Between the long New Year’s holiday and different school events, I only taught four lessons this week (three schools and one private lesson). After the business of last week’s Christmas party, you’d think that I’d be thrilled to have a more relaxed week, but after spending the first day doing nothing, I began to grow restless. I don’t know what it is, but I just am not comfortable being idle. Naturally, I began walking aimlessly and begging people to send me to work. My demands were eventually met, which is how I started to hone my domestic skills this week.
Gardening
I rode in the bed of the pickup on the way to the Thai Baan Association’s farm. Pi Eye, Mae Air, and I went papaya picking, which, unless you’re particularly tall and the tree is particularly short, is done by knocking the fruit down with a long, giant stick. We then placed the papayas into a sack and moved onto the next item of produce: lemon grass. Before I traveled to Thailand, I couldn’t say for certain if I’d ever had lemon grass, and if I had, I sure didn’t know it. Now, I eat it all the time, as it’s such an integral ingredient in Thai cuisine. Unsurprisingly, I’d never harvested lemongrass before, but it’s super simple: just break the stalk off as close to the ground as possible and discard most of the leaves.
After we collected the bounty, we went to help Pa Lam and Pi Oil in the greenhouse. Inside, there were rows upon rows of mint that were planted in an aquaponic system. In preparing for some special visitors in February, we had to remove the growing roots from every plant. I can’t exactly tell you why this needed to be done, but it was a fun new activity for me to do, so I won’t complain. Afterwards, we harvested as much mint as we could fit into the bucket and then some. I’ve never seen so much fresh mint in my life, and I had no clue what we were going to do with it all. As we were leaving, we picked a couple onions and some herbs, and then hopped back into the truck to deliver our bounty to a family in the village that was hosting a special memorial celebration (so that’s why we collected so much produce). We also got some delicious food in return (including some wonderful khao tom).
Cooking
In the late afternoons, I’ve accompanied Pi Eye and Mae Air in the kitchen with the hopes of learning more about Thai cooking. The first thing I noticed is that most of the dishes we made involved the same basic ingredients: tofu, eggs, vegetables, and the special spices. I guess this is why everyday meals are often described as “simple” (even though they taste delicious). I was mostly tasked with doing a lot of the prep work, so I chopped and peeled veggies, which was embarrassingly difficult. I could blame my poor performance on the dull and awkward-sized knives, but that just seems like a cop-out.
The most exciting part of cooking was making the sauce or broth. I had to just watch this step take place as I had no clue what to do, but it was fun to watch. There was no measuring involved, and everything was done by taste and feeling. Pi Eye would add some salty mushroom seasoning to the pan, taste it, and then add sugar. The process would then repeat with new ingredients. Ultimately, it was about finding the right balance of salty, sweet, spicy, and sour. Clearly, this is something I’d be unable to learn quickly.
Perhaps my favorite dish to make was stuffed cucumbers. I finely cubed the tofu, minced some carrots, and chopped some cabbage. This was all mixed in a bowl with some noodles and seasoning. Mae Air then peeled and hollowed some cucumbers, which we stuffed with the newly mixed filling. The cucumbers were then lightly boiled before being served. I know cooked cucumbers sound a bit strange, let alone with tofu and noodles inside, but it was a delicious little side dish that I had a blast making.
If you were to ask me about my cooking skills a few months ago, I would likely answer that they are above average for a 19-year-old. However, after spending some time in a Thai kitchen, I will now definitely answer that they are terrible. Thai cooking has humbled me in the best of ways. Hopefully I can apply some of this new-found knowledge once I’m back stateside.
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