Another Day in Beautiful Mae Sai

Daeng told me last night that she was going to help make Som-Tom Papaya Salad for the Monks at the local Temple today.  I ask her what the occasion was.  She tried to explain it to me but I just could not get the substance except this was done every year is this part of Thailand and Myanmar (Burma).

We got up late, around 7:30 AM, showered, dressed and headed to the Pa Thong Ko shop for coffee.  To our surprise it was already closed.

After having coffee at another little shop in the back corner of the Ban Pa Meat morning market, we headed over to the Temple. 

The place was pretty busy at 9:00 AM with lots of folks and hundreds of baskets full of stuff, wrapped in cellophane, for the Monks.

I wondered around the place and make a little noise hitting the big drum in front of the Temple.  It made more noise than I expected. 

Daeng hooked up with her friend, Com New Wan (spelled like it sounds), and they started the process for making the Som-Tom Papaya salad. 

The process was an example of momentum.  It started with the two of them, Daeng and Com New Wan, getting things going with the crabs and papaya and ended up with over 15 people helping out.

I asked a lot of folks what this celebration was about.  No one could really make me understand except that they did it every year. 

Like I said, toward the end of the food preparation, a lot of folks helped out.

At around noon, the Monks came and sat at the tables that food had been placed.  I would guess that about 80 Monks sat down to the tables.  After a blessing they all ate.

After the Monks eat, they got up from the table and the regular folks sat down and continued to eat.

As for us folks helping, we ate on a little porch by the food preparation area.  We had lots of food and stuffed ourselves.  Everyone had fun helping and eating.  It is always nice to see folks having fun.

The Som-Tom Papaya Salad we great, as well!

After that, there was a ceremony for all the Monks and then each Monk got a paper with a number of the gift basket that was for them.

They each came and got their basket and then sat and prayed for the person that gave it to them.

It was a nice celebration but I still don't know what it was for.  The next time I talk with my friend "Cola", who runs the Internet shop, I'll see if he can make me understand.

Oh, before I forget, we had this desert that I call "worms in coconut milk".  It is sweet and tastes like chicken.  Come on, I'm kidding.  It tastes like a sweet gelatin in coconut milk.

By the way, a couple of things happen when we get older.  I just can't remember what they are.

04-11-09 Daeng's Som-Tom Papaya Salad

With the start of Songkran, Thailand New year Celebration, officially starting Monday Daeng's Som-Tom Papaya Stand is going in full swing.

I went with her this morning to take pictures of her trip to the market and to set up her stand.

We got up about 5:45 AM and she had coffee and toast, in bed. I figured I had better be nice to her since she is a business owner.

She got up and sang the "Good Morning Song" to me. It is nice to see her happy because when she's happy, I'm happy. Funny thing how that works.

We had to stop on the way to the morning market as the gas gauge said: "EMPTY". It was nice to see the price of gas has come down to 25.37 Thai Baht a liter. That is about $2.75 a US Gallon.

We drove up the road to the morning market. It was a very busy time even at 6:40 in the morning on Saturday.

We parked our motorbike and headed to the fish area of the market so Daeng could buy crab. She bought a kilo of live crab for 50 Thai Baht (TB). We left the crab there to pick up on the way back.

Next stop was to buy a green vegetable called "ka-boom". It is served by itself with pieces of cabbage along with the Som-Tom Papaya Salad.

Then she also bought a small vegetable that I don't know the name. It is used in the making of the salad. It looks like a round cucumber from the outside.

She also bought ten kilograms of green papaya for 63 TB. The exchange rate for Thai Baht (TB) to the US dollar is 35 TB to 1 USD. We left the papaya there to pick up on the way back.

We did stop and looked at some pineapple but did not buy any as we already had to much to carry back.

Next stop, long green beans,

limes

and tomatoes.

We went to the top of the market and bought some palm sugar from the Chinese man that has a speciality shop.

We than walked back thru the market and picked up all the items that we had purchased.

We loaded up the motorbike and headed over to Daeng's stand area where she stashed the items we had purchased. She hid them under her tables and chairs so no one would see them.

That was everything except the crab. The crab we took with us to her Mother's place where she steamed the live crab to cook.

She also washed some brine shrimp. She is using brine shrimp instead of bamboo worm as the bamboo worm is to expensive this time of year.

It was funny to watch the crab run around the cooking area and Daeng picking them up and throwing them back in the pail. I picked one up and it pinched me so I threw it back down. Daeng laughed at me.

After everything was cooked and cooled she loaded up everything. The motorbike was full so I walked over to the area of her stand.

When I arrived she was already setting up.

One of the reasons that folks like to buy salad from her is she is very clean in all her preparation.

She washes everything and makes sure it is extremely clean.



By about 11:00 she is ready for business.

Daeng thanked me for helping her with sarcasm in her voice and told me she could handle everything from here.

I said "Good Bye" since she had a BIG knife in her hand.

You can see more of her cooking at the is link: COOKING FOR THE KIDS

Daeng’s recipe for this salad is:

• 2 cups green papaya peeled and shredded (substitute: green
hard mango or cucumber).
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1-3 small red chilies
• 1/2 cup long been or green bean, cut into1/2 to 1 inch lengths.
• 2 tbsp dried bamboo worm (for westerners - use 2 tbsp dried
brine shrimp)
• 1-2 tbsp Thai fish (anchovy) sauce
• 1-2 tbsp lime juice or tamarind juice
• 1 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1-2 small tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tbsp crushed roasted peanuts
• Daeng likes to add about 1 small fermented crab (I do not
like the fermented crab as you have to pick out the pieces as
you eat.) You weak stomached folks may want to stay away
from this fermented crab. Fresh, steamed crab works great, too.

First, she peels the papaya and rinses with running water to
remove the acid. She uses a knife to make little cuts in the papaya
and then cuts it long ways to get skinny pieces about the size of a
tooth pick. Another way is to remove the seeds and shred the
papaya with a grater. Set aside for now.
Next, place the garlic cloves and the chilies in a mortar and
mash with a pestle until crushed into chunks. If you use fermented
crab this is the place to put it in.
Then place the papaya and the remaining ingredients in the
mortar and gently combine all ingredients by mixing with the pestle
and a spoon.
For more spicy - add more chilies, less spicy - use less chilies
and a little more sugar. Westerners (farangs) seem to like the
sweet taste.
Serve cold but have some fresh cabbage sliced along with some
sticky rice to dip into the “Som Tom” sauce.
Note: The bamboo worm does not taste like chicken, it tastes like shrimp.

04-05-09 Funny Thing On Way to Work

It's Sunday morning. Daeng got up about 7:00 AM and went to the morning market to buy the things she needs for her "Som-Tom Papaya" stand.

She decided that she has so much fun doing this every year during the Thai New Year water holiday that she wants to do it again. She has been doing this for over ten years.

Her first day, this year, was yesterday and she sold about 30 orders.

After buying her supplies at the morning market she stopped back and woke me up with coffee.

She left for work around 9:00 and drove from the guest house were we live along the river on the Myanmar (Burma) Border.

When she hit the main street she saw a large number of people celebrating.

It was a parade with boys in brightly colored outfits, like at the celebrations on Friday.

Some were in horse drawn carriages.

Some were on the shoulders of their Fathers and some were on elephants.

This is the same kind of celebration that we attended on Friday but just bigger with many boys doing it at the same time.

We were told yesterday that many parents have their boys do this ceremony around this time of year as it is the low or slow time of the year. The rice has been harvested and it is to dry to plant again. That means there is not much work and they can celebrate the harvests of the last year. I say harvests, in the plural, as there are at least two rice harvest a year in this part of Thailand.

By the way, elephants don't see very well so if you hold up your cellular telephone to take a picture they will reach out, take your phone and eat it. They think it is food. In the picture above, that is what the elephant is trying to do, reaching for a spectator's phone.

Yep, these folks sure know how to party. After Daeng took the pictures she went on to work to sell Som-Tom Papaya Salad. We will let you know how her stand does in the days to come.