Hold the tomatoes

Most of my friends know my extreme reluctance to go out to eat at Thai restaurants in the US. They just never measure up to Thai food back in Thailand, and I always get disappointed. They skimp on the herbs and spices in some dishes (due to cost and/or lack of availability); oversweeten dishes to pander to the Bay Area farang palate; and put in a lot of filler vegetables like onion and bell peppers and carrots that normally they won’t use in Thailand.

So imagine my surprise, when not once, but twice, the tom yum goong I ordered in restaurants in Thailand came with tomatoes. Tomatoes!? In som-tum, yes. In tom yum goong, no.

The second time, I was dining with a group of old Thai friends. “Did tom yum goong always have tomatoes before, and I just didn’t remember?” I asked, thinking I was having a really senior moment.
“No, but nowadays, some restaurants will serve it with tomatoes, to make it more ‘fancy’, or ‘fusiony, or ‘farangy’.” one of my friends joked.

While tom yum goong does have sweet and sour notes (along with salty and chili hot), that tomatoes also have; and both have tones of orange-red, it’s just weird to have tomatoes in my tom yum goong.

It’s been awhile . .

Apologies for not having posted in ages. I’ve been out of town for 6 weeks, but in this day and age that’s not an excuse, since the internet is accessible everywhere. I wasn’t in Myanmar, which would have been a valid excuse for not loggin on.

We went to Beijing for a week, and then I based myself in Bangkok for 4 weeks, from which I did hops to Koh Mak (which is the up and coming Koh Chang, since Koh Chang is going to become what Koh Samui was 10 years ago); Khao Lak (where the tsunami hit hardest in Thailand); and Hong Kong. Physically I moved 3 tons of gravel, sand and old newspapers. Even on a personal-relationships level, it’s been really intense: I’ve attended a funeral; and seen friends and family with whom I’ve gotten to bond in ways I never expected.

While I’m physically back in the US of A, mentally I’m still on a Bangkok sidewalk eating som-tum, dipping balls of sticky rice into the dressing, with the soundtrack of motorcycles roaring in my ears, as stray dog looks longingly at the pile of bones from the roast chicken I just polished off. . .

Stay tuned.