Pla Dip (Thai Sashimi)

This is pla dip I had in Pattaya. It is pla saem-mawn,ปลาแซลมอน, (salmon), pla too-naa daeng, ปลาทูน่าแดง (red tuna), pla gapong daeng nam leuk, ปลากะพงแดงน้ำสึก (deep water red snapper), pla meuk yak,
ปลาหมึกยักษ (octopus), bpoo at, ปูอัด (pressed crab), and wasabi, วาซาบิ.

Shrimp and Prawns

In the USA, people commonly call large shrimp "prawns", but that's not correct because some prawns can be smaller than shrimp. Some people think shrimp are saltwater and prawns are freshwater. That's not correct either.



This is the difference:

• The structure of the gills is different between shrimp and prawns. If you turn a shrimp over and look at its "belly", the side plate of the second segment of the abdomen overlaps the segments in the front and behind. If you do the same to a prawn, all of the abdominal side plates overlap like tiles from the front.
  
• Shrimp "brood" their eggs like a chicken (the eggs are held in their swimming legs -- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleopod). Prawns don't brood -- They just shed their eggs into the current.
  

In Thailand, there are mainly three types of "prawns" served in restaurants:

• กุ้งแชบ๊วย Goong Chae-biao (White Prawn, Banana Prawn) Penaeus merguiensis - It has a white body with small rust-colored dots. Fully grown, they obtain a length of 20 cm (8 inches) or more, but they are harvested before they reach half that size. The small ones are sorted and sold as กุ้งชีแฮ้ Goong Chee-Hae. This is the prawn that is found in recipes that just indicate "prawns".
  
  

• กุ้งกุลาดำ Goong Goo-Laa-Dum (Tiger Prawn) Penaeus monodon - It has black and white stripes and is the giant among Asia prawns. The females grow to over 30 cm (1 foot) long. Look at the size of these tiger prawns!
  
  

• กุ้งก้ามกราม Goong Gaam-graam (Spiny-Clawed Prawn, Giant Freshwater Prawn, Freshwater Lobster) Macrobrachium rosenbergii - These are the prawns with the long second walking leg and a large spiny pincher. Spiny-clawed prawns with blue bodies are more tender when broiled or baked than those with grey-green bodies. Smaller spiny-clawed prawns are called กุ้งนาง Goong Naang.
  
  

Dinner at Eoy's Home

Pattaya, Thailand

I love going to Eoy's home for dinner. Eoy's mother and father always prepare a wonderful meal.



To start, the best chicken soup I ever tasted. It was a very rich chicken stock with chunks of all kinds of chicken parts, cooked egg yolks, slices of kaa, ข่า (galangal), pak chee, ผักชี, (cilantro), a generous portion of nam manao, น้ำมะนาว, (lime juice) and, of course prik kee noo, พริกขี้หนู.



This fish is "pla see kohn", ปลาสีขน -- I'm not sure what kind of fish it is, but it must be in the mackerel family. It has a similar, but milder, less oily taste than mackerel. It is wonderful with nam jim, น้ำจิ้น.



This is the nam jim, น้ำจิ้น -- Lot's of hawm daeng, หอมแดง, sliced red shallots, firey prik kee noo, nam pla น้ำปล่า, and lime juice. It is fantastic with fried fish, and the little pieces of chile occassional give quite a hot bite!



This is pla nin, ปลานิล, (tilapia) fried to perfection. Several deep slices are cut in each side prior to frying. When served, you just pry off a big chunk from each slice. It comes off with ease and no bones.

Goong Goo-laa-dum

Pattaya Pier, Pattaya, Thailand





กุ้งกุลาดำ
goong goo laa dum

We visited Pattaya Pier the other night to buy seafood for dinner, and I saw these large tiger prawns (Click on picture for larger view).

They don't get much bigger than this. It doesn't take many to make a meal like:

กุ้งกุลาดำนึ่งซีอิ๊ว
Goong Goo-laa-dum Neung Si Iu
Tiger Prawns Steamed with Soy Sauce

Yum Moo Ham

Pattaya, Thailand
ยำหมูแฮม (Spicy Thai-Style Ham Salad)


This is different. A ham salad made Thai-style with strips of sliced ham, cabbage, diced scallions, onion, parsley, plentiful prik kee noo (Thai chiles), tomato, fish sauce, and lime juice -- Garnished with a slice of tomato and two slices of cucumber.

Boxed Lunch at Shenzhen International Airport

Shenzhen, China
Its called Shenzhen "International" Airport because it has two gates dedicated to international flights. While waiting for the delayed departure, airport personnel passed out boxes to waiting travelers. The first thing I saw was the drink.



Mmm! Wax Gourd Drink is always high on my list of refreshments... Ok, I think I'll skip the drink and head straight to the food.



What the...? A bun with a bun with glop in the center with another bun/cakey-thing.

Fortunately, the Bangkok Airways flight served lunch! :-)

Thai Character Set

	ASCII		Hex UNICODE	Chr	ASCII	Hex UNICODE	Chr	ASCII	Hex UNICODE	Chr
	 		 		ภ	ภ	ภ	เ	เ	เ
	ก		ก	ก	ม	ม	ม	&#3649	แ	แ
	ข		ข	ข	ย	ย	ย	โ	โ	โ
	ฃ		ฃ	ฃ	ร	ร	ร	ใ	ใ	ใ
	ค		ค	ค	ฤ	ฤ	ฤ	ไ	ไ	ไ
	ฅ		ฅ	ฅ	ล	ล	ล	ๅ	ๅ	ๅ
	ฆ		ฆ	ฆ	ฦ	ฦ	ฦ	ๆ	ๆ	ๆ
	ง		ง	ง	ว	ว	ว	็	็	ไ
	จ		ง	จ	ศ	ศ	ศ	่	่	่
	ฉ		ฉ	ฉ	ษ	ษ	ษ	้	้	้
	ช		ช	ช	ส	ส	ส	๊	๊	๊
	ซ		ซ	ซ	ห	ห	ห	๋	๋	๋
	ฌ		ฌ	ฌ	ฬ	ฬ	ฬ	์	์	์
	ญ		ญ	ญ	อ	อ	อ	ํ	ํ	ํ
	ฎ		ฎ	ฎ	ฮ	ฮ	ฮ	๎	๎	๎
	ฏ		ฏ	ฏ	ฯ	ฯ	ฯ	๏	๏	๏
	ฐ		ฐ	ฐ	ะ	ะ	ะ	๐	๐	๐
	ฑ		ฑ	ฑ	ั	ั	ั	๑	๑	๑
	ฒ		ฒ	ฒ	า	า	า	๒	๒	๒
	ณ		ณ	ณ	ำ	ำ	ำ	๓	๓	๓
	ด		ด	ด	ิ	ิ	ิ	๔	๔	๔
	ต		ต	ต	ี	ี	ี	๕	๕	๕
	ถ		ถ	ถ	ึ	ึ	ึ	๖	๖	๖
	ท		ท	ท	ื	ื	ื	๗	๗	๗
	ธ		ธ	ธ	ุ	ุ	ุ	๘	๘	๘
	น		น	น	ู	ู	ู	๙	๙	๙
	บ		บ	บ	ฺ	ฺ	ฺ	๚	๚	๚
	ป		ป	ป	 	 		๛	๛	๛
	ผ		ผ	ผ	 	 		 	 
	ฝ		ฝ	ฝ	 	 		 	 
	พ		พ	พ	 	 		 	 
	ฟ		ฟ	ฟ	฿	฿	฿