Living as a Single Farang in the Jungle: Relax day in Isaan.
As predicted yesterday, today was supposed to be a quiet relaxing day for Lung Addie. Especially after the heavy grueling trip yesterday. And it was a relaxing day.
Dropped off our Mae Ban with her family in Nong Ki Noi in the morning and Lung Addie back to the Jan Jin resort. Before leaving, Lung ordered Addie, as is customary when there is a family gathering, to buy a pig. That is the simplest way to make the Isaners happy. Taking them out to a restaurant, no, that's not their thing. Beautiful home, slaughtering a pig yourself, chopping and cutting it into pieces and then…. eat until they can't anymore. That is really fun for these people. Butchers, butchers…. anyone who can wield an ax or a knife is immediately promoted to butcher. As long as the pig gets into usable pieces, it's already perfectly fine.
During the work, that bottle of lao koa is constantly passed from hand to hand. The result is easy to guess: when the pig has been cut, most of them are already good mau mau, the voices are getting louder and less and less intelligible, which is a problem in itself for Lung Addie, because he actually knows little of this language. can understand. With a bit of luck left or right a single word. This is not the language spoken in the South and he has a hard enough time with that…. Some are already nodding their heads during dinner, tired of working? The meat doesn't even always have to be fried, they even eat it raw.
Lung addie watches from a short distance, he himself has appropriated some large ribs and has them BBQed especially for him on the charcoal fire. Nicely seasoned in an Isan way, it is delicious. They enjoy it and have fun watching how Lung addie doesn't take the ribs with a knife and fork, but just picks them up and gnaws them off.
It is a fat pig: 117 kg in weight. We are now barely with 15 people as several family members will only arrive tomorrow. So there is more than enough for a second feast. A large, blue container, filled with ice cubes, serves as a refrigerator, because they don't have a real refrigerator, of course. Nothing is lost. The intestines are carefully cleaned, the stomach is scrubbed with a hard brush….. the bones have to go into the soup…… Tomorrow morning we will get up early because a part also has to go to the temple, the monks also have to eat.
Who looks a little (much) disappointed is Siki. Siki is the German husband of a sister of the Mae Ban. Although he lives on the same property, in a house his wife owned before he arrived, he has never done anything like this for the family. I call him “Siki jek jek” because he is always criticizing everything and anything. Despite the fact that he has been coming and living here for several years, he still has not been able to empathize or adapt even a little to Isan family life. What is his is his and no one is allowed to touch it. Apparently he still hasn't understood that in Isaan, of the little that some people have, there is always sharing. He thought he could have his share when he saw the ribs on the BBQ. But this was without counting the ribs baker on duty. Hey, hey, this is for Lung addie, he paid the pig, so these kibbles are just for him, don't touch..... Yeah, that's what happens when someone wants to charge their phone, you pull the plug.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the great preparations for the entry into the temple of the son of Mae Ban will take place. So in fact I still have a relaxing day ahead because they don't need Lung addie here either.
It will still be true that if you want to relax you have to be in Isaan ……
About this blogger
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Born in 1955. I got to know Thailand more than 20 years ago, when I regularly stopped in BKK after finishing work assignments radio measurements at the then new airport of Hong Kong. I have been living permanently in Chumphon province for more than 10 years now. I am the author of the TB-dossier 'Deregistration for Belgians'.
My profession was Expert Senior Field Engineer radio measurements. Hobbies:
- providing administrative assistance to Thai widows of deceased Belgian men, with the Belgian government services: pensions-inheritance rights-taxes.
- Amateur radio operator licensed in Thailand and Cambodia.
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My best wishes to all Isaaners wherever they may come today, Da and Luc.
Not from today
Send some bacon to Nondindaeng, we'll have something to eat here too. haha
Happy New Year in Lahansai.
nondingdaeng is nice to go to the lake. good food over the water in a relaxed atmosphere…..is not far from lahansai. maybe nice for lung addie
How recognizable, invariably when we arrive in Isaan from NL (KhonKaen area) we have a pig slaughtered for reunification. Not only for the family, but also neighbors, friends and acquaintances from the immediate area, always like to come and celebrate our arrival. Also chopping the pig into pieces on a piece of tarpaulin, even the most beautiful pieces are chopped up to “laab moo”. Fortunately, my husband always manages to save a few pieces in time for a European preparation method for the day after tomorrow. Everything is properly cleaned and stored in a rented blue cool box, for which the necessary ice is brought every morning for at least a week. The drink flows freely, the neighbors also bring their charcoal burners, it is too much for the two burners of the family. Always a treat to experience the grateful enjoyment here again. I am happy here, even though I can only communicate with hands and feet. The Isaan, always grateful, if you go along with the local culture, just temporarily shed your European skin. This makes returning to tourist luxury always an extra pleasure, if only for a toilet that you can sit on, a shower with running water and… .. air conditioning. Family in the Isaan, she wouldn't want to miss it. Paul
Dear Lunghan,
it is quite possible that I will stop by Non Din Daeng. That will then be to the place where last time, about 6 months ago, I ate that tasty fish on the left side of the reservoir. I'll bring some bacon bits if there's anything left over, I really wouldn't like to see a loyal blog reader die for lack of food ha ha ha….My best wishes for the New Year… sawaddee pee mai.
I read here that everyone talks about the skills of the butcher, even in the Tesco people have little understanding of it. The roasts are cut out before delivery, the rest is simply chopped or cut into pieces without any knowledge. However, there are nice pieces that can also be sold as a roast if cut properly. The belly is cut into pieces, little meat and a lot of fat but the thai love it. The minced meat is ground too thick, my butcher always uses size 3mm and much too fat. But it's true that nothing is wasted on a pig.