 |
| The 'greenest' way to get your greens home :) |
One of my first discoveries upon moving here that has remained a favorite element in my neighborhood is the huge market they hold at the local temple near my soi. The talad is held every Friday and is a great place to find the absolute freshest foods for practically pennies.
As soon as you enter the temple parking lot you are greeted by cart of fried bugs for sale – grasshoppers, maggots and more offered for only about 20 baht. Further in you can find a variety of fresh seafood, gills still flapping on the fish and your
choice of live crabs, turtles, and eel all clamoring around in steel buckets.
You can purchase every possible part of a chicken, including a whole one that has been opened up down the middle to expose the various organs to use to your culinary delight. Chicken feet stick up like bouquets of twigs for sale, or you can purchase an entire boar’s head if you prefer.
All shock and awe aside, the market does actually sell a huge selection of your more “normal” foods. It’s a great place to find vendors with huge, stacked piles of fresh mangoes, rambutan, roseapple, and other tropical fruits. One of my favorites is the cobs of corn boiled in saltwater, bagged up hot for you for only 10 baht a piece. There’s several stalls that offer a variety of hot curries and homemade soups, as well as places for people to pop a squat and enjoy the grub during their “shopping spree.” Of course there will forever be a laundry-list of Thai fruits, roots, vegetables, and herbs that remain mysteries to me, but the market provides a great launching pad for discovering new favorites.
 |
| Wat Pai Ngeon |
 |
| Inside the temple |
 |
| People make merit at the temple amongst the market chaos |
 |
| Just in case you need a lift... |
 |
| Fresh, still gasping for air... |
 |
| I call this the "Rite-Aid" stand |
 |
| Oh, and weapons too! Of course? |
