Tuesday 16 October 2012

Food on Wheels; Som tam or papaya salad on foot

Yes, this edition of Food on Wheels is hardcore, no wheels today but on foot. The real deal!
These ladies are a common views around Thailand but especially on the beaches. The lady in this picture is a som tam or papaya salad seller, one of Thailand's all time favorite food items, which comes in many variations!

Som tam on foot, Chaweng beach

Dressed for a day on the beach and in the sun, with the carry on chair in case she needs to sit down for making som tam

The whole country eats som tam and especially the 'som tam isaan' style with pla ra (fermented fish) is special and not easy to stomach for a Westerner.

Som tam on foot with a buyer, Chaweng beach

A typical scene where a customer doesn't even get off his bike and buys 'on the go'
Just imagine how heavy this load is and she carries this for hours and kilometers on an end!

During my early years on Samui, I used to work a lot at what is now called the Centara Grand Beach resort in Chaweng and in those days I ate plenty of som tam's with sticky rice and some barbecued chicken or pork. The front 'hanger' has a bucket with glowing coal and is used to BBQ meat and sticky rice (try it)!

Som tam on foot with a buyer, Chaweng beach

Of to new, hungry customers, which should be really soon!

If you see these ladies walking around, stop them and ask for som tam Thai and just point at the meat you would like to eat and they will serve up a treat for just a few baht! Enjoy!

Don't forget to use my Camille's Samui hotel recommendation blog and my Camille's Thailand hotel recommendation blog for all your hotel bookings on Koh Samui and around Thailand. By doing so, you will support my blog. Thanks folks!

Camille

2 comments:

Richard said...

Coming from Sydney (Australia) this is such an eyeopener to see people selling food like this....its great. I'll try some next time im there (hopefully soon)

Camille said...

Hi Richard,

It's fun, it tastes good and it's cheap on top of that!
Enjoy!!!!!!!