RAW thai cuisine

Traveling RAW in asia is full of discoveries and deliciousnesses, the fresh fruit and vegetable markets in every city and village become a main destination and vegetarian and vegan restaurants pop up as wonderful surprises! (recipes below!)

everywhere it is possible to find PAK (greens) and spices to make salads, and enough fruit to boggle the mind... except in dabong, near the jungle in malaysia, where you can only find okra and watermelon if you get there too late for the pick up truck which serves the tiny market there.

the longer i travel and the more seasons i am privy to, the more fruits i discover! (with the help of jimmy, of course, who knows which mango is in season when and where). i had some amazingly rich and creamy, sweet and spicy durian in kota baru, and have yet to try the many many other varieties that are out there like the elusive Red Durian.

new favourite fruits are ~ SALAKs a nutty tangy fruit in a reptile-like skin; CEMPADAH like jackfruit with its green spikey lumpy POD-like shape but inside it is electric orange and the round goeey pod inside tastes like spicy sweet curry; tong dum mangoes with bright orange meaty sweetness (and 4-5 other varieties i've fallen in love with..); ROSE APPLE light and sweet and juicy and travels well...

much to my delight i've found many raw-friendly vegan restaurants!
in Kota Baru, Malaysia, at Muhibah Vegetarian Restaurant, the girls tried to explain to me that the oyster sauce was vegetarian, the duck was vegetarian, the fish ... until i realized they made MOCK meat with tofu and seitan and used mushroom sauce! the mayonaise for the salad was made with coconut milk and pineapple! and their little store sold braggs apple cider, psyllium husk, and a form liquid aminos raw soy sauce!;
Kuala Lumpur's Formosa veg(an) restaurant near chinatown had books on buddhism that you could take away with you after a custom-made meal of fresh veg including shitake mushrooms...
in Sawankhaloke where jimmy lives in Thailand, the local gwitiyu (noodle lady) who speaks NO english confusedly put together a PAK only bowl putting the greens in the hot water for only seconds to make a yummy bright green veg soup (what, no salt? no sugar? so msg? no dried shrimp? huhhh?)
in Pondicherry, the restaurant across from the ashram hostel combined cucumber, coconut, red onion with lime juice and masala and of course on every corner, there was a fresh juice stand...

and now i'm in Bangkok, and my favourite veg restaurant from last time, May Kaidee's, has home stays and cooking classes... sooo.. being the only participant on a sunday, May Kaidee and I experiemented with a RAW thai cuisine class

BANANA LEAF SALAD, Green PAPAYA SALAD, Issan and Peanut SAUCES uses cashews instead, SPRING ROLLS using Cabbage leaves or Nori, Glass noodle dish using bean sprouts as noodles, thai carrot salad, tom yam soup and tom kah soup (lightly warmed), EGGPLANT, COCONUT AND THAI HERB SALAD, Pumpkin Hummous.

Tangy Thai Carrot Salad or Wraps

handful of raw cashews
1 tomato, chopped
1 carrot, grated
coconut, grated (best to have a real coconut and just grate a handful of hard-ish "meat")
1 tblspoon ginger, sliced lengthwise

juice of 1/4 lime, 1 tblsp raw soya sauce (or braggs), sweetener: honey/agave nectar

crush the cashews in a bowl or a morter and pestle (sp?!), add the tomato, lime juice, soya sauce and sweetener and keep crushing/mixing the flavours together
add the carrot, coconut and ginger, mix together

use a cabbage leaf or nori sheet and use this as the filling
you can add coriander, sweet thai basil or mint
and/or a lettuce leaf or leafy green, mung bean sprouts

Rawing it on the Road
an easy raw salad for the road is chopped okra, tomato, red onion, lime juice, sweet basil and pak chii (coriander leaf) smushed into my little tiffin (indian metal tupperware) and eaten happily on buses & boats.

the raw coconut noodle soups that jimmy and have experimented with (and devoured!)are easier to make and eat, when sitting still - using the fresh coconut water as the soup liquid, the soft coconut meat as the noodles, thai basil, chopped greens and veg of the day, mung bean sprouts, lime for tang and maybe chilis for heat