Then we got on the MRT. It was pretty easy, except instead of tickets, you get these black plastic tokens. I was terrified I would drop it, and it would roll off somewhere, but it worked out fine. We actually got to our scheduled meeting point 30 minutes early, because that's the kind of overanxious planners we are. Our guide was there waiting, and it turned out that we were the only people who had signed up for the tour, so it was our own private tour which was a nice surprise. She said she was fine with starting early, so off we went.
Our first stop was a place that was famous for preparing three kinds of pork. We got a sample plate.
It's a pork sausage, "red pork", and roasted pork, all covered in a sweet and savory sauce. It was yummy, and probably my favorite dish of the night.
After that she took us to a dessert place. They had some cool looking sesame desserts, but we only got to taste the mung bean cakes which were not very good.
Next up was a coconut drink with noodles. We were wondering how you put noodles in a drink, but when we got there we realized that the noodles were made from tapioca, and it was like a gummy worm version of bubble tea. They were set up to make it for the masses.
The first vat is the coconut drink with the noodles. The second one has jackfruit in it. They scoop it all together and add ice.
Our guide got us straws to help with the drinking. It was yummy, but a bit disconcerting to suck noodles up a straw.
The next stop was another drink, tea this time. The place is famous for its restorative teas. They sold them by the cup and by the bottle. We tried a couple. It was fine, but it was a bit wasted on us, since none of us are big tea drinkers.
Just walking down the street in Chinatown is an experience.
We survived the street crossing and went to get some dim sum. I had really been looking forward to this part, but I was a bit disappointed. I've had better dim sum.
It started getting dark while we were eating. We went back onto the main street,
Then we went down an alley for oyster and mussel omelets.
Our guide told us that the green bowl meant that this was a top ranked food place. We like oysters and mussels, but found that the omelet was a bit too oily for our taste.
We also had to watch out for motorcycles, since the "restaurant" was technically a street.
After the omelets, we went to try a peppery pork soup.
It was spicy, but really tasty. We also had great seats inside where we could watch it being prepared.
This "restaurant" was set up in front of a movie theater that seemed to mostly show old American action movies dubbed over in Thai. Luckily, I've gotten more used to spicy food, because it was good, but very peppery. The noodles were very thin and rolled right up.
After we were done eating, we saw how they wash the bowls. I'm glad I saw it after I ate and not before.
We finished up with dessert down a street full of fruit vendors.
We tried two different desserts, sesame dumplings in ginger broth with gingko and grains with sugar and ice.
The sesame dumplings were actually good, but by that point I was too full to make much of a dent. My dad made a good effort at the various sweetened and chilled grains, even though he was very puzzled by the whole combination. After all that eating, our guide walked us back to the MRT, past this lovely gate.
It was an interesting experience, so I'm glad we did it, but it was definitely not the best food I've had. Our Tuesday adventure, on the other hand, was a huge success. Everyone loved Cooking with Poo. We fueled up with some Chu's and then took the BTS one stop to the meeting point. We ended up in Poo's group for the market tour. Mom was totally in her element.
Luckily, no one is squeemish, so we got through the live
and not so alive
animal part just fine. Even Poo said she doesn't like to eat the bugs they have for sale there.
Her nickname comes from the Thai word for rose apple, the reddish fruit along the top row.
Jeff's not much of a shopper, but he and I both had fun taking photographs of the market's bounty. Jeff loved the different kinds of spices and spicy sauces.
I liked the different kinds of rices, especially the sticky rice.
It's good that we were there earlier in the morning. Most of the market is covered, but I'm sure it can get quite hot as the day goes on.
After our market tour, we got in the van to go the cooking school. We learned all about the area the school is in and Poo's efforts to use the profits of her business to improve the neighborhood. Her school is down this alley.
Inside, it's small, but cheerfully painted and neatly set up.
We cooked three different dishes, and before each one, we got a demonstration and explanation.
There were six burners and twelve people, so we cooked in two shifts. They had all the ingredients prepped for us.
Poo and her assistants were there keeping an eye on us the whole time. We pretty much just chopped and stirred.
Our first dish was pad see ew, Mom's favorite. She was super happy.
Next, we made beef with cashew nuts, which everyone agreed was delicious.
Our last dish was green curry. You can buy the paste pre-made at the store, but Poo insisted we make our own from scratch.
Then we took our turns cooking it up.
It was spicier than the other dishes, but still yummy.
We wanted to save space for dessert though. It was a fruit tasting followed by mango and sticky rice. Mom was in heaven.
We cooked with Poo, and we loved it.
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