re: When eating Thai/Vietnamese etc..

quote:

---

A true OT question what are you reaching for?

---

Both mixed together in fish sauce with dried, crushed chili pepper.

Chili Garlic for me

quote:

---

Fish sauce

---

with sliced fresh chili peppers







another version

Sambal, but I also ask for chili fish sauce too.

quote:

---

Thai food is so overrated.

---

you have clearly never been to SE Asia. I cannot speak to your local Pad Thai, but in the motherland it is hard to beat.

quote:

---

you have clearly never been to SE Asia. I cannot speak to your local Pad Thai, but in the motherland it is hard to beat.

---

Some people think they know it all when in reality they’ve left their small food bubble. Thai food in Thailand > Thai food in US. Same with Vietnamese. Not just better but more diverse. They just have more people cooking/eating it and have been doing it for a longer period of time with their own specialized ingredients/techniques. You can’t beat that.

I make my own Siracha, and last experiment, I actually made a combo Siracha & BBQ sauce as I added ingredients at the end... it was kinda cool

Also, I make Sambal, as that is mostly associated with Indonesian food. When I don't have time to make it, I buy sambal at local markets here in Abu Dhabi who trade Indonesian products here. As for the Thai stores who trade, they have their own sweet n sour or spicy sauces, Esan Sauce or Phuket fish sauce dip that is awesome. But, none of those taste like the good Siracha with the Rooster on it, which is made in California, even though Siracha is a city in Thailand and it was originated in Thailand.

I just came back from Thailand, where I spent 20 days. That was my 65th trip there since 2002 (and with 2.5 years not traveling there due to Covid), and I just love their food. Instead of eating the huge buffet breakfast in my hotel, I ate 14/14 days at a local street food breakfast place, where the mother has been cooking in her nearby house for over 30 years, and her twin daughters and staff cart the food from the home to the setup on Sukhumvit Soi 22 and set up and serve from 7am-2pm. They never have any left as they bag up the last, and sell it to passers by.

I was in Hua Hin for 3 days and Phuket for 3 days or I would have eaten there all 20 days. They even have frog legs daily, but they stew it, not fried. When I tell them frog legs are great fried, they look at me like I'm an idiot... The way they make their frog legs looks like a green curry dish, and of course it is spicy as hell.

Legit Thai food doesn’t need either of those on top of it

quote:

---

go for their in house chili oil. That's the real flavor bomb

---

I have noticed that is less common than it used to be in my travels. But shite that stuff can be insanely spicy