Top 5 Strange Thai Foods!
Most people think Thai food is very healthy because in one menu you will get all kinds of food nutrients, vitamins from vegetables, protein and carbohydrate from meat and rice.
If I ever thought about the unhealthiest or strangest foods we have here, I would think of these five and that they are also Thais’ favorites.
The first food that came up in my mind is Laab Luead, bloody pork sour and spicy salad. Uhh… I don’t want to imagine its picture in my head but I really have to tell you what it is like. This recipe came from either Laos or Thailand, and I’m sorry I’m not sure which one! I am never really sure. My father and my grandma loved this food. The pork in this dish is uncooked and dressed with fresh pig’s blood…
Eventually our government announced the campaign telling Isaan people to stop eating it uncooked. We cook the pork, but still dress it with fresh blood.
(uhh.. next,.. please..)
Goong Dten or dancing shrimps, I admitted that I used to have this one when I was young. My brother loves it too. However when I grew up, I feel too sad eating them alive, I stopped.
The shrimps were from fresh water and from the rice fields which are not really clean if we eat them uncooked. Later my mom changed the recipe. She made omelets with small shrimps from fresh water. That’s better.
Next is the super expensive ants’ eggs which won the third spot in my top five unhealthiest Thai food. Half of a handful costs 20 Baht (about 70 cents usd.). We have to buy about 200 Baht to get enough for making one pot of Isaan style soup. Some people eat them raw (uncooked) by themselves (the queen ants). I already tried that. The taste, when it was uncooked, was not pleasant. I like it cooked in the soup or omelet better.
My mom used to take me and my brother for ants’ eggs hunting. I went with mom, even though I never really liked any kind of physical activity at all (I think we call that lazy.. :p haha). Big red ants live in mango trees in a nest, sometimes on the very top. We need a basket tied with a long stick and a bucket full of water. We poke the ant nest until the eggs fall into the basket. When we bring it down to the ground it’s covered with angry red ants. We put the whole basket into a large bucket of water and the eggs sink down to the bottom and the ants float on top. We get rid of the ants so their army will not kill us. It’s sad, but kind of fun too.
If you get to see any dance show from Isaan, you will see a dance that was created to show brushing the ants off our arms as we hunt for the ant eggs!
Cab Moo or fried pork skin, first choice when we order Somtam (Papaya Spicy Salad). There are two type of Cab Moo, non-fat Cab Moo and most-fat Cab Moo. I will tell you now the most-fat type tasted better. However, the best quality and most expensive is the one without fat.
OTOP (One Tumbon One Product) in some provinces have made it the best seller or five stars product from their area. You can see how much we love this food.
Next unhealthy food is salted red egg yolk from duck. There are very high calories and cholesterol in these eggs. In Thailand, there is one type of restaurant influenced by Chinese culture. I don’t know whether people in China have the same type of restaurant, I have never been there.
Anyway, they sell one cup of boiled plain rice for 5 Baht and serve it with many kinds of food, mostly have salty taste and some are sour and spicy. They mix spicy and sour salad then dress over top of salted red eggs, call Yum Kai Dang.
Can you suggest more of unhealthy food you can get in Thailand?
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