Food in Thailand

After Tokyo, I went to Bangkok, Thailand. I spent one night with the Busking Polyglot, a friend from the Yale Gospel Choir. As well, I spent two days walking around with the Indefatigable Peacemaker, who had just finished two years as a Peace Corps. Volunteer, and the Calm Abecedarian, who was in the middle of her first year of a Fulbright Fellowship.

Source: CDC

Thai food

You can’t discuss Thailand without talking about food. In Bangkok, I was able to visit many markets, eat street food, and consume pad thai and other specialties in restaurants.

Market

Right next to the school (stay tuned for more on that experience) was a market where the Intrepid Busker took me for breakfast and fruit drinks (I recommend both the sugar cane and watermelon drinks). There is nothing like a cold drink to give relief on a hot day.

In addition to great drinks, the market the whole food pyramid for purchase including lots of good fruits:

But you can't bring durians on the subway due to their smell

Protein like fish and eggs:

And a lot more like veggies, sweets, and a whole bunch of foods that I have no idea what they are:

Fried dough for breakfast

Street food

Thailand was the cheapest country I visited and the food was no exception. Despite its price, the street food was delicious. My fears that I would get sick never materialized and I enjoyed my food adventures.

One of my street food expeditions reminded me of the Christian concept of doing your tasks “as unto the lord” that comes from Colossians: 

²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” - Colossians 3:23-24

The dessert maker

Essentially this means that you do an excellent job at whatever your responsibility is, regardless if you receive recognition, compensation, or any other accolades because you are serving God. I bought food from a street vendor who was not Christian, but approached his work with the drive and pride that I hope to have to live out that passage. He kept his stand immaculately clean and did methodical, excellent work, even though he was working at night on a side street where most of his customers weren’t overly discerning. So often people try to do the minimum to get by or not get into trouble. I don't want to settle for just enough, but I want to have a drive for excellence in all areas of my life and hopefully honor God with my effort and results.

The fruits of his labor: banana pancake
(better tasting than this pic suggests)

Coconut-somethings. Our favorite breakfast food

Restaurants

The Indefatigable Peacemaker had just completed her Peace Corps. service in Africa. She came to Thailand as a first step in her transition back to America and to slowly get over culture shock. While we were walking around, I thought I should buy McDonald’s so she could get a smell of the good U.S. of A.

Much to my surprise, my meal came with mouthwash.
I hope they weren't trying to tell me something...

Since we were in Thailand, we had to get pad thai. It met all my taste expectations at just a fraction of the normal price.

At a roadside mall

At the floating market

Authentic food

The Intrepid Busker took me to eat real Thai food. I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious and we ate a lot of it with our hands.

The Thai use spoons a lot and don't use chopsticks.
However, most white Americans don't understand differences
between Asian cultures and many people trying to be multi-cultural
ask for chopsticks for their rice at Thai restaurants in the US. Yikes!

My favorite

If you ever come to Thailand to relax, you know where to eat

Tsukiji Fish Market

Fish market
Sushi is my favorite cuisine and I ate it at least once per week when I worked at BCG. Japan is the home of sushi and Tsukiji is where the fish market is located so of course we had to go.

 
The first auction of the day starts around 5am. As growing boys, we valued our sleep and didn’t leave until closer to 6am so the sun was out when we arrived via subway.
 

Once you get there, you have to avoid the shuttles.

 

 

Some people spend most of their lives on the seas catching fish. At my job, I spent most of my life behind a computer working on PowerPoint and Excel. It’s fun to meet new people and imagine what their lives are like when they are so different than yours. Even if you try, it’s hard to fully appreciate how much skill it takes to do tasks like catching, storing, preparing, and selling a fish unless you’ve actually tried to do it.

Directing traffic

Seeing people in action gives you a better understanding of what their lives are like, but your understanding is limited by your own experience. For instance, the son of one of the Partners at BCG went to school and his teacher asked him what his father did. He confidently replied, “He’s a computer repairman!” Since the dad spent so much time on his laptop, the son assumed he must be trying to fix it.

The best way to truly know people is to spend quality time with them in different environments. Although there is still a lot I don’t understand, by spending a couple years with single moms in inner city Detroit, I have at least a marginally better sense of what their lives are like. Although I spent a few days in Japan, I wonder what I would learn if I spend significant time here or even started working in the fish market!

Amid all the moving workers are lots of fish shops where you can buy a variety of goods.

 My two favorite ingredients: unagi (eel) and avocado:

 

You can buy the food in various stages of preparation:

 



You can see the relative size compared to an iPhone

You can also buy the tools you need

Did you know what wasabi plants look like?

It’s amazing to me how I was able to eat sushi whenever I wanted when I lived in Michigan. The global supply chain is simply amazing. It is much better to be middle-class in a developed world today than a king 150 years ago due to the accessibility of a variety of foods, the conveniences of everyday life like consistent hot water and electricity, and the ease in which one can learn about and experience new cultures due to smooth transportation and the internet.

Sushi
Eventually we made it to a sushi restaurant

What time is it? Sushi time!

Step 1: Start with this concoction

 

Step 2: Move on to miso soup

 

Step 3: Finally you get to the good stuff

I've tried many of these pieces in the US and I didn't like many of them. However,
when they are fresh in Tokyo, every piece is amazing

 

Sushi breakfast at Tsukiji definitely makes my life
list of favorite meals