thai food

ive been wanting to post one of these for a while...today i have time, so here is a description of some of the more delicious thai foods i've had here, and the prices i've paid for them. im not bragging, im just sayin'. just sayin'.

my weight in pad thai
if you've never had pad thai, it's a fried noodle dish with peanuts, green onions, and bean sprouts. you are given with every serving some vinegar, powdered chilies, often pickled chilies, sometimes cooked and oiled chilies, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and limes. season to your heart's content. very filling, very delicious, often comes with sliced cucumbers on the side. cost: 80 cents.

fried fat noodles
these are really weird, smushy, goopy noodles that took a little getting used to, but now i cant get enough of them. theyre too weird to chew, really, they just kind of slide down your throat. most of the time i can get them with salted tofu. same price as pad thai.

fried rice with pineapple and ginger
self-explanatory, about $1.10.

khao soi
soooo delicious. i will never stop craving it. soup like, where the broth is a very mild curry with coconut milk mixed in. in it are egg noodles and solid chunks of tofu (yum), with all kinds of vegetables and potatoes. on top are crispy dry noodles and an extra splash of coconut milk. also a buck ten.

desserts:
roti
thin dough, deep fried in oil, spread with butter, spread with some flavoring like jam or chocolate, and rolled up. gwah.

banana pancake
similar to roti but with bananas fried inside of it and not rolled up

mangoes with sticky rice and coconut milk
i cannot begin to explain how delicious this is. i will eat nothing but this if i ever learn how to make sticky rice.

dewberries
ok so these are just little gas station cookies, but both justin and i are heavily addicted. theyre sandwich cookies with cream inside and strawberry or blueberry jam on top, and each of us has their own pack every night. we used to share a pack between us, but...there was trouble.

theres also lots of amazing fruit here...the bananas are only about as long as a man's finger, but double the width of american bananas, and super sweet. mangoes for sale on every corner, really good ones too, not those crappy green ones you get in the states. pineapple that seriously tastes like somebody stuck a syringe full of honey into it before hand. rambutans, a weird, pink, hairy fruit that looks like it will walk away if you don't eat it fast, but tastes very sweet and good. and of course my beloved lychee, as well as papayas and guavas and lots of fruits i dont know the name of.

i hope this entry made your mouth water, cause it did mine. for a less gourmet entry, please see the last one.

ps im considering life as a culinary tourist, followed by a return to salt lake and the opening up of a cheap and delicious international restaurant. i think this is a good plan.