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Bangkok Food Tour

Thailand was incredible. INCREDIBLE. Yes, I was super jet-lagged and craving Western food by the time I returned home. Yes I sweated through my clothes and took two showers a day on a regular basis there. Yes, I walked a ton and my feet hurt constantly from all the “see everything” daily plans. It was SO worth it! I highly recommend travelling there if you can stand the long flight (about 20-ish hours combined). When people ask why I picked Thailand, I have three reasons that I give them: the food, the beaches, and the exchange rate. None of them disappointed.

I planned this trip out after an enormous amount of research. We started in Bangkok. This was a great idea, because if there is one word to describe the city, it would be “clusterfuck.” In a good way of course. Pardon my language, but there is really no other way to explain Bangkok. It smells more than occasionally of shrimp paste and hot garbage, and there are people crawling all over constantly. There are street vendors galore, shrines to Buddha at every business and home, and hookers. Once, I’m pretty sure I saw hookers bowing to a Buddha shrine. I also played board games at a bar with hookers, but that’s a whole different story. Anyway, the reason it was great to start in Bangkok is because that city will run you ragged. With its average temperature of 81 degrees [Fahrenheit] every day and the lack of a cool breeze, combined with the need to plan, walk, and use an array of public transit to get around (buses, taxis, tuk tuks, Skytrain, boats), we were exhausted. At the end of every day, we either partied… or struggled to stay awake past 9 pm.

The first Thai Buddhist temple we saw in the flesh - had to take a pic. So ornate.

After (almost) seamlessly finding our apartment that we rented through Airbnb , we bought snacks from a convenient store in our building and went to bed early to prepare for our first day on the town. I did bitch a little about wanting to go to the neon bars and vans serving liquor that we saw outside, but sleep was a good choice. After reading tons of Trip Advisor reviews, I planned a food tour to get acquainted with Bangkok. It’s a good way to get to know a city, especially when there’s a language barrier involved. Whether you think it or not, approaching a street vendor in Thailand can be pretty intimidating. The tour was a good way to explore the city and have a Thai local order your food for you. You get a little bit of culture and a lot of food.

While we waited for the tour group, we felt like we were in a mecca of street food, but it was really just a little market area outside of the Skytrain station. They were selling knock off purses and there was a guy singing karaoke from a portable little speaker system. We wanted to try the pad thai, dumplings, and some unidentifiable stuff we saw while we waited, but I knew from reviews that we shouldn’t eat yet, not even breakfast before the tour. Because we were about to get plenty. I was right. It was so great and crazy delicious.  We chose Bangkok Food Tours. Our tour guide Nushi (that's how you pronounce it anyway) was very knowledgeable and introduced us to local store owners, taking us to places we would never have even noticed on our own. We walked around the historic area of Bangkok known as Bangrak and we had everything from duck to curries to pastries. I even met a guy from North Carolina who had gone to Emory law school and just taken the bar exam too... small world. Anyway, the food:

First stop: A little family-owned shop known for its roast duck.

Roast duck, gravy, rice, with ginger and cucumber. You could even try some duck innards and feet (crunchy) if you liked!

Our tour group at the table on our first stop.

A local selling his wares. Don't ask me what they are. This is the site I expected to see all over Thailand, and I did.

Just a little snack on our route: Fried bananas.

Next Stop: A Muslim-owned restaurant where we could try an excellent chicken or beef yellow curry noodle dish. This woman plated the dishes one at a time in front of us.

Ubiquitous in Thailand: A group of 4 condiments on all restaurant tables so you can doctor your dish as you choose. Red pepper for spice, sugar for sweet, fish sauce for salty, and vinegar for sour. I love this idea.

Muslim yellow chicken curry noodles. Delicious! I'm pretty sure I dreamed of these before coming to Thailand.

This man was selling fresh eggs out of these traditional over-the-shoulder basket. He posed for me.

We crossed the river by ferry and led to try some traditional Isan food. It hails from the northeastern region of Thailand and was by far the spiciest of all the things we would eat all day. I love it! This food incorporates a lot of sour flavors too. We'd had our first taste of these types of flavors and foods from our two dinners at the DC spot Little Serow (it's outrageously good!). There were definitely no tourists eating around here though. We saw this local man selling eggs just steps from the river and chickens and other birds in cages all around. This restaurant backed up to a tiny walkway and people's backyards. Everything was definitely fresh- the fruits, vegetables, and fish were all from super close by. This was also where I used my first eastern toilet... a hole in the ground.

A woman making fresh som tam, or spicy green papaya salad, a classic Thai dish.

Grilled snakehead fish stuffed with lemongrass for sale. Note the sharp teeth in their mouths. Apparently these are pests around Thailand

More fresh roasted poultry.

The fresh som tam and spicy pork salad. Both delicious. I was getting a little full at this point... and a little lazy on the photography apparently.

Fried catfish. It was light and crispy and so delicious. Salty and warm. Also, there's my new favorite condiment, one of the things I miss the most- vinegar with red and green Thai chilies.

Underneath all that fried lemongrass (superb) are some tasty fried pieces of chicken on the bone.

By the end of this feast, there was nothing left. This may have been the favorite spot on the tour.

The next stop was a bakery and pastry shop. There were tons of things to buy here that would have been great for afternoon tea or coffee or to take home to America as gifts. We tried two buns each and then either iced tea or coffee. The final stop was an actual indoor restaurant with lots of business professional types eating in suits, complete with air conditioning and Western toilets. By this time we'd gotten used to the casual, curbside dining, but everything here was great too. I did learn that I am not the biggest fan of baby Thai eggplants. They served them in the green curry and I bit into them thinking they were peas... not so much. They are bitter and not a traditionally Western taste. It was good to learn early though, since they made a frequent appearance throughout our trip.

Nushi at the bakery!

One green custard bun, one pork bun. Both light, fluffy and so good.

A soft sweet bun filled with well-seasoned pork. Unexpected but I think this could really take off in North Carolina.

A Thai iced tea and the center of the green custard bun. The Thai teas are made with condensed milk and are really sweet but oddly refreshing and tasty.

Fresh vegetables. Those in the front are called stink beans.

A sample size of traditional Thai green curry and roti (an Indian inspired crispy pancake-like bread).

The final dish of the food tour I was actually scared of... but incredibly pumped to try! Durian ice cream. I have seen so many TV shows about this fruit. People complain about the texture and the smell. Some hotels, including one we stayed in, fine you for bringing it into hotel rooms because it the smell is so hard to get out of the space. It's known as the "king of fruits." This was possibly the most innocuous way to try it for the time. You could still grasp the slimy texture and the smell and taste crept up on you in an unidentifiable way. One guy at the table said, "If I didn't know this was durian-flavored, I might say this ice cream had gone bad." Also thrown into the mix to describe the taste was "rotten meat," "macadamian nuts," "garbage," and "dirty socks." Hearing all this while you ate it didn't help... but it was certainly an experience. I really enjoyed it, I think.

DURIAN ICE CREAM!

I totally recommend Bangkok Food Tours and Nushi. I would go back right now and do all the tours they offered if I could. There's also a nighttime one in Bangkok's Chinatown. I also totally recommend eating any Thai food you can get your hands on, especially from a hole in the wall place like some of these! It was some of the best we had our whole trip.

Zucchini Chips!

So I've dropped off. I know. Working is hard, you guys. America should take a cue from France and cut the work week down to 35 hours. Geez. But anyway, I'm a real lawyer, and I got a real job, and for that (and the paycheck) I am thankful. However, I do have several food pictures I've taken that I really need to unload.

After several views and reviews of zucchini chips on Pinterest, I splurged on some of these vegetables at Aldi. You have to buy them in a 3-pack there, so I needed to find another good use for them besides the average curry or pasta. I liked the recipe from this blog the best, and so I began...

Needless to say, I did not follow directions exactly... and thus I regretted slightly that my chips were very thin. Most recipes I read recommended cutting the zucchini into quarter inch slices, but I got fancy with my mandolin (having neglected it all too often) and sliced them into tiny slivers. This made them into delicious crunchy chips, but at the same time I would've liked to remember that these were actually zucchinis that I was eating. They were beautiful nonetheless:

Zucchini Chips
- 2 medium sized zucchinis
- milk
- Italian bread crumbs
- Parmesan cheese
- Salt and Pepper, obvi
- dash of red pepper, if you so desire.

Preheat the oven to 425.

So to begin, you slice two medium zucchinis into rounds about a quarter inch thick. Or set your mandolin to your desired setting. While I chose very thin, I now think I'd recommend just thin or wider.

Combine about a half a cup of bread crumbs with two tablespoons of Parmesan. Then add salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper... until you like the way the seasoning of the crumbs tastes.

Prepare your wire racks. I set two of them on a backing sheet and sprayed them with olive oil.

Once you have your slices of zucchini chips ready, dip them in milk in a shallow dish. Then immediately dredge them in the bread crumb mixture. I attempted to do several at a time and it worked out for the most part. I got a lot of the milk-crumb mixture stuck to my hands so I had to wash them multiple times. Place the coated slices on the wire racks and you are ready to bake them. I'd recommend 20 minutes for these thin chips, but if you are cooking quarter inch slices, keep the zucchini chips in there for about 30 minutes. But watch them! We're going for a golden brown.

Love my gadgets

 

 

And then, because we were being healthy and all... I dipped them in ranch.

Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée is so dank. Crème brûlée makes you feel like you're in a restaurant. Crème brûlée has a lot of accent marks. And it's surprisingly easy to make. But let's be real, you do need a blow torch to do it. And I probably would've never made it had I not received one as a Christmas present. I just used the recipe that came with the thing, which also conveniently with 4 ramekins. At the same time, it's a delicate process. If you've seen a lot of Food Network, you've seen Bobby Flay rant about how you can't get ANY water in the rami kens... which is pretty hard considering they're in a WATER BATH! This recipe I followed the recipe exactly too (kind of), since baking is actually a science and I thought I would waste a lot of sugar and eggs otherwise.

Yeah, you want that.

How to make Crème brûlée:

• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/4 Vanilla Bean (or, lets be real, 1 tsp Vanilla Extract)
• 3 Egg Yolks
• 1 Whole Egg
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• Brown Sugar

1- Combine heavy cream, milk, and vanilla bean. Heat to boil. Remove from heat and steep 10 minutes with bean- or just let sit for 10 minutes without it. Careful here, because milk gets big when it boils. In other news, the stovetop now smells like glorious sweet vanilla.
2- With a mixer, combine the eggs and sugar. Add the milk mixture in a steady stream. Strain the mixture through a fine strainer and skim the foam. I'm not sure I did this, but I also had no bean.
3- Divide into 4 small ramekins set in a baking dish. At this point, I found it odd that I had way more of the mixture leftover and they gave me the recipe and 4 ramekins? So I used some little other little tiny bowls and they worked too.
4- Water Bath Time- Pour hot water around the ramekins until it comes about half-way up the sides. God speed on this one. Carrying this to the oven is a doozy... Bobby Flay would start yelling. Really, don't get water in the ramekins!
5- Bake on 325 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, until just set. They should tremble slightly.
6- Cover the tops with brown sugar. I also used white sugar in addition to the brown. A trick I learned on the interwebs: Pour a mound of sugar on top (more than you need) and tilt the ramekin until the whole surface has been covered. Dump the excess onto the next ramekin's top.
7-Caramalize with the blow torch!!!
You can save these for later by chilling them before torching. Bring to room temp before you want to eat, then torch em.

Some things you will need...

Action shot! That's a good lookin mixer!

 

Water bath

Add brown sugar... before I knew the fancy technique for the sugar.

Sugar-coated now.

Great gift. Sorry for the terrible nails.

Action shot! Again.

Finished product.

Yum. After I eat one... I want another one. So creamy... so sugary.

I made like 6 of these and just had them in the fridge for weeknight dinners. Fancy up anything. Hell, have one for lunch too if you want! Soo good.

Chicken Gloria

Chicken Gloria has obviously become really popular on Pinterest. It kept popping up in the Food & Drink category, and the picture looked really delicious so I visited this blog multiple times, mainly because my iPad ONE kept shutting down my Pinterest app... incredibly annoying. It was really simple and obviously I didn't have all of the ingredients exactly, so substitute I did. I swear I rarely have everything that a recipe calls for, but this still tasted very good. I didn't take step-by-step pictures this time, but I did think these pics of what I would call a casserole turned out relatively pretty. I served it over brown rice and garnished with parsley. Since cream of mushroom soup is only 90 calories a serving and I used chicken breast tenderloins and skim milk, it really wasn't too terrible for you. Charlie loved the Chicken Gloria, but I'm starting to think maybe he's not a good scale for judging the quality of my food, because he literally likes and eats everything.

Big pan of awesome. I love really hot, wet foods. Sounds weird, but true.

 

A bird's eye view of my plate.

So I totally recommend following the instructions for Chicken Gloria from this blog, since she totally created this recipe. But if you want to see the types of substitutions I made, here is my recipe... which worked out lovely:

Chicken Gloria

• Chicken breast tenderloins
• Flour (season it)
• Olive oil and Butter (enough to brown chicken and cook mushrooms)
• 8 oz. container of Mushrooms (I used Baby Bellas)
• 1/2 cup Marsala wine (had this leftover forever; any fortified wine would work)
• Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• Shredded mozzarella
• Parsley
• Salt and Pepper (duh)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Dredge seasoned chicken breasts in flour and brown in a combination of oil and butter. They don't need to be cooked through because you're gonna put them in a small casserole dish next.  Remove chicken from pan (obviously).

Add butter to pan and brown chopped mushrooms. They should be golden when you add the Marsala. Reduce for a minute and then add the cream of mushroom and the milk. Mix until blended. Taste and season if needed.

Pour sauce over the chicken breasts in the pan you plan to bake in. Seal with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Uncover the chicken, sprinkle a good amount of cheese on top of each chicken breast and cook uncovered until melted and browned. It will look like it's ready to be eaten... I may have even thrown on the broiler (but do not forget it! I almost did).

Add parsley to make pretty and serve over rice. Or egg noodles... they'd probably be good too. Hell, maybe even whole wheat penne.

Profile picture of my meal

See... almost burned the top. Almost!

Delicious and Beautiful. Especially with that parsley.