Waterfall Food

Get your hands dirty eating a real Thai country picnic.

Taste & See: Nam tok, or waterfalls, all seem to have the same food in Thailand: som tam, gai yang and kow neow. I had been telling my friend about this en route to our weekend get-away to Khao Yai, a national park not far from Bangkok where we planned to hike to a few waterfalls. I was looking forward to chowing down on these tasty treats after climbing back up from the base of the falls, my face still wet with the spray. I was also looking forward to validating my claim. I've had waterfall food at Nam Tok Erawan, in Chiang Mai, in Nan, in Chiang Rai- and I was willing to bet Khao Yai would be no different. Sure enough, we found the perfect waterfall spread at the Visitors Center cafeteria.

1. Som tam starts with fresh bird chilies, garlic and palm sugar ground with a mortar and pestle. Some fish sauce and lime juice are also added. Thais eat it very spicy; if you don't want it too hot spicy you'd be better off saying you don't want it spicy at all; it will probably STILL have a few chilis; we asked for a little spicy, and our mouths were burning. Not spicy is "mai pet".

The main salad is made of tomatoes, lime, cucumber, shredded papaya; notice how the round fruits are stacked carefully in pyramids. High marks to Thai som-tam vendors for presentation.

Optional add-ins include whole, raw crab; tiny, dried shrimp; and roasted peanuts. If you don't want the crab, which is pounded into 'bite-sized' parts and eaten shell and everything; or the shrimp, which add fishy, salty bursts of flavor to the salad, just say "Mai ow puu [crab] goong-hang [shrimp]" or just point.

On the side, cabbage, green beans, various raw leaves are served to freshen the mouth and add a nice earthy contrast to the intense sweet-sour-spicy flavour of som tam.

Som tam is usually about 20 B, including fresh raw vegetables on the sides.

2. Gai Yang is grilled chicken. Some things are universal. The Thais do it especially well, IMHO. It is usually served with a sweet, but not spicy, chili sauce on the side.

Gai yang is usually about 20-30 B a piece; We had half a chicken for about 60 B.

3. Kow Neow is sticky rice, a short grain starchy rice that is made by boiling water under the rice, which sits on a bamboo tray, absorbing the steam. It gets sticky and translucent when it is done, with a slightly sweet flavor. It is usually rolled into a ball and dipped in sauces, or used to pick up a bit of som tam.

Kow neow is usually about 5-10 B a serving.

4. Nam Prik: To commemorate entering a new region of Thailand, Isan [the Northeast, more rural, poorer], we also had a very northern/north-eastern dish, a plate of raw or steamed veggies with a bowl of nam prik, or chili sauce. This sauce wasn't particularly good; some sauces are mild but can be very, very spicy, so try a small amount first. Common veggies include chopped cucumbers, boiled bamboo, small eggplants, and raw long green beans. Again, it provides a fresh contrast to other, more heavily-sauced dishes, or an alternative to mystery-meats if you're with a host who orders Northern delicacies like frog and raw-meat salad.

Our plate was about 20 B.

do-it-yourself

Khao Yai National Park & Visitors Center; approximately 3 hours from Bangkok by car. We rented a car from Bangkok; the trip took about three hours and the car was extremely useful for going at our own pace to the man viewpoints and waterfalls scattered throughout the park. The visitor's center has a huge parking lot and there are numerous hotels of all qualities between Pak Chong, the closest city [on Highway 2] and the park's northern entrance, a drive of about 14 km.