The content of this category: local fruits, vegetables, herbs, Thai dishes, condiments that you can buy on Koh Samui, well as the instructions on how to use them.
Also we are regularly adding here the descriptions of cafes, restaurants and bars in Samui, of those which we or our friends have recently visited: photographs, exact location, menu, level of service and average bill. In each description we specify the date when we have been there.
We welcome all your recommendations on what other places are worth visiting, what restaurant or bar to add to the category.
Yes, we understand that "nothing lasts forever" and especially the level of service of Thai restaurants and bars: over time, some of them close or move to another location... they might change staff or get too lazy or vice versa - start to work wonders of the art of cooking ...
In general it is really difficult to advise anything here.
But we shall try.
In order that we can all compare our impressions in each category you can add your own review.
Once, in a conversation with a Thai girl I was surprised to learn that
during a day Thais manage to eat an average of 6 meals including eggs in
one form or another, as a readily available product. It turns out to be
an average of 20 egs per week! And, of course, to make it tasty and not
so boring they cook egs in all the different variations, boiled, fried,
baked, raw, soar, steamed, pickled... >>
What do you see when you fly up to the Koh Samui island? Sparkling blue
sea, lush tropical saturated green vegetation, and ... of course, the
palm trees!In fact, if you just walk around Koh Samui you will
realize that the island is a one big coconut plantation. Palm tree tops
are seen everywhere, as well as a sure sign of the presence of tourists -
a hammock that in 90% is stretched between the trunks of two palm
trees. >>
I do not like to search for recipes in books and in Google, but what I
do like is watching the process of cooking in Thai restaurants and at
food courts, and after that experimenting with what I saw at home.For the last year and a half this dish is our family favorite in Thai cuisine. >>
Durian (in Thai "turien") is considered to be the "king of fruits" of Southeast Asia.Its
name apparently derives from the Malay word "duri", which means
"thorn." Indeed, the fruit is covered with a tough skin with very sharp
thorns covering the entire surface (in some cases, you wont be able to pick it
up without gloves).The birthplace of this exotic fruit is believed to be the island of Borneo and Sumatra (in other words -
Malaysia and Indonesia). Some time later durian appeared in other
countries in the region: Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines,
Vietnam, New Guinea. >>
Upon arrival here in Thailand it suddenly turned out that we know very
little about what kinds of shrimps there can be and how to cook them
properly. And also how to peel shrimps properly before cooking. >>
There is a special sort of
"attraction" on Koh Samui - a french rum distillery "Magic
Alambic". It was founded by Eliza and Michelle Gabriel, who together with
the machine for the production of rum from sugar cane had come to the island in
2003 from France. >>
Mango (in Thai MA MUANG) is one of the oldest tropical plants and it's been grown by people for over 4000 years.In
Europe, people first knew about mangoes thanks to the conquests of
Alexander the Great, while this fruit has reached America (United
States, Mexico, Brazil, and other countries) only in the mid-19th
century. >>
Marian plum in Thai is called maprang (ma-praang and another name is ma-yong), and in Latin - bouea macrophylla. Maprang's birthplace is considered North Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and western Java. Nowadays maprang is grown on a commercial scale in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia (Sumatra) >>
The are not many people on Koh Samui who can be called "a living legend" or "a face of Samui."Kun
Lek (Khun Lek) or Mr. Pancake Man is one of those local folks who is
not only famous in Samui, but also far beyond its borders. Even Trip
Advisor has his own page with reviews of his work. >>
In
my distant childhood pineapples were sold only in packages, peeled and
cut into small pieces. They were sold in stores "vegetables and fruits",
which always smelled of rotten potatoes, sour cabbage and was always
dirty. Pineapples
were then brought from Australia (or New Zealand) and sold exclusively
frozen. In times of the big holidays parents used to bring home a
coveted bag with a pineapple and it was instantly eaten. Because of this, in my mind, a pineapple has always been something spicy-sweet with ice crystals, available only on holiday. Now I live where pineapples are three times cheaper than potatoes and sold on every street corner. >>
At the end of June - beginning of July I am often asked, "What kind of
round fruit are those being sold along the roads? Afar they look like
mangosteen, but much larger, and they are not sold separately but in a
whole bunch."Those are the fruit of the sugar palm called them "Palm fruit" >>
I always wanted to try this particular fruit (strictly speaking it is
not a fruit but a plant of the legume family), but for some reasons only
recently decided to buy it. >>
In fact we have not seen yet those classic, in our understanding, "apples" (and pears too, but now it's not about them), that were grown in Thailand. Everything that is sold in stores and even in markets is imported from the U.S., Australia and more often from China, generously covered with wax (price from 10 to 90 baht per piece, and sold by the piece), plus some hypermarkets can have "organic" apples that can spoil quickly, costing several times higher than normal.However, this article is not about them. >>
Most of us have long been accustomed to drinking bottled water instead
of from a regular tap. Actually, if you do not follow this simple rule
in tropical countries, the risk of catching any infection increases
rapidly.To all the houses / villas / apartments offered for rent on Koh Samui, water is supplied in one of three ways... >>
The very first citrus on Samui, that we came across with after moved to Thailand in January 2009 were the Chinese tangerines.They are to this day in our top list of most favorite! >>
This shop will please raw foodists, vegetarians, vegans, and people who
pay careful attention to what they eat. There is a buckwheat, quinoa,
bee pollen, raw cacao, spirulina, poppy, moringa, turmeric, nutritional
yeast, and so forth. The selection of vegetable oils is also big:
coconut, sesame, olive, castor and moringa oil. Also in Nature Home
Asia you can buy raw nuts and dried fruits, Superfood Powders and
Ayurvedic products, and much more. >>
Raw food
and veganism are becoming more and more popular these days. There are places on
Samui where vegans and raw foodists can enjoy delicious and healthy food and
spend time in the company of like-minded people. >>
