01 January 2009 - Ants In Their Fish, Ants In My Pants

Ants In Their Fish, Ants In My Pants
02 January 2009

Yesterday was New Year's Day here in Isaan - a day of family gatherings just as in many other lands around the world.

We went to Tahsang Village at 10:00 in the morning for a "family" party. I should have suspected that it would be more than a simple family get together. I have often joked with Duang regarding the number of aunts, uncles, and cousins she has.

After a stop at the market in Kumphawapi to buy some squid and shrimp, we arrived in the village which was alive with the sounds of mahlam lao (Lao Music) and partying from several houses. We walked to a "cousin's" house which happened to be the house with the loudest music, and greatest amount of people.

People of all ages were enjoying themselves inside and outside of the house. To prevent accidents, a cousin had removed a portion of the sliding door. With the door removed people and dogs could freely wander about unimpeded.

Inside the house, toddlers were sitting or standing on the sofas along the wall. The adults were either sitting on the floor eating and drinking or dancing. Wherever they were, they were talking or more closely screaming with each other. It was apparent they had been partying for awhile. I later found out that they had started the night before and this was just a continuation of New Year's Eve festivities.

In the middle of the room were several large speakers and large amplifier. The television was showing Isaan karaoke videos - loud, pounding, and driving beat. A microphone was passed among the revelers to participate in the "singing". People were very friendly but several kept forgetting that they had previously wished me a Happy New Year and drank a toast with me.
People sat on sahts placed on the floor in the center of the room drinking beer and whiskey along with eating Isaan food - chopped up raw beef with chili, marinated fish, broiled fish, dried fish, sticky rice, pauk pauk, and assorted green things.

It was an overwhelming scene. Our contributions of a bottle of whiskey, shrimp, and squid were welcomed and quickly dispatched. After about one and one half hours, I was in the groove and comfortable. Our glasses were never empty.

One of Duang's female cousins, who is a real party animal, told us that she wanted to be "Village Headman". The Village Headman takes care of some aspects of village life in Thailand. I have to get a letter from our Village Headman stating that I have been living in our home since September so that I can get a "House Book". My "House Book" will allow me to register a car in my name, and allow me to make contracts as well as agreements such as utilities in my name.

Running for office, Duang's cousin decided to organize an event for today's festivities. She chipped in some money with everyone else to hire the people who performed at the Christian Christmas party that we had attended the other night. Only in Thailand could you set up and organize a street party at 2:00 PM for that evening.

Duang and I took a little break from the partying and walked about the village. Walking around the village is always such an adventure. Unlike Americans, the people of Isaan live much of their life outdoors. If they are not out working in the fields, they are sitting outside. You can not walk by without stopping and having a little chat - especially if they are one of your relatives. The population of Isaan is more youthful than the USA which means there are many more babies around. Yesterday during our walkabout, I got to hold one month old, two month old, and four month old babies.

Duang and I eventually arrived at a home where the young men including her son were having their own celebration. The guys were outside busy drinking and preparing some food. Duang had told me that the boys had caught some "big" fish. I expected to see some large catfish around 25 pounds (10 Kg) or more. The "big" fish were definitely larger than the typical fish that I have seen in Tahsang Village - 1/4 pound or less but at around 3 pounds each I wouldn't consider them to be big. I guess size is in the eye of the beholder.

One young man was busy tending the cook fire. The fire was contained in a manufactured cook stove. The cook stove is a cylinder about 12 inches in diameter and 18 inches tall. It is lined with refractory material. There is a shelf in the center of the cylinder where about 6 small diameter sticks are burned to cook food that is placed in pots or pans at the top of the cylinder.

In addition to tending the fire, the young man stirred the pot of boiling water, garlic, and greens.

Another young man was busy drinking and preparing the "big" catfish. The fish had been dressed out when we arrived. The heads, entrails, skin, and fins were set aside in a container. I was initially surprised that they were not in the pot with the boiling water and greens to create an Isaan version of Bouillabaisse. The young man was sitting cross legged on a raised wood platform with a large chopping disk in front of him. He was using a heavy knife to chop the fish fillets into a paste - the same process used to prepare beef or pork. I noted that the fish paste was rather dry but surmised that when it was put into the pot of boiling water it would become juicier and might even be tasteful. Little did I imagine what was going to happen next!

There was some talk and I picked up the word "mot". "Mot" is Thai for "ant". From Duang I learned that the men needed to get some ants for their meal. I had seen Duang eat "kie mot" (ant eggs) with her fish before but today the actual ants were to be used. One of the young men, who had not been previously involved in the food preparation, took the lead and set off with two other guys to get the ants. This was something that I had to witness so I tagged along. We went to a couple houses and walked around their houses looking up into the bushes. We stopped at one bush and the young men grabbed a couples leaves. The leaves were covered with active and aggressive red ants. The ants were dumped and stripped into the bowl of fish paste. The ants bit the young men and they energetically swatted and brushed the furious ants off of them into the bowl.

At the last house that we stopped at, I saw the object of the young man's desire. Up in a bush, there was a large leafy mass that resembled a wasp's nest. The mass was about 12 inches long and 9 inches in diameter. The young men broke the twigs off that supported the nest and dumped the nest contents into the bowl of fish paste. The bowl exploded into a mass of red - red furious ants! Ants were everywhere. It reminded me of the scene where you step or dig into a fire ant mound in SE USA. The young men were also very much more animated at this stop - many more ants biting them. They threw away the nest, and the leader devoted his attention to killing the ants in the bowl by squeezing them into submission in the fish paste with his bare hands taking time to remove attacking ants from his body.

We returned to the cooking site to continue preparing the meal. I was busy telling Duang what had happened in the neighboring yards to get the ants so I don't know exactly happened next. The next time that I saw the ant/fish mixture was very moist - I don't know if this was attributable to the addition of the ants or water. Anyhow the young man was kept busy for the next five minutes squeezing the ant/fish paste to kill the remaing ants that were alive and to get the mass thoroughly mixed. The remaining ants did not go quietly into that good night. They fought to the end. Due to the intensity of the mixing activity, an ant flew up into the air and laded on my neck. It promptly bit me. The bite was like a small sting similar to a fire ant bite but without any swelling or blistering. It was just a plain ordinary bite - no toxins, or venom. I promptly swatted the ant and tossed it into the bowl.

Once the ants had been killed and mixed with the fish paste, the young man to the bowl to the boiling pot of greens and squeezed the liquid from the ant/fish mixture into the pot of boiling water. The removal of excess fluid was repeated three times.

Finely chopped fresh scallions, celery leaves, and some spices were added to the dewatered ant/fish mixture. I was appalled at the amount of MSG that was used. Earlier in the year I had some concerns over my heart. My concerns were over a period of five days. I finally got an idea what might have been the cause. I asked Duang what she was putting in the food that she was preparing. She told me that she was using "Vietnam Salt" (MSG). In Vietnam, MSG was sold in 5 kg bags (11 pounds!). Mystery solved - no further concerns. No more MSG in my food! Well yesterday I was concerned at how much MSG was used. Duang assured me that it was OK "Isaan not same as Falang". Perhaps the red ants counteract the effects of MSG.
The fish heads and other parts were placed into the pot of boiling greens. The soup chef seasoned and sampled the soup. He offered me a taste of the broth. I tasted it and found it to surprisingly astringant and bitter. It was edible and I could eat it although it did ot suit my tatse. I believe the bitterness came from some of the plants used in the soup. I have tried some Kao Lao (Lao Food) sticks and twigs before and found them to be bitter.

Duang and I continued our walkabout as the young men commenced to eat their feast. As a boy, it was our French-Canadian heritage to eat pork pie on New Year's Day. Perhaps Ant/Fish salad is an Isaan tradition as well. A tradition that I will not be adopting.

As we walked along the main road we came upon some squashed fruit and a small piece of road kill (a frog). The debris had red ants on it. We saw and recognized the ants but in no time at all we were getting attacked by the ants. My sneakers were crawling with angry red ants. My pant legs had several ants running around on them. Some ants were running up my socks. Other ants had rapidly made their way up my pants and were biting my legs. I responded by stomping my feet, jumping around swatting ants off of me - all to the amusement of a local family sitting outside across the street from us. Duang was also under attack but to a much lesser extent. We made our way to safety and the local family turned out to be cousins so we stopped. As was many stops that afternoon, we had to talk and drink a toast to the new year. The people of Isaan are very hospitable and definitely know how to party. While I was drinking my glass of whiskey, I got another bite on my bare leg just below the knee. Now I was getting very worried as the attacks became higher and higher up my legs. Fortunately that was the last as well as highest bite of the day. Everyone got a good laugh at my encounter with the ants. Duang said that ants like falang but not Isaan people - the same thing that she says about mosquitoes. It may very well be true. I get many more mosquito bites and more severe bights than her. She says that I am too sweet. Perhaps I should eat some of those bitter Kao Lao foods or pala (fermented fish). Better yet I will go find some "OFF" repellent.

At the midpoint of our walk we came upon a group of older men including Duang's brother the entertainer. They were drinking and playing petanque - a French version of Bocce Ball. I even got to toss a couple balls and did not embarrass myself or Duang. The newly elected government representative from the village was there. He ran on a campaign saying that he would fix the roads. On the way out Duang had remarked that the roads were bad - still. They were actually getting worse - the heavily loaded trucks of sugar cane just tear up the roads. Repairs consist of filling ruts and repaving - to be destroyed during the next harvest season. The sub base needs to be removed and replaced to do the job properly but is too expensive. Anyhow I had Duang tell the man that I wanted to buy a new truck but that with the way the roads were I was afraid to. He told us that the roads would be repaired in 5 months. We all enjoyed a good laugh. Everyone understood the joke as well as point.

We returned back to the original party sight just as the enertainment arrived - well not really the entertainment but the venue. We were to be the entertainment. The people that were hired provided a stage, lights, sound system, and karaoke system. It was awesome. They set up in the middle of the street in front of the Buddhist Wat in the village. The speaker system was the same that they use for their live shows. They played Isaan music and people went up and sang. They even had some English songs and had me go up and sing a couple songs. The highlight was Duang's brother and one of her female cousins. They perform for a living and last night they put on quite a show for us. It was very entertaining - singing, drinking, and dancing under the stars. We left at 8:30 PM. Today we found out that the party lasted until 2:30 AM - a party that had gone on for 32.5 hours - only in Thailand.

I am not sure about Duang's cousin becoming Village Headman. There was a pitiful man from the village that was a problem. He is insane and completely drunk. He was falling down, soiled himself, and was a danger to himself as well as others. He became a nuiscance and it appeared that there would be a fight if he remained. Duang's cousin who was in charge of the party ignored the situation and him. One of Duang's older aunts went up to him and escorted him away. I made a big deal out of it and had Duang tell her cousin that as Headman her job would be to take care of situations like that. She had not and I did not know if I could vote for her. Since the aunt took care of it, I would consider her for Village Headman. I then pantomimed looking at a ballot and then their faces, to end up checking off the Aunt's name on the imaginary ballot. We laughed like crazy and had another drink

It was a very nice way to welcome the New Year.