Saturday, July 9th, 2022 - Vegetarians and Squeamish Beware - Fresh Food Market at Khlong Toei

 In addition to the slum I previously posted about, photography guide Tim Russell (https://www.timrussellphotography.asia/photography-tours/) and I also visited the Khlong Toei Fresh Food Market nearby.

Caged Chickens

By now, I think you would not be surprised to hear that it was incredibly busy, loud and varied in the foodstuffs it offered - all very fresh - some so fresh it's still alive!

Possibly celtuce, bamboo shoots and taro?

There were many food choices unfamiliar to me, but that looked appealing and probably delicious when prepared.

Paper thin wrappers being prepared

Many items were being prepared on the spot, such as these spring roll wrappers. The cook's hands moved so fast pressing the batter to the griddle, that my camera was not able to freeze their motion. You can see the stack this woman has made already in front of her.

Huge vats of curry paste

Perhaps I have eaten some of this curry paste in my meals here. I love Thai curries - green being my favorite, but I have never seen such huge quantities of paste before. I think they are very alluring in the way they catch the light. I find this more exciting than the little glass bottles I buy at the store.

Fresh, plastic wrapped and manufactured choices are all available.

Coming to market with a shopping list would require one to be pretty well oriented to the stalls one wants to purchase from. Our supermarkets are also huge and stocked with an enormous range of offerings but this market is many times the size of even our largest stores and contains competing vendors for the same products.

Green mussels

The portion of the market referred to as 'wet', is well named, as it is often wet underfoot. It is the section of the market selling fish, meat and livestock. I was advised not to wear good shoes, because there can be a variety of fluids underfoot that one might not really want to think about.

Fresh Fish - probably Tilapia

The fish were so fresh, they were still flopping around on the tables. You can see the one towards the bottom that was jumping as I took the photograph. One even jumped right off he table and was flopping around on the ground. The storekeeper seemed unconcerned about it.

Shrimp

Being from Fernandina Beach - the shrimping capital of the USA - I had to get a photo of the Thai shrimp here. They looked very fresh and I thought the colors were wonderful. 220 baht is about US$6. It is probable that it is sold in kilograms, so that works out to about US$3 per pound! You can see why we are able to get pretty decent meals here for around US$5.

Plucked Chickens being dressed for Sale

Food presentation here is certainly a little different from what we're accustomed to. You can be pretty sure that every part of the animal is being used and they're definitely recognizable without being wrapped up in plastic and foam!

The Meat Counter

One just cannot represent an Asian wet market without a photo of the meat counter, replete with pig head and trotters. Sorry if this is not to your taste!

Live ducks

I didn't see evidence of animals being slaughtered at the market, so critters like these live ducks were probably being sold as livestock. No doubt they'll end up on someone's table before long.

A Reliable Patron

Before we leave the wet portion of the market, it is worth noting another customer who appreciated the fare. There were rats running around in some places. This is a very bad and grainy photo of one we saw that is only visible thanks to the editing power of Lightroom, as it was very dark in his little corner!

Isan Section of the Market

Isan is a section of northeast Thailand, which has a distinctively different cuisine. It was in this section of the market that some of the more unusual foods were found.

Bugs!

Isan is a region that is ethnically of Laotian origin and is also the poorest region of Thailand. No doubt this is part of the reason that a great variety of foodstuffs are used in their cuisine. I know most of us would go running for a shoe if we saw one of these in our houses (or perhaps those with Buddhist leanings find a more humane way to dispose of them), but down our gullets they do not generally go! Yet young tourists are drawn to the Isan bug carts that can be found around Bangkok and I'm sure there are many Instagram posts of young westerners with a bug hanging out of their mouths!

Silkworm Pupae

Tim said silkworm pupae are quite tasty. I can't confirm that yet! Keep in mind that there are new directions in our food industry to encourage the use of insects for affordable and renewable protein sources. New products are emerging in our markets in the form of body building powders and energy bars that use insects for the protein. Check the ingredients list when you buy.

Live Frogs

You can choose to get your frogs alive here. That way you know they'll be fresh.......

Skinned Frogs

....or perhaps you prefer to have your frogs butchered......

Barbecued Frogs

.......or even cooked!

I share these images, not out of a spirit of 'isn't that crazy, or primitive, or repulsive,' or whatever pejorative you might want to give it yourself. Like so much else here, it is a way of life that is much more transparent than what we are accustomed to in our world. Food gets processed behind the scenes where I live, gets wrapped up, sanitized and hidden away in plastic and foam. Yet it is the same stuff. We eat escargot and frogs in fancy restaurants, but don't always see how it is prepared - we just enjoy the results. Same stuff, different presentation. I can tell you from personal experience that the way ingredients are combined in all the  foods here is very delicious!

The night shift is finished

The market opens to the public at 6 am, but it entails some people working through the night to be ready for the day. This man was clearly done with his work, and took a nap on top of his chicken cages!   

I wish I could sit like that!

As was the case in the slum, people were pleasant and receptive to my photography. This woman was happy to pose - I hoped she understood that I envied her hip flexibility.

These two children also had pretty good hip flexors. 

I think there may have been a time when I could sit like this - I seem to remember something like it in kindergarten, but an abundance of chair sitting has not allowed me to maintain this flexibility.

A Beautiful Face

The parents were generally OK for their children to be photographed. This boy had a sweet, distant expression. The off-white covering on his forehead and cheeks is traditional. Google says its origins are from Myanmar and that it is thought to ward off evil spirits. Tim mentioned that it has been used recently for protection against Covid. Other explanations say that it has a temporary cooling effect.

Serious Tattoos!

It was not unusual to see men with fairly extensive tattoos.

Rice and Chili Supplies

Most people were busy with some task, in between tending to customers. Things needed to be cleaned, cut, cooked, packaged ....... you name it. Sometimes a person may have stopped for a meal or was taking a cell phone break, but it was overall a very industrious place.

A busy place!

It is quite probable that many of the meals we have eaten here were made from ingredients that came from this market.

A Goodbye Smile

I leave you with this smile from the tuk tuk driver we noticed as we left the market. He saw me lift my camera and happily took a break from his phone to give me a big grin. It was a lovely way to end my visit.