North Thailand Road Trip (Part 5): Eating Bugs in Chiang Rai Night Market

Eating bugs is not a new experience for me. Years ago, when I’m still a college student, a neighbor challenged me to eat this:

(Photo by Pilya)

This insect is called salagubang and it usually live on trees and very abundant during summer. We usually shake the trees around our house and these insects fall like hailstones. Children usually catch these bugs and used them as toys. Adults, on the other hand, catch them and turn them into pulutan.

I accepted my neighbor’s challenge and eaten one fried salagubang. Well, it was crunchy and salty. I admit that I almost puked it out. The eeky factor was still there.

In Thailand, our generous Thai friend Yam gave us a similar challenge. He asked us if we are brave enough to eat these bugs being sold in a night market in Chiang Rai:

I was up for the challenge but our Myanmar friend was hesitant in eating any insect. He preferred to eat the normal food being sold in the night market.

To convince our Burmese friend to accept the challenge, Yam bought the easiest bug meal in the menu which is the silkworm. He also bought some fried cricket. Yam paid 30 Baht for every plate of the fried insects.

Did our friend tried out the bugs? The answer is “yes” after much prodding. I guess the sight of these bugs unnerved him.

The fried silkworm and fried cricket tasted OK. They are crunchy and salty and they’re good partner for the beer that we drank that night.

I think I will not eat the fried bugs during normal days. Maybe I will eat them when I’m desperately hungry or maybe when I’m in Cambodia.

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Read more of our adventures in North Thailand:

North Thailand Road Trip (Part 1): Lampang’s Hidden Gem
North Thailand Road Trip (Part 2): A Taste of Chiang Rai’s Kôw Soy

North Thailand Road Trip (Part 3):Coffee Time at Le Petit Café
North Thailand Road Trip (Part 4): The Bizarre White Temple of Chiang Rai

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North Thailand Road Trip (Part 2): A Taste of Chiang Rai’s Kôw Soy

Our generous friends, Yam and J, brought us to Chiang Rai the day after our visit to Lampang not to check out another temple but to try the noodle soup that placed North Thailand in the map of gastronomic adventurers. That noodle soup is no other than the famous Kôw Soy.

I actually have no idea what kind of a place Chiang Rai is. The truth is that I only realized that I’m in Chiang Rai after seeing an eye-catching signpost.

And there’s more of the artsy signposts as we walked on.

A few steps more and I discovered that the artsy signposts were just warm-ups to the main work of art: the Golden Clock Tower of Chiang Rai:

Chiang Rai’s Golden Clock Tower serves not only as a tourist spot but also as a roundabout. Yam told us that the clock tower was made by the artist who built the Wat Rong Khun, which we will visit later. The clock tower’s design departed from the traditional Thai design.

The spikes made the clock tower like a big golden fire in the middle of the highway. Chiang Rai Golden Clock Tower is more impressive at night because of the musical show light show. So, if you’re in Chiang Rai during the night then you’ll be in for a great treat.

(Source: Minube)

The Golden Clock Tower is impressive but we walked on after a few photos because our true destination is this restaurant:

I didn’t know how to read Thai letters so I can’t give the name of the shop. What I do know is that the shop is just near the Gold Clock Tower. In fact, the clock tower can still be seen from the shop.

Yam and J ask us to choose between the Kôw Soy with shrimp or the Kôw Soy with fish.

I can’t remember what I chose between the two. Is it the one with fish? Or is it the one with shrimp?

The restaurant started to get busy because its lunch time when we reached the place. 

On the walls of the restaurant are some etchings and photos. I saw one drawing that’s very familiar.

Lampang Temple

Another photo shows the shop owner and his sons during the groovy years. :-P

Our Kôw Soy finally reached our table. This is what I got:

And this is my drinks:

According to Hungry Traveller, Kôw Soy is a “curry-soup based dish made with both boiled and deep-fried egg noodles. It contains either chicken or beef, pickled cabbage, lime and shallots. The spicy sauce is slightly sweetened with coconut milk”. This dish originated Burma, which ruled Northern Thailand for hundreds of years.

Pickled cabbage, lime, and shallots for the Kôw Soy

Hungry Traveller and Lonely Planet recommend Kôw Soy from another Northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. I don’t know how delicious their recommended Kôw Soy are but what I do know is that what I’ve eaten in Chiang Rai tasted good.

Kôw Soy is the unique dish in North Thailand that tourists should never miss. I am thankful to generous couple for letting us taste the delicious dish from their home province.

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Read more of our adventures around North Thailand in the following posts:

North Thailand Road Trip (Part 1): Lampang’s Hidden Gem

North Thailand Road Trip (Part 3): Coffee Time at Le Petit Café
North Thailand Road Trip (Part 4): The Bizarre White Temple of Chiang Rai
North Thailand Road Trip (Part 5): Eating Bugs in Chiang Rai Night Market
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Durian + Sticky Rice + Coconut Sauce = Sarap

Our roast duck breakfast in Prachak is not the end of our food trip at Charoen Krung Road. My travel companion, Foong PC, took me to another restaurant for a dessert. We walked a little until we reached a small cafe.

This shop sells fresh coffee and tea but those are not our target. We, particularly Foong, went here for the sticky rice with durian.

I don’t know what to expect from such kind of dessert. It was my first time to hear of the durian and sticky rice combination. I usually eat durian flesh without anything mixed with it. Thus, I was intrigued.

Unfortunately, the cafe ran out of durian. The shop owner said that they can sell the sticky rice but without the durian. Foong was not daunted, however. We went out of the shop then bought durian fruit from a fruit stall along Charoen Krung Road.

We brought back the durian to the cafe and it is a big one to boot.

Then each of us bought a plate of sticky rice.

Which was then bathed with the special coconut sauce.

And finally partnered with durian.

It tasted really good!

This sticky rice with durian is one of the best desserts that I’ve tasted in Thailand. The coconut sauce enhanced the taste of the sticky rice and it also mixed well with the durian. Though, the durian in Thailand is not that smelly as compared to the durians from Mindanao.

I am yet to see the sticky rice and durian combination in the Philippines. If there is none then maybe I should bring this dessert to our country by opening up a cafe selling this.

The sticky rice + special coconut sauce + durian dessert only cost 60 Thai Baht per plate so I guess it is not that expensive because it really tastes good.

Aside from this special dessert, coffee and tea; this cafe also sells sweets like puddings, breads and cakes.

There is also a sort of meringue and other Thai sweets that might interest you. So I suggest that you visit this cafe along Charoen Krung Road.

Chinatown Post-Adventure: Explosive Thai Sticky Rice

 I had a day-long adventure ‘round Bangkok with a Malaysian friend. We visited Wat Arun and Bangkok’s Chinatown. Before we split off, my friend suggested that we go to shop in Robinson Mall near BTS - Saphan Taksin Station to buy a sticky rice.

The shop’s name is Waraporn Salapao located in the lower ground floor of the Robinson Mall.

I took a quick shot of this shop because the lady is protesting. I bet that she thought that I was photographing her.

Waraporn Salapao sells salapao (which we Filipinos call as siopao), dimsum and the sticky rice wrapped in leaves.

I took home a piece of Waraporn Salapao’s sticky, which I partnered with a fruit juice that I bought from Chinatown.

The Thai sticky rice does not look appealing after the leafy-cover was removed.

It was a Molotov cocktail. Exploding with flavors.

The sticky rice was mixed with shrimp, egg and other spices. The flavour of every ingredient is very overpowering to the point that my taste buds started protesting.

I guess that Thai sticky rice is not the right food for me. Good thing that I had a juice to wash away the explosive taste.

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I started at the end so that you can have a preview of what I will feature in the next month. So, please read about my adventures on Chao Phraya River, Wat Arun, Bangkok Chinatown, and food adventure in the capital of Thailand.

Namtok Meal at McDo

I was looking for a place to eat lunch the other day when I encountered Ronald McDonald in a weird pose:
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When you are in Rome do as Romans do. So, Ronald tried to do as Thais do by clasping his hands the way Thai people show their respect to one another.

The weird Ronald McDonald pose made me realize that I had never entered a fast food restaurant in Thailand. I was curious on what peculiar items being sold in McDonalds branches in this part of the world.

I saw the regular burgers and fries of McDonalds. There was nothing unusual until I saw the “namtok rice set”.

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The Namtok Rice Set costs 69 Baht and it had namtok, rice and regular Coke. I am sure that this is a Thai meal because of its name.

My verdict to this rice set is two thumbs down. I didn't like the taste of their Namtok. It had a taste that I couldn't understand and the odor is “powerful”. This meal is not that spicy so it can be tolerated by my mouth.

My other complaint is that it is too expensive for its taste.

I guess that McDonalds namtok was not popular to the Thais because I didn't see it when I returned to McDonalds.

Well, McDonalds cannot blame the Thais because their namtok is a far cry from the real nam tok.

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The real nam tok (Source: Wikipedia).

McDonalds should do better in copying Thai dishes in the future if they don't want their meals to be ignored by their customers.

My First Week in Thailand

It is sad to live alone in a foreign country. However, my stay here in Thailand is not only gloom and doom. I believe that opportunities are present in every situation, even in the situation that I am in now.

Six months of stay in Thailand means that I have to do things on my own. It also means that it is not good for me to rely on outside help like eating in the cafeteria every single day or sending my dirty clothes to a laundry service. Seeking outside help, which is not cheap, will have a great impact on my expenses. My best recourse is to do my own laundry and to learn how to cook.

Dirty clothes piled up last week. Unfortunately, I have nothing to use for laundry so I had no choice but to improvise.

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I used the kitchen sink to wash my clothes. I also used my refrigerator's vegetable container as the container of my clothes.

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The kitchen got flooded after I did the laundry. This leave me with no other choice but to buy a small tub that I can use to wash my clothes.

Thai food is very spicy that's why I am very careful in choosing the food that I will order in food shops. One time, I ordered a very spicy fried fish for lunch. My eyes and nose were watery while I was eating.

What I enjoyed eating last week is this food:

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Pork noodle soup (not spicy).

One of my little project here is to learn how to cook. I bought a small pan, a rice cooker and other tools to accomplish this project. I tried to cook a piece of chicken drumstick last week and the results are...

...smoke and char. The chicken was burnt and my room was filled with smoke. I was relieved that there is no fire alarm or else firefighters will swarm my room. I can't imagine the commotion that it will make just because of a burnt drumstick.

(I was so disappointed of the burnt drumstick so I didn't take any photo of it :-P)

It is lonely to be away from my Beloved for a very long time. But the positive thing about my situation is that I will learn how to be more responsible and independent. I will also learn how to cook, which will make my Beloved very happy. :-)