Save some room for dinner .....

It's actually a little hard writing a blog on one of our many strolls down Bang Po beach with the thought that Sable is no longer there ........

But on one of our strolls, we did find this little beachside place serving some mean Thai food.  We had been on the lookout for this famous Khao Mon Gai place (post to come) but we could never find it from the beach side.  This other little place, recognisable from the huge amounts of bamboo by the beach, was also recommend by Glenn, a favorite stop of his for tom yum.



We were going to order the tom yum, but both immediately spotted the coconut soup with tumeric and crab. Mmm. Good choice, indeed. A rich, yellow, coconut broth packed full of lemongrass and coriander was sublime. Just trying to get all of the crab from the shell with a fork was a bit hard and we eventually gave up ....



Luckily, within moments a khai jiaw goong sup appeared on the table to distract us. A delicate, paper thin omlette was carefully wrapped around minced prawn and peanuts and scattered with chopped chives. nom nom



Lastly, (this was an in between lunch and dinner kind-of meal ;-)) a bowl of Massaman curry. It was packed full of spice, with chunks of pork, onion and potato.



Now to saving some room for dinner ....

In loving memory of Sable, 20/06/2009

An absolute darling ... sending our thoughts to Glen & Kelli.

Terrible news, first their dog Samui went missing but was returned home a little shaken and dehydrated after being hit by a car to have only a day later another of their lovely dogs, Sable, loose her life after being hit by a car.

Sable was a so lucky to have been taken into Glen and Kelli's life and cared for and loved as much as she was by them both.

She will always be remembered ... as will her amazing fishing and crab catching efforts ;p  

Birthday piggin. Samui

Anyway where were we? Oh yeah back in Samui it was our friend Mike's birthday. We decided there could be no better way to celebrate such an occasion than to sacrifice a small animal, and so a plan was formed. We made calls and we found the specialist we were after, satisfied he could deliver further calls were made to inform all of our intentions. And so the day of celebration arrived, we began the morning with a trip to the markets to buy a few ingredients for the dishes we were contributing to the day - bbq'ed asparagus with a sherry bacon vinaigrette and grilled wild mushrooms wrapped in banana leaf with chilli and Thai basil. After some quick prep work it was onto the scooter and off to the other side of the island where the soiree was taking place.


After arriving at Glen and Kellys place and a quick drink we finished up our prep and awaited the arrival of the guest of honor...oh and Mike. Without warning it arrived, set on a long wooden plank and wrapped in butchers paper,



we all so desperately wanted to peel back the paper and take a peek but without the birthday boy all we could do was wait and anticipate. You know the saying idle hands, well ours soon set to work with a marker turning present into card with a few budding artists amongst us adding some final flourishes.





Finally Mike arrives not only to our relief but also the trio of dogs who were patiently guarding the aromatic parcel sitting on the table.

With Mike here it was all on, first the unwrapping of the present, paper was torn away to first reveal a golden brown snout followed by two crispy ears and down a superbly crackalicious body to the curly tail.



Fifteen kilos of perfectly roasted pig, yum! First cut is given to Mike before the savagery began.





Asparagus and mushrooms were put onto the bbq followed by corn, twice baked potato's and deviled eggs prepared by the insanely energetic Vern, Jess and co as well as Kel's mad coleslaw and fresh bread rolls from down the road.



The pig was amazing, the chef had deboned the beastie before rubbing the inside with Thai spices and then building a wooden frame to hold the shape as it roasted.


Seriously we're starving here

There was much feasting and drinking, then games with more drinking and silly hats as well as some impromptu magic, some more drinking and then some drink fueled eating, a good time was had by all.




Half down, half to go.... and yes I ate that ear. Tasty

I hope it's a birthday you remember Mike, it was a pleasure to be part of it.



Asparagus with sherry bacon vinaigrette (adapted from webers book of grilling)

It's a pretty loose recipe. Make with quantities suited to your taste.


Take some bacon and dice fairly finely, saute over a med low heat so the fat renders out of the bacon, don't rush it and cook until the bacon is golden and crispy.

Strain the bacon and return the fat to the pan.

Add diced garlic to the fat and saute until golden, at the end of sauteing the garlic throw in some picked thyme leaves for a few seconds to release the flavor and aroma.

Strain the garlic and thyme and add to the bacon. Keep the fat.

Whisk the bacon fat into some sherry vinegar until you have a loose dressing add the fried bacon, garlic and thyme then season.

Pour over freshly grilled asparagus or broccoli rabe.



Mushrooms in banana leaf with chilli and Thai basil.

Another simple one. Again quantities to taste.


Take a sheet of banana leaf and quickly run over an open flame, you will see as the leaf changes shades of green. This makes the leaf pliable and more giving as it is folded.

Onto the leaf add a handful of mixed mushrooms, some crushed garlic cloves, roast chilli powder, sliced shallot, a good handful of Thai basil and a squeeze of lime.

Fold the leaf around the mushrooms and secure with a couple of toothpicks if your not quite up to the leaf folding you can then wrap the leaf wrapped mushrooms in a sheet of al foil, you'll still get the leaf aroma in the mushrooms.

Place the package on the grill and cook. Unwrap at the table to get the full spectrum aromas.

Bake n Stay, Lamai

Now I love my rice and chilli for breakfast, but even when in Thailand we sometimes just have a craving for some eggs, and a coffee ... maybe even some bread.  We've driven past this little place alot, right at the corner before you turn into Lamai. It's called Bake n Take.



But this morning we're going to Bake n Stay. I go straight for the French breakfast set. 2 fried eggs, 2 croissant with coffee and a juice. Well, it was okay, it certainly might frighten a Parisian calling it a French breakfast though. The coffee was great, a nice chocolate feathering on the top and a strong caffeine kick. Freshly squeezed Thai orange juice as well, mmmm.



Kim has a panini with sausage, olive, dried tomato and pesto. The bread's a little unexciting and could do with a touch more toasting, but it's not bad.



We had both been eyeing off the custard tart sitting in the display cabinet since we arrived. So this makes a fantastic finish. The tart was definitely the highlight. A rich creamy custard with a caramel top encased in a crumbly short pastry.



Another good start to the day, we're back on the scooter for more exploring of the island.

Thanks for the all the fish.

Thanks to Ioanna from Pelican Burger for giving us the fish names from our visit to Izakaya Torimatsu.

The fish with the scary 8 -sided face is called Hakaku, and the next one (the oilyish very tasty one!) is called Tsubodai. Both caught of the coast of Hokkaido!

Home cooking, Samui pt 2

Back at home cooking, we had rung ahead and asked Khun Beat to just cook what ever she felt like. We arrived to a warm welcome and we quickly given dish after dish.
First up are two whole fried fish, crispy skinned and soft fleshed, spiked with garlic and pepper. With the fish came a new lesson in Thai superstition, as we ate we stripped of the top half then removed the bone and ate the bottom. The belief is if you flip the fish to eat the other side you pass that along to the fisherman and may flip him and his vessel.



Next a dtom yam of pork ribs hot sour and succulent, nuggets of pork rubbing shoulders with plenty of tomato's and pieces of Asian celery.



A stir fry of glass noodles with vegetable and egg made it's way to the table next.



Followed by a spicy green curry of pork, apple eggplant and beans.



Finally my favourite for the night small squid stuffed with pork and glass noodles simmered in a clear broth flavoured with oyster sauce. The squid was tender enough to cut with a spoon.



Then as we were saying "no more no more" a special surprise ... a dessert.  Small dumplings cooked in a palm sugar sweetened coconut cream with young coconut. Seasoned in the Thai way with salt, the result was a deliciously savoury dessert that we all suddenly found room for.



Once again Khun Beat had lived up to her street sign of home cooking, food cooked so when you ate you could feel the love.


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Mama's

Feeling a major burgin urge that comes on every so often, we swung by Mamas, a little burger bar between Lamai and Chawaeng. All decked out in old school american diner threads with red and white walls, movie and music posters and neon lots of neon. Theres a few style of burgers on their own or in a combo. We order a couple delux burgers then takes a seat in a both while we wait for them to be made. Minutes later we're facing a fresh grilled beef burger, lettuce, tomato, bacon and pickles pinned between a sesame seed bun with a Mamas flag sided with golden fries and a frosty coke. Sweet, burgin satisfied.












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Our love for Issan ... food!

We both love Issan food. The herbs, the spice, the chilli ... oh the chilli! Of all the places we've been in Thailand, the Northeasten corner is one we've yet ventured to. We always say we're waiting for enough time, as we're certain we're going to love it and there'll be so much to see. We seem to do a pretty good job of finding Issan food along our travels, like this little gem in Samui.

We found this on our first trip to Samui, a couple of years ago. She moved to Samui and fell in love with the ocean. It works out quite well, as alot of the contractors building here migrate down from Northern Thailand, and all miss their food. She makes traditional Issan food for the locals, and I honestly think we were her first even farang customers those years back.


Our first visit to Issan Food, Lamai

This time the kitchen has swung around and got a bit bigger, still with the charcoal grill out the front. We order some nam on stick, fermented pork sausage. A bowl of fresh herbs and vegetables including Thai basil, cucumber, cabbage and snake beans is placed on the table along with some sticky rice. This is a damn fine nam!



We also get a grilled pork salad, that's tossed with a roasted chilli and lime dressing with some roast rice and corriander leaves.



The cucumber salad is a nice little play on the traditional som dtum style salad. Chilli, peanuts and dried shrimp are pounded in the mortar, lime juice, palm sugar, fish sauce and the cucumber is then added. It's all tossed together and is a refreshing explosion of flavours and textures.



I can never pass up the oppotunity of a soup when we visit Issan Food in Lamai. They always vary, depending on the herbs and vegetables that were at the market today. Today we have a beef & herb soup. Thin slices of beef are simmered with garlic, chilli, apple eggplants, a little cabbage and lots of dill. It's a heady, aromatic soup, with tons of flavour and loads of stuff.



Although we haven't physically made is up to Issan, we do often get the opportunity to be transported there by the food ....


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5 vodka red bull, please

It was 10:30pm on a Tuesday night. After a Spanish wine tasting at Wine Connection, and a quick bite of Italian at BACI Ristorante in Chaweng we end up on Soi Green Mango. At the end of the soi, is the club Green Mango. Mike goes up to the bar and orders 5 vodka red bull. And this is what we got ...............



I'm all for buckets (posts on Koh Phangan to come) but this time of night, mid week, I would have appreciated my own glass ;-)

A Star Bar

The Coco bola bar was just a 3 minute scoot away from where we were staying in Samui so the natural choice for a drink or two to relax away the hardships of doing not much all day.



Star and her crew mixed up some wicked drinks and there was always a bowl of chips and beer nuts on hand.




Master of the bar and crochet Star






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Again with the really hard life.

Thai night carnival, Koh Samui

A roaming dinner is always a good one. Especially when it's at a Thai night carnival. We park the car and walk down the side of the road, the cars and scooters being ushered with military precision around the hoards of people.



The first stop, sweet corn in a cup. The fresh, plump, steamed corn kernels are mixed in a bowl with a touch of salt, sugar, coconut and butter. We take our cup in hand and continue roaming ...



Mmm, meat on a stick. We spot a lady with a pile of sticks and are oh-so-happy to see it's nam, fermented pork and glutionus rice sausage on a stick. She flashes it over the charcoal as she prepares a little bag with whole scud chilli's, chunks of cabbage and sliced ginger. It's nice and smokey, from the charcoal, and has a nice sour tang. Mouthfuls of sausage are alternated with chunks of cabbage, ginger and chilli.



Another meat on stick, chunks of marinated pork, also grilled over charcoal, keeps us going for a few more minutes ...



We spot a guy grilling these very interesting looking flatbreads over open flame charcoal. We grab a bag to take home.



We finish off the walking adventure with some fried chicken legs and a bag of fried chicken skin. Mmm.



If only carnival food was this good, and this cheap, all over the world.