Summer time som tam
The weather is getting warmer over here and it reminds me of tum maak houng and ping kai in Laos. Of course over there you can have all your tum and ping kai at any time of the year. During the rain season my relatives would gather under a house and have som tam party. My Grand-Mama told me how they would tum all sort of things and would share food and stories. It sounds like a nice time for relatives living within few meters from one another to have quality time eating and talking about different subjects. We don’t have such opportunity living in the west on a daily basis.
I have not had a batch of tum maak houng more than a month ago (first and second som tam for March 2008.) because I have been so busy and didn’t have much time to go to the Chinese grocery store or cook on the weekend. For now I can only look at the photos and waiting for the next kok of som tam. When I do make it, eating by yourself is not that pleasurable. I rather share my food with friends and relatives and trade stories.
My mother also put in Bai Kayang or Phak Etou (Lemon Basil)....
It look so good. I am going to go buy it from the Lao store tomorrow.
[...] Lao dish, Tum Buk Houng or spicy papaya salad, somehow it just doesn’t look as good as Darly’s Som Tum, may be better luck next time, but it does taste [...]