Bangkok’s markets are busy from dawn until dusk, sometimes even stay open when most of the city is asleep. Normally, the traffic of shoppers and crowds of office workers hurrying their way masks the busy stretch of shops and food stalls, making it difficult to pay close attention to details.
Earlier this year, however, a strange silence had fallen on the city, civil unrest brought life in the city of angels to an eerie standstill, Bangkokians elected to stay home, and shops closed their doors.
Among the closed shops, with only soldiers scattered around, I saw a woman carrying her mobile food stall on her shoulders in two baskets dangling from a long bamboo pole.
There was something compelling about this lonely figure going on selling her dish in the empty streets. As I approached her, feeling sympathy to her or maybe just plain hunger, I discovered with very much curiosity this delicious dish that was so satisfying amid the general grim of the comatose city.
A twist of the well-known som tam recipe of papaya salad, in this dish gelatinous waxy white corn kernels, replace the green papaya. The unique starchy texture of the corn is enjoying a backdrop of tangy refreshment from the lime juice, a truly innovative interpretation of the classic dish that uses accessible ingredients.
Tom Yam is a type of soup with distinct sharp hot and sour flavors, scented with pleasant citrusy aroma.
Tom Yam is known to seduce many westerners to fall in love with Thailand, its people and food. Many trips memories to Thailand were written in diaries, others are etched on film but all are stained by the Tom Yam charm.
I still remember with vivid colors my first bowl of Tom Yam, in the night market of the old neighborhood on a hot night in a ragged, unfashionable part of Bangkok. Where the smell of cooking and the glare of florescent lights decorated the alley where JeMoi used to own a restaurant, a very simple and very good one, decorated with cheap bamboo chairs and peeling orange walls. I would enjoy watching the streets of the early night turning into mornings, eating, drinking and sweating. It was hard to say if I was sweating from the hot and humid weather, the cheap whiskey or JeMoi’s spicy food. I still smile when I think of her, standing by my table with a winning smile, as if she knew how much I enjoy the food.
Here is a wonderful spicy Nam Tok recipe; you may as well go for it! A crispy fried fish dressed with plenty of fresh herbs, plenty of chilies than some lime juice and fragrant ground roasted rice as a textural binder. It is an unpretentious dish, that is just about what is around and what is available; there is some sort of truth about it, which makes it so wonderful.
If you are trying your first Issan style recipe, than this is the one to go for. It is not complicated to prepare and will show off beautifully the hearty and rustic flavors of Issan.
This dish brings yet another angle to celebrate the essence of Thai cuisine. The Thais dare pairing ingredients, which at first seem to be unmatchable, strong players with opposite characteristics, white turmeric and salted prawns, and guess what? It works beautifully!
The pairing actually has the intention to enhance the differences in flavor and texture, creating a playful dish, both in taste and in presentation. The delicate thin cut white turmeric juliennes with its crunchy-apple like texture matched well with the just made salted prawns chunks which still maintain some of their intrinsic sweetness.
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