Donuts - There's a few kinda donuts here. Chinese donuts are sold on the street for one baht apiece. They are fried in a wok and come in two-inch pieces shaped like a 'H'. Each donut is crispy and filled with big air-pockets. Oddly, they are not sweet. I had to add lotsa sugar and it was like a sugar donut back in the States. Dunkin Donuts has a presence on the Island. Each donut there costs seven baht. They have the same variety as American Dunkin Donut shops, with the exception of a donut-on-a-stick. It is a yellow cake donut that is smothered with icing and has some cute HelloKitty-like design.
Pan-fried fish with crispy herbs - a whole fish, possibly a red snapper, that is lightly breaded then fried. It is topped with very thin stips of basil, Thai chili peppers, garlic and a few other leafy-green herbs that have been flash-fried and crisp. A thick, caramel-coloured sauce is added.
Deep fried chicken - sold on the street, the chicken is cut up and fried in a wok with a batter containing slices of garlic, served with a spicy sweet/sour sauce on side. Each piece costs about 25 cents. The Colonel has a very strong presence. On one major street, there are three KFCs. An interesting note is that the Thais eat fried chicken only with a fork and knife, never handling them.
Red curry paste - purchased from a neighborhood corner store. Very spicy. Eric combined the paste with coconut milk and added to cooked squash, onions, potatoes and carrots.
Chicken with cashews - a standard Chinese dish. Carrots and onions are added in this stir-fry. There is a sizable Chinese population on the island with a considerable amount of political and economic power. Our neighbor made their money thru ownership of five jewelry stores and a few factories.
Crab with coconut curry - yellow curry with small crab pieces (usually unshelled). The crabs are slightly larger than blue crabs, but nowhere near the size of the west coast dungeness crabs.
Black pepper fried rice - an enormous amount of black pepper is added to the rice, for a plate-sized portion I would guess a whole tablespoon is added. It provides a nice punch.
Shrimp with tamarind sweet-sour sauce - nice and tangy, shrimp stir-fried with onions, garlic, ginger and carrots. The shrimp are of medium size (probably around a 50-count per pound size), but I have seen large sizes in the market (20 count).
Roti with chicken - bread dough that is flattened and pan-fried into a square pocket with a layer of chicken in a curry sauce. Served on the side is additional sauce with a few pieces of chicken and potato and a bowl of finely sliced cucumbers, shallots and Thai peppers soaked in a sweet white vinegar. Served only for breakfast. I like to keep the roti crisp and dip each piece into the curry sauce.
Muslim curry - a yellow curry with heavy tumeric flavor. This curry reminds me most of my first tastings of any curry in life. Served with potatoes and chicken.
Chicken on a stick - more street food. The breast is flattened, dark meat is sliced into pieces and other parts are marinated in a soy-ginger sauce. The dark meat and misc. parts are skewered and grilled. The breast is wedged between two bamboo sticks then grilled. A thick, brown sauce is glazed on as it grills to caramelization.
Thai (Iced)Tea and Coffee - costs 20 - 30 baht. The iced tea tastes just as it does in America. The hot tea is a nice touch. A pot of tea is served alongside a 6-oz cup, half filled with condensed milk. As more tea is consumed, the tea gets stronger because the milk-ratio drops and the tea brews within the pot. I really like the Thai Coffee. It is a nice strong brew, that reminds of Vietnamese coffee.
Fruit shakes/smoothies - the island is rich in tropical fruits. Coconuts, bananas (various types. all are less than five inches long and vary in width), pineapples, oranges, mangos, papaya, guava and many things I've never seen before in America.
Sodas - Coke and Pepsi are the major players, with Schwepps being found in stores catering to foreigners. The sodas are sweeter and go flat upon opening.
Frito Lay potato chips - I've had a couple of their flavors, but there are many weird flavors to try: Mexican BBQ, Shrimp, Basil, Lime to name a few. What I did try was "Extra" BBQ - a sweet BBQ flavor and Grilled Lobster. The first taste session of lobster was pleasing, though further tastings got grosser and grosser. Within the bag were huge boulders of flavor crystals that never made it on any chips.
Wrapped crabmeat - thin "cigars" filled with lump crabmeat and deep-fried like an eggroll. Served with a chili-pepper and sweet vinegar sauce.
Oysters on the halfshell - served with sliced chili peppers, toasted slivers of garlic and lime. Each cost 40 baht, $1 US.
Shrimp with chili pepper sauce - Red curry paste is fried in a wok before throwing in onions, chili peppers and garlic. Shrimp is added in the end.
