The vibrant, exotic Southeast Asia never ceases to amaze tourists. But, besides temples, beaches, coconut milk and incredible shows, there is something to see. A kitchen completely alien to us. Of course, these are traditional dishes for the locals. Tourists do not often dare to try them. If you want to experience the real taste of Thailand, be sure to look for them at street vendors and local eateries.
Bats
Bat meat contains very little fat, but is rich in protein. It is highly regarded in Asia. These are healthy, nutritious animals. Delicious or not – it’s up to you. But, first try the roast of the bats. Their meat smells strongly of urine, but this should not stop you. Usually served with plenty of spices, garlic, herbs. The unpleasant smell is well masked.
The meat is stewed or fried, soups are prepared from it. Of course, it is recommended for men to maintain youth and potency. Women also should not neglect them, because the meat of a bat or a bat fox is very useful.
Insect snacks
If you have already visited Thailand, then this snack does not surprise you. Pattaya and Krabi offer you these crispy snacks on every corner. Fried beetles and grasshoppers replace seeds, nuts, chips. This is a healthy protein snack.
Such a snack is very popular among locals, and tourists come in shock from the mountain of fried grasshoppers, scorpions, bugs, cockroaches. By the way, to taste like nuts. Larvae look like chicken or tender pork. All creeping creatures get, sooner or later, on the counter in a fried form. There are daredevils who buy such a bag on the night market. Most simply disdain to eat these unpleasant insects. By the way, if you take something like that for an appetizer, then ask them to flavor them with soy sauce or vinegar.
Special rotten fish sauce
Don’t let the name scare you. This is anchovy sauce, which is considered gourmet food. Indeed, rotten fish with rice – food is not for everyone and everyone. It is called “us pla.” The sauce is easy to prepare. Small fish is sprinkled with salt, it is left for several days in wooden crates under the sun. Next, collect the fermented liquid. This is our sauce, fragrant, thick, salty. By the way, fermented or rotten fish sauce is an excellent cure for liver parasites. The dish is popular, and the sauce itself can be bought in the market, in the supermarket.
Fried, boiled, deep-fried frog meat
Chiang Mai is famous for its special frog dishes. Here you can try everything – frogs boiled, fried, dried, stewed, dried. Deep-fried frog skin is especially tasty. It tastes like chicken. Prepared with a variety of herbs, jasmine rice, lime. The best seasonings go here. Such frogs live in rice fields.
Tourists showed so
much interest in such dishes that it became more profitable to engage in frog
farming than cultivating the land. Try it, this is one of the most “harmless”
dishes of all of Thailand. Often, you can’t even immediately understand what
kind of meat it is. It is served with vegetable side dishes, beautifully
served. It seems to you that you eat the most tender chicken. And this is a rice
frog.