Food Adventures 3

They even have types of noodles that are unheard of in western Thai restaurants, yen ta fo noodles - flat rice noodles with fish balls and reddish broth and guay jub. Guay jub is fresh flat rice noodles that has been dried and re-cooked with lots of water until mushy. The noodles are served with pig's blood and edible internal organs like liver and intestine. The broth is dark and has the aroma of five spice. The soup is served with tofu and a hard boiled egg that has been cooked in the five spice broth. While this dish may not sound great to westerners, but it is a comfort food for many Thais. For snacks, nothing is as nostalgic for me as kanom krok and fried banana and taro. Seeing the cook pouring the kanom krok batter into what looks like a massive escargot or poached egg tray brings back the memories of my grandmother. She loved kanom krok and we'd have it every morning when I visited her house. I always let the cook know that I like mine really crispy on the outside. Kanom krok is slightly similar to pancakes, except that it is wetter than pancakes, has coconut milk and is only cooked on one side. Fried banana and fried taro tasted really great here even though my favorite ingredients are missing, grated coconut and sesame seeds. Another recent addition to the long list of foods is roti. This roti is a type of fried dough originally from Indian but has different twist to it. The thin dough is fried in butter and topped with sweet condensed milk and sugar. It is crispy, sweet and salty at the same time. While the dessert lady is kind of the last in line, I visit her first. Desserts vary from week to week - some are really good and go quickly. My favorite is the rainbow colored strips in coconut milk. She also makes other snacks like tapioca balls stuffed with minced pork, salted turnips and peanuts. Every other Sunday, a minivan full of Thai spices, vegetables and goods from Thailand is at the temple's parking lot. We buy some holy basil, lemon grass, Thai chilies and galangal from the lady. As we drive away, we can never get over what a great find that was