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Published: January 4th 2014
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The mushroom dance
Dancing with angel ear mushrooms should be a new trend. I awoke early, filled with excitement. Last week, my coworker asked where I was traveling for the holiday. I told her Kanchanaburi. A few hours later, she asked if I wanted to come to her family home for part of my trip. I immediately accepted.
She sent a songthaew to pick me up at my guest house. (After some research she decided taking the bus might be too confusing and involve a bit of walking, so this seemed like a better plan.) She said it would take 30-45 minutes for the trip. I climbed in, eager to enjoy the sights and sounds of slightly more rural Thailand. I saw many families going to and from the market, some washing cars, but mostly people were just relaxing together. Most people who were driving were a bit confused to see my white face, but immediately smiled and waved. This really is the land of smiles.
My relaxing, sight-seeing ride was cut short when we pulled up in front of a small group of army houses. The trip had taken 20 minutes. My friend's mother looked a bit surprised to see me and just yelled, "Hello!" Children came running out as I
climbed out of the back of the songthaew, yelling, "Happy New Year, Teacher!" That's about as much English as they all speak. My friend was at the market still, buying ingredients for the day's lunch. "
Sawadee Bi Mai Kha!" I said; I'd learned Thai for "Happy New Year!" just for her. Her mother's face lit up and she gestured to a chair, "Sit down please!" I sad and drank some water until my friend arrived. We were both amused that her mother had another English phrase in her arsenal.
We looked at all the ingredients: chillies, limes, lime leaves, lemongrass, cilantro, mini green eggplants, two kinds of mushrooms, and a pile of shrimp that would have cost a fortune in the US. Beautiful. All of it was fresh. All of it smelled wonderful.
The original plan was for me to help with the cooking, but my friend and I got so caught up taking photos of everything that her mother did it all. (To be fair, she runs a little restaurant out of her home and she's a quick cook!) Just as we finished with our photo montage, she was smashing chillies in a plastic bag (great idea!)
and heating up the first pan. Next thing I knew, herbs were in the pan heating up, then spices, a little tasting (by me too!), then some added spices, and then like magic, the Tom Yum Kung was done. Next, she slowly heated coconut milk, added green curry paste, other goodies, and next thing I knew, the green curry was ready. It smelled divine. It's so hard to comprehend how such flavorful food was prepared in an outdoor kitchen over a single flame.
We sat down to eat the dishes and drink some cold beers. It was warm, it was sunny, it was New Years Day. I had a wonderful family to share amazing food with. And laugh with, while we tried to communicate. The children danced and made us laugh. The new year was off to a wonderful start.
Later, at the bus station, we saw a blue songthaew, the same one we'd taken there. "Next time, you can take that to my home," my friend said. Next time, indeed. I'm already looking forward to it.
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frankardenas
non-member comment
Yum
You make me hungry right now, eating is the best way to welcome a new year, specially with those spicy flavours, good job.