Called the 'King of Fruit', durian are large (40cm long) hard spiky fruit with a pulply flesh inside. They are supposed to have a stink and you'll sometimes see 'No Durian' signs in the hotels, but that's something of an exaggeration. The smell is very mild when compared to old fish sauce for example and is reminiscent of, well flatulence. You split the outer case with a large cleaver, break it open and inside in pockets you'll find a soft pulpy flesh wrapped around large stones (shown below), this is the part you eat. The flavour is complex with some sweet and some bitter notes.
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[Source: Appon's Thai Food Recipes]
1-2 Pla-Nin Fish ( Approx 500 gms each )4-6 Lemon Grass3-4 Tablespoon Crystal SaltPreparation1. Gut and scale the fish (ito scale a fish hold it by the tail and scrape the knife against the scales to scrape them off).2. Stuff the lemon grass into the center of the fish.3. Rub the salt into the outside of the fish.4. Grill the fish on the barbecue until cooked.
We have many types of delicious beetles in Thailand, here are just 2! Since I'm in Isaan, I'm going to introduce you to the various farmers foods that are eaten here. I know that you'll never make them at home, but if you're in Thailand, given them a try, you might find out that you like them. I was introduced to them as a child by my father, so I don't have the revulsion to them that westerners are taught, but then I have a revulsion to beef.
The winged insects are eaten minus the wings and legs. When you buy them in the market, they're dry fried in a pan with salt and pepper to cook them so you don't need to cook them yourself. They're nice with Maggi sauce.Oh, one last thing, don't let the fact they live on old buffalo dung put you off...
Older people in Thailand chew this berry when it's ripe and yellow (these are slightly under-ripe). It's a little addictive, and has the unfortunate effect of making the teeth rather black as can be seen from the photograph below. When you see old people chewing what looks like chewing tobacco, this is the berry that they're chewing.
Mangosteens are a pithy not very sweet soft fruit the size of an apple. To open cut around the middle and twist. When they're freshly cut the pith is bright red, you eat the white centre, discarding any stones. We call this the 'Queen' of fruit. (The King of Fruits is Durian).
The blood is left to congeal in a pot (above is chunks of congealed pigs blood), then sliced and added to glass noodle soup, and other forms of soup.
These lungs are cooked until almost dissolved into the water, and again used for soups and noodles.
Pigs intestines are cleaned carefully, boiled until soft, then sliced and made into a salad, or fried, or sliced thin for dipping into chilli sauce.
Liver is used in lap-mu, or sliced and fried, or used as in suki yaki, or even barbecued.
These tongues are nice barbecued (grilled), till browned on the outside, then sliced thinly and eaten with a spicy sauce as a gop-gam dish (a snack to eat with alcoholic drinks).