We also woke to the news that Keenan, Brooke and all the grandchildren had tested negative for COVID-19, which was a huge relief, especially pertaining to Keenan, since he’s been the one providing the direct care to Brooke’s dad, while the mom has been at work. The other bit of positive news was that the patient was improving too, given his temperature had dropped, although a followup COVID-19 test yesterday indicated that he was still positive and, therefore, had a few more days to remain isolated.
Elaine then spent her day working on our latest video, “Tantalising Thailand - Our First Few Weeks on Phuket Island“, which, unfortunately, had to have parts redone due to a copyright restriction on the first song she’d chosen to accompany the video footage. She, nonetheless, got it completed and uploaded yesterday. In between that, she received a video call from both Justine and her sister in Ireland, which was a lovely surprise and great to catch up.
After sorting out the shore power issue, Roy decided to cook up another storm in the galley by trying his hand at the Thai cuisine; specifically Tom Yum Goong (Spicy Scrimp Soup). Making a less spicy version for Elaine so she could, at least, taste this iconic dish and more spicy for himself, resulted in an absolutely delicious meal. Created from quintessential Thai ingredients like lemongrass, chilli, galangal, kaffier lime leaves, shallots, fresh lime juice, fish sauce, mushrooms and fresh prawns, Chez Roy excelled once again! Apparently coconut cream can be added for a creamy version, if one prefers.
Yesterday morning, with cooler temperatures and sunny skies, we enjoyed an early morning walk before settling down to breakfast at the Hardstand Café. This, however, was one occasion where Elaine’s adventurous spirit with the Thai food didn’t quite work out as planned; her meal of a smoked salmon and egg roti, which arrived with a huge side salad, was, in fact, a lunchtime meal and her face says it all. But, not harm, no foul; for lunch she opted to have a bowl of cereal!
We’d just returned to Paw Paw when we received a video call from Keenan and enjoyed another long chat to him and a quick chat to William while the twins slept. William was all delighted to show off his new motorbike and how well he’s riding it. The call ended when William had finished preparing both water guns, ready for a showdown with his dad and stating, with a twinkle in his eye: “Grandma said I need to make sure you’re dead!”, which, of course, I didn’t say, but that’s how my words of encouragement were interpreted, nonetheless, and had Keenan in fits of laughter and Grandma profusely denying all wrong doing.
Roy started his efforts on the next enhancements to the Anchor Plus application, although these won’t benefit any English speaking customers. Fortunately he has a number of cruising friends assisting with the effort.
Today, although we had cooler temperatures overnight, we woke to an absolutely sweltering day, but our plans for the day continued; running errands in our hired car in preparation for our departure from Boat Lagoon marina, including purchasing our fresh produce, topping up on a few other provisions, picking up and dropping off our laundry, Elaine’s followup appointment at the hospital for the allergic reaction to an insect bite and finally the mall. Getting back to Paw Paw by late afternoon meant we had a mountain of provisions to be sanitised and stowed, something Elaine decided to leave for another day, with the exception of getting the fresh produce put in the fridge or freezer.
Fortunately dinner was somewhat of a local fair; a salad accompanied by a barbecued rotisserie chicken we purchased on our way home from a roadside stall that we both regret not videoing or, at least, taking a photograph of. What an insight into local life and scrumptious at that, like many of the other Thai dishes we’ve tasted thus far:
Pad Thai, apparently the most popular street food on Phuket Island; a stir-fried dish made with rice noodles, eggs, tofu, fish sauce, shrimp, garlic or shallots, red chilli peppers and palm sugar, served with lime wedges, bean sprouts and garlic chives. This is definitely Elaine’s favourite.
Roti (Pancake) is the favourite snack or dessert, using various fillings like banana, chocolate, condensed milk, etc. We chose mango and banana, which was served with yoghurt, cream and honey. Yum!
Som Tum Thai (Spicy Green Papaya Salad) or Som Tum Poo Pala (Papaya Salad with Fermented Crab) hails from the northeastern region of Thailand and usually served with grilled catfish, grilled chicken or grilled pork. The classic version consists of shredded green papaya, tomatoes, carrots, peanuts, dried shrimp, runner beans, palm sugar, tamarind pulp, fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and plenty of chillies. When ordering this dish, as we learnt in Malaysia, specifying the degree of spiciness is extremely important and learning phrases like “Mai Pet”, meaning “not spicy” versus “Pet Mak”, meaning “very spicy”, will save your mouth from a fiery fury.
Khao Pad Kai (Fried Rice with Chicken) is another one of our favourites. Although it is usually cooked with pork, chicken or seafood and is always served with precisely three cucumber slices, we’ve enjoyed a variation of having pineapple added.
Kai Med Ma Muang (Chicken with Cashew Nuts) is another one of our favourites and vastly different from the Chinese variation. This sweet and flavourful dish consists of stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts, soy sauce, honey, onions, chillies, peppers, mushrooms and whatever vegetables the chef has on hand.
Kai Yang (Grilled Chicken), a delicious takeaway meal, cooked on a tiny cart over a coal fire. Apparently it’s best eaten with sticky rice, “Khao Niaow”, which we didn’t know at the time, but finger licking good regardless.
Beef Massaman Curry is a rich, relatively mild Thai curry from the southern Thailand regions and was recommended by the restaurant owner during our outing to Old Town Phuket. It’s a fusion dish, with flavours originally brought to Thailand by Muslim traders from Persia, the Indian subcontinent and the Malay Archipelago, which are combined with more local commonly used flavours, to make the Massaman Curry paste. This is then combined with beef, coconut milk, potatoes and peanuts to create a delectable feast.
So, although, we’ve experienced a number of Thailand’s gastronomic delights, and there’s a number of dishes we haven’t mentioned, because, quite frankly, we have no idea what we were eating, there’s a few more yet to be sampled, like Tom Kha Gai (Chicken in Coconut Soup), a cousin to Tom Yum Goong, “Kuay Teow” (Noodle Soup), although we’ll have to remember the phrase: “Mai Nai” meaning “no entrails” when we decide to sample this particular dish. There’s also “Moo Ping” (Pork Satay) grilled over a little barbecue, similar to the chicken satays grilled throughout Indonesia and Malaysia, “Khao Ka Moo”, (Stewed Pork Leg with Rice), “ Phad See We” (Fried Yellow Noodles with Chicken, Pork or Shrimp) and not the same as “Pad Thai”, since it uses yellow noodles and no eggs, “Kanom Jeeb” (Thai Steamed Dumplings), “Yam Talay” (Spicy Seafood Salad) usually a combination of squid, shrimp, mussels, scallops or crabmeat, added to tomatoes, onions and rice glass noodles. Finally, there’s a dessert, “Kao Niew Ma Muang” made with sticky rice, fresh mango slices and sweet condensed milk. Definitely looking forward to this one!
However, the one dish Elaine will definitely not be trying, although Roy may well, is Gaeng Keow Wan (Green Curry), originating in central Thailand, and is the spiciest of them all!
