Big Sweet Tooth

A Funny Thing About Thai Spring Rolls...

First of all, they ain't served up Vietnamese style.

If you could have seen the looks of confusion on those poor Thai's faces when I asked for lettuce, basil, mint - all the greens you usually get from the Viet folks when they serve up spring rolls.  Dead chaos and confusion...cause they really wanna give you what you desire, but have no idea what the frosty hell you are talking about.  Their rolls just don't come out that way!

There was one and only one street stall that immediately tossed my fresh rice paper wrapped spring roll into a tiny plastic bag, littered it with some cukes, a bit of lettuce and some fish sauce and took my 30 cents - somehow they knew a bit of the drill.  The most delish fried rolls on all of the island.  Restaurant versions were a mix between good, damn good and downright delicious, but nothing like the street hawker version.  That was just simply some next level fry up.

There is a place here in LA that I must try before I head back to NJ next week - Jitlada.  Supposed to be the very best Thai in all of LA.  Southern style.  I've seen pix, they look next to perfect.  10 more days and I'm gone.  Simply unreal.

In other breaking news though - I scored myself a new sailboat slip in the marina.  Channel side.  Super cool.  AND, AND, AND...I meet with my FloBo architect this week.  He has the first pass ready of the Flo upgrade.  Cannot wait!

My New Thai Fetish. Plural.

Not even a pad thai fan, yet I became obsessed...

Once I discovered that some pad thai was made with silky little noodles, I went a bit berserk in Thailand.  It just became some much more palatable thinking I could slip it back in about 4 bites.  Tiny dried shrimp and fresh lime are two other musts.  I can't say it really tasted anything like its American counterpart.  It was just spicier, tangier and eggier.  I love the egg.  Add more.  Three, four even.  I can kill off a cool half dozen eggs in one sitting, no problem.

Another freaky fascination became crab in yellow powder.  These small spiced up crab legs with baby bits of meat tucked in every nook.  So easy to stalk.  If you order just crab meat, well plan on getting exactly that.  Piles of meat.  Tasty, but I like sucking it off the bone.  And, being surprised and delighted when I found yet another tiny leg buried in the sauce graveyard.

Then there was the fish.  The whole fried fish (whatever was fresh that day) absolutely blanketed in spicy chile sauce. Again, lots of lime.  Each little sliver picked clean of flaky white meat.  A swig of beer after every few chomps.  A belly so satisfied.

Pretty views from every stoop on the beach and for real, when I said, "please bring ice"...it was a friggin BUCKET that showed up tableside.  I love Thailand.

Real Thai Food in Thailand...Totally Dif - Just Like Mexican!

Yet again, rough-hewn kitchens turn on the best food ever.

Just got back from a over-too-fast trip to Koh Samui - a lovely little island off the coast of Thailand.  I went to do a full on body recharge, but of course my entire stay became about finding really authentic seafood, tracking down the perfect pina colada and coming home with a mega tan.  All were achieved with great results!

First of all, I was stunned to realize that pad thai wasn't made with the thick noodles over in the mother land like we're used to back home.  It's thin noodles all the way around.  The seafood was phenomenal - other-worldly even.  The beaches were the best I've seen in a long, long time - and became even more so with a chilly pina colada served up in a young coconut that was just macheted out of the tree. I'd order plate after plate of food and the bills would be like $20. 

I have a billion photos, and a lot of stories to go with them.  Once my desktop decides to pop back on, well - it shall begin!