The remnants of last night's communal dinner. Typical far Northeastern (on a clear day we can see the mountains in Laos) meal of food brought together from 3 households. Borey didn't think to take a picture until the diners had finished and moved to more a comfortable location to continue their discussion. There was something for almost any taste. Everything was good (edible).
From top of the photo down:
A container of sticky rice.
Gaeng no mai (แกงหน่อไม้) Stewed bamboo shoots.
Baked sweet potato, just like home. (Borey's oven is good for something).
Gaeng jude (แกงจืด). A mild vegetable curry with no coconut milk.
Gaeng pet (แกงเผ็ด) with pork. The closest thing Borey's seen up here to the Southern Thai red curry. Borey likes it with the sweet potatoes.
The dessert. It consisted of khao mao rice (ข้าวเม่า) in a sweetened coconut milk. Khao mao is made from rice picked before it's mature, then pounded flat, and (traditionally) stored in folded fresh water lily leaves, which keeps the rice moist (for a day or so) while giving it a mild, pleasant flavor. It may be Borey's favourite sweet.
A platter of assorted vegetables.
Stir fried eel with holy basil (bai gra phao). Taste good, but the small bones were seriously annoying.
Small ant eggs (the large red ant eggs aren't available this time of year). Borey thinks they were just fried with a little fish sauce.
Makbok seeds (from the wild mango, Irvingia malayana, หมากบก). Water buffalo eat the mango, and spit out the seed in its shell. After drying, the very hard shell is split with a small machete (carefully, not to lose a finger) to get the seed, which is then roasted. The seed will still have a dark brown covering that can be peeled off before eating (it has a slightly bitter flavor). Borey likes to eat them, sometimes with a Leo.
A good Isaan meal is sampling everything.