I was again in Bangkok in January and April for a workshop and I had time to sneak to the Chatuchak market. In January, the climate was quite pleasant but when I was there last week, the heat was rather extreme and I would describe it as "biting the skin". As I walked around thirsty and hot, I stumbled on a Thai dessert roadside stall which was just too hard to resist. Reminiscent of the halo-halo in the Philippines, this Thai dessert is also called ruan mitr or tab tim grob (red rubies), depending on the mix of goodies inside. I always like ruan mitr which I often order after a meal at MK restaurants.
At a field visit in Nakon Nayok province, we were served this sticky rice with coconut milk and banana and taro filling wrapped in banana leaves. The sticky rice part tastes like the Philippine suman but it is the filling that sets it apart. The piece de resistance was the ripe sweet tamarind (see photo below):
Last week, when I was in Bangkok, I had memorable meals, even those cooked in the countryside where we had our focus groups with farmers. Will post some photos in my next post.
