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| Cricket, anyone? |
| A little hotter, a little saltier - on a taste tour of the north-east Isaan region, Jacqui Taffel samples its unforgettable flavours. |
| Among the dishes covering the table are two omelets. One has ant eggs, the other does not. The ant omelet is easy to spot. Scattered generously throughout are eggs about the same size and shape as Tic Tacs. |
| Sticking to the ant-free dish is not an option. We're on a tour of north-east Thailand to learn about the region's food and here, at Salawan restaurant in the city of Ubon Ratchathani, we have a must-try delicacy. We're lucky they're in season, says one of our tour leaders, Robert Carmack. And, he points out, the ant omelet costs a lot more than the plain one, so eat up. |
| Soft and squishy, the eggs pop in the mouth and taste of - not much. The idea of eating them is more unsettling than the texture or flavour. It's like the effect of tiny bits of tofu, which add protein rather than any distinct taste. |
| I eat more new things on this 10-day trip than I have in the past 10 years. Ant eggs, crickets, pandan toffee, fermented fish, sun-dried pork, catfish and many mystery greens. Some things I don't need to eat again - duck tongues, for instance. Some, like ant eggs, I wouldn't seek out. But most of what we eat is delicious. |
| There are eight of us on this Globetrotting Gourmet tour: organisers Carmack and his partner Morrison Polkinghorne, our Thai guide Suvanee Promchan, our excellent driver Khun (Mr) Dang, and four travellers. |
| The region we tour by minibus is known as Isaan, where the food and culture is distinct from the rest of the country. It has strong historical and cultural ties to Laos and its people are often referred to as Lao. Much of Laos was formerly part of Thailand; in the late 19th century, France forced the Thai kingdom to surrender land bordering the Mekong, dividing Isaan from Laos. There are also Vietnamese and Cambodian influences, the latter reflected in the region's Khmer temples. |
| On day one, Carmack gives a crash course in what makes Isaan food different to the rest of Thailand's cuisine: "In a nutshell - more grilled, less coconut, more salt." It's saltier, sourer and hotter. Meat and fish are often grilled, coconut milk is not used, sugar rarely and ingredients are sourced locally, "always fresh, fresh, fresh!" |
| Isaan cooking has evolved from necessity, with rural people in Thailand's poorest region making the most of what they find near their villages, whether it be frogs, beetles or ant eggs. Though the countryside looks lush during our visit, for much of the year it is dry and dusty. In many villages, electricity arrived only in the past 30 years and most homes still don't have fridges, which means food is sourced and cooked on the same day, every day. |
| Our first Isaan meal is in Ubon Ratchathani, where we fly direct after a night in Bangkok. On the way to our hotel, we stop at Som Tam Bon, a no-frills establishment with a concrete floor and bare Laminex tables. The open kitchen is a simple square counter, with a barbecue beside it. A roof keeps the rain off the dining room - it's the tail end of the monsoon season - A pattern is established at this lunch. Carmack, who with Polkinghorne has been running food-focused tours of south-east Asia for more than 10 years, orders everything for us except drinks. He gives a rundown on what he has ordered and why, often getting different versions of the same dish for comparison.but the sides are open, a plus in the heat. |
| The house specialities are som tam (green papaya salad) and gai yang (grilled chicken) - hence the giant chook statues outside. Papaya salad is served throughout Thailand but the Isaan version is hotter and sourer, with no sugar and often with small field crabs. Gai yang is a small chicken, which is marinated, flattened, then grilled. |
| Carmack also orders larb (salad with minced pork, chicken, duck or fish), gaeng (curry), tom sep (spicy soup), moo dad deow (sun-dried pork), sai krok (semi-fermented pork sausage) and pla ying (a whole salt-encrusted freshwater fish) - all classic Isaan food. Plates of fresh herbs and vegetables are piled with Thai basil, mint, cucumber and raw beans. |
| We each receive a small bamboo basket holding a key element of Isaan dining: sticky rice is served with each meal, rather than steamed jasmine rice. We're shown how to take some in our fingers, roll it into a ball with one hand, then dip it into soups and curries. We learn to eat it with hot dishes to dilute the chilli burn. Though Isaan food is known for its heat and some dishes are challenging on the chilli scale, most of our dishes are fine for Western palates. |
| I'm not a tour type. I took a Contiki tour when I was 18, when I learnt about travelling on a tight schedule with strangers. Though at times on this tour I'd like more choice about what to see and do, the resemblance ends there. |
| My fellow travellers are an engaging, interesting bunch and our hosts have researched the trip thoroughly, pinpointing good spots to eat, stay and see. |
| Many places, particularly where we eat, are not easy to find. The best gai yang of the trip is served at a nondescript diner by the highway, next to a Toyota dealership - not the kind of place a tourist would stop without inside information. That's the advantage of travelling this way. I love eating new things but a bad experience (not in Thailand, hello India) has made me more cautious. With our tour leaders' advice - "don't eat the field crabs, they're just for flavouring" - we tuck in with confidence. Our guide Promchan is also a font of information and keen to share her knowledge. |
| Walking through vibrant markets, where stalls are heaped with unfamiliar produce and English is rarely spoken, we have our experts on hand to answer questions, translate and urge us to try. With Carmack's encouragement, I eat a deep-fried cricket - it's tasty, like a crunchy, salty bar snack - but he can't convince me to sample a fat water beetle or a cicada. Promchan, who has worked as a nutritionist in this region for many years, points out a small green berry still used in traditional medicine to treat coughs. |
| From Ubon, we follow the Mekong north to Nakhon Phanom, with views over the river to the dramatic jagged hills of Laos. Then we head west to Udon Thani, down to Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratchasima and on to Khao Yai before flying home from Bangkok. |
| We see few foreign tourists. Even at Prasat Phimai, the country's most famous Khmer temple, most of the sightseers are Thai. Overseas visitors to Thailand mainly head north or south from Bangkok, not north-east, even though this area has plenty of attractions apart from the food. |
| We see prehistoric pictographs at scenic Pha Taem National Park; 6000-year-old pottery excavated at the World Heritage archaeological site of Ban Chiang; and intricate local mudmee silk woven on rudimentary looms in the village of Chonnabot. We climb 500 steep stone steps to see our first Khmer temple ruins at the top of a mountain and visit many others (no steps) where we are the only visitors. |
| At Udon Thani Museum, we marvel as the guides - students practising their English - tell us of King Rama IV's 86 children. We stop at Ho Chi Minh's homestead near Nakhon Phanom; he stayed here briefly but it is maintained as a kind of shrine to the Vietnamese communist leader. "This coconut tree was planted by President Ho Chi Minh," reads a sign near the front gate. |
| Being Australian, we are also thrilled to discover Isaan has its own giant things. We spot the giant prehistoric pot in Udon Thani, then in Khon Kaen we climb inside a giant sticky-rice basket. Take that, Big Banana. |
| By the end of the tour, it's mission accomplished. We have a good grasp of Isaan food after consuming a vast quantity in a short space of time. One night it's kwai chop, Vietnamese-style soup with sticky-rice noodles topped with schnitzel-like meat. Another night, at the elegant Supanniga guest house, the urbane owners host a dinner party under the stars, serving pla tu (mackerel with vegetables) and guava with plum ice-cream. |
| For mini-bus snacks, we dig smooth white seeds from lotus pods and munch on sticky rice cooked in bamboo bought from a roadside vendor. And in Mukdahan, sitting on an outdoor terrace beside the Mekong with Laos just across the brown water, we admire a plate of catfish with pea eggplants, chilli and green peppercorns. It looks and tastes beautiful, the kind of dish that lingers in the memory and makes you determined to return. |
Jacqui Taffel travelled courtesy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and The Globetrotting Gourmet. |
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| Getting there |
Thai Airways has a fare to Ubon Ratchathani from Sydney and Melbourne for about $1430 low-season return, including tax. Fly to Bangkok (about 9hr), then to Ubon Ratchathani (1hr 5min); see thaiairways.com.
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| Touring there |
The Globetrotting Gourmet Isaan Explorer tour costs $3495 a person, which includes accommodation, all meals and special dinners, a cooking class and market tours. Maximum group size is 16; see globetrottinggourmet.com.
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| Staying there |
In Bangkok, the Sofitel Centara Grand is plush, centrally located and large, with 565 rooms. Doubles cost from 2700 baht ($84); see sofitel.com.
In Ubon Ratchathani, the Sunee Grand Hotel is pleasant and has 219 rooms, spa and a rooftop pool. Doubles cost from 1600 baht; see www.suneegrandhotel.com.
In Nakhon Phanom, the Riverview Hotel is on the Mekong and has older-style but comfortable rooms. Doubles cost from 1600 baht; phone +66 (0)42 5223 3340.
In Udon Thani, Prajaktra Design Hotel is a recent boutique addition to the city. Doubles cost from 2000 baht; see prajaktrahotel.com.
In Khon Kaen, the Pullman Raja Orchid is a large, five-star hotel with a pool, spa, restaurants and inhouse mini-brewery. Doubles cost from 2200 baht; see pullmanhotels.com.
Supanniga Home, near Khon Kaen, is a boutique property with beautifully appointed villas from 4800 baht; see supannigahome.com |
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| Eating there |
In Ubon Ratchathani, Salawan serves Isaan food in style; phone +66 (0)45 266 574.
In Udon Thani, Krua Khun Nid has excellent Isaan food; phone +66 (0)42 246 128 or +66 (0)42 230 473.
In Phimai, Thiu Pai Phet Yang specialises in duck dishes; phone +66 (0)81 878 1466.
In Ban Phai, south of Khon Kaen, Mae Pong See does great gai yang; phone +66 (0)84 418 8685. |
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| Kitchen lessons in balance |
| I TRY my hand at Isaan cooking in Khon Kaen, one of the north-east's largest cities. After a morning visit to the markets with our hotel's executive chef, Suwit Sirasawas , we assemble in front of a kitchen bench piled with fresh ingredients — some familiar, such as galangal, chillies and sawtooth coriander, and others more exotic, such as snack gourd and het por, small, spherical mushrooms that look like brown pebbles and grow underground. We're assisted by two sous chefs both with Supaporn on their name tags, which causes us some confusion. This is their given name but each has a different nickname. (All Thais have a short nickname, which they use with friends and family and in informal situations.) |
| The two Supaporns help us cook som tam (green papaya salad), tom sep gai (chicken soup), larb moo tod (deep-fried minced pork cakes), gaeng om (curry with snack gourd) and gaeng pak wan (curry with a local green). The class shows that while these dishes are quite simple to make, their success relies on the freshest of ingredients and a sound, subtle knowledge of how to combine flavours. |
My gaeng pak wan is not bad but I ruin my tom sep gai by adding too much lime juice. The larb moo tod is good but, as chef Suwit advises, it tastes even better wrapped in fresh sawtooth coriander or mint. It's all about balance.
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