Dinner

I remember sitting along the Mekong on the last trip. A woman at the next table asked another woman why she came to SE Asia. The woman questioned looked up from her book, and without missing a beat replied "The food."

S'truth.

Tonight's walking feast through the night market was a four course affair. The starter was what appeared to be sugared strawberries but, was in fact, sugared AND salted strawberries. A wonderful treat and new.

Second course was a twist on Som Tam, the ubiquitous green papaya salad. Ayuthaya has a vibrant Islamic community and the Muslim food stands have a green crescent and moon. Not to pass up a new food, I ordered the spicy catfish salad and out came Som Tam with fried fish. Excellent.

Throwing caution to the wind, the main course, from my best Thai stand, was stir-fried kale with salted fish, as shown in the photo. A shy dish until the salty fish kicked in and the large chilies delivered surprise doses of fire at intervals. I'll be trying this again.

Last course for the stroll home was 10 baht worth of watermelon.

Oh, but I do love the cult of street food!