from experience there! :D)
Thu, 17 Apr, 2008 at 00:27
Wow.
Pink eggs?
I don’t know about the insects though.
Sat, 19 Apr, 2008 at 20:53
kat: The pupae were the easy ones. The thought of those shiny black beetles already makes my skin crawl.
Rachel: I totally enjoyed it – such fun and a nice break from the usual sightseeing.
travelrat: You’ve had whole frogs? I’ve only had the legs, with the skin off!
Donald: Don’t know what makes them pink – must be some food colouring.
Sun, 20 Apr, 2008 at 16:50
Wow! What a stunning market. I’m not sure about the frogs though….
Wed, 23 Apr, 2008 at 10:32
Helen: I can’t imagine crunching down on the frogs myself…
Thu, 16 Dec, 2010 at 01:25
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Tue, 31 May, 2011 at 00:13
Just to help clarify. “These things” are water cockroaches. Tastes great in sour, spicy salad!