Our first two days in Thailand were mostly spent visiting relatives who lived in Hankha in Chainat Province. It was about 3 hours away from the airport in Bangkok, so of course we had to stop at a shack by the side of the road for some fresh coconut juice.
After that refreshing stop, we were off again, for more food of course. Sitting in a car for hours is hungry work! About an hour later, we stopped at a river side restaurant for a huge meal with the HUGE extended family (long story involving multiple families in multiple countries...). The restaurant looked, well, fairly shabby, to say the least, and rather empty, so I guess I wasn't expecting too much. Of course, I was wrong! Most of the best food I've eaten in Southeast Asia have often been from the dustiest, shabbiest hole-in-the-wall, and this was no exception. Look and drool, my friends...
Gigantic grilled river prawns. Look at the size of those legs! This one almost looks like a baby lobster. The prawns were stored in a pool at the front of the restaurant, and only picked up and grilled when ordered. They were cooked without any seasoning, but came accompanied by a bowl of dipping sauce (fish sauce, chillies and ginger, I think). These were some of the sweetest, juiciest prawns I have ever had, and I was content to eat them plain.
Lots of fish dishes, including fried fish cakes, and steamed fish served in a number of ways. I especially liked the one that came in a fish-shaped dish on top of a heated container.
A sort of omelette with glass noodles -sort of plain but strangely addictive.
All these items were consumed within my first two, maybe three hours in Thailand. Jealous?
