Popping Rice In Isaan - Kao Tawtek Time.

Popping Rice In Isaan

I first encountered the Isaan specialty, Kao Tawtek, seven years ago.  I often refer to Kao Tawtek as "Thai Cracker Jacks"

Cracker Jacks are treat for the past 129 years in the United States.  They are molasses flavored, caramel covered kernels of popcorn and peanuts.

Early September is the time, when Lao Loum families gather together to make Kao Tawtek.  Rice is one of the main components of the delicious treat.  Last year's harvest of rice is stored in small raised sheds adjacent to each house.  Large 50 kilogram (110 pound) recycled fertilizer bags, sugar bags, and rice bags are filled with sun dried rice kernels each October and November.  The bags are kept in the raised granaries and removed as needed to feed the family or opened to obtain offerings at special events such as funerals, bone parties, Tambon Roy Wan -100 day death anniversary, weddings, and Monk ordinations.  Families who are unable to make offerings of cash, make donations of rice.  The cash as well as the rice are then offered to the Monks in merit making rituals.

The stored rice has husk in tact.  In order to eat the rice, the rice is brought to a local miller to remove the husk, rendering the rice to the state that most people in the USA are familiar with at their grocery store.  Many bags of rice are not milled in Isaan because they are the seed stock for next year's crop.  Other bags of unmilled rice are saved to make kao tawtek.

I suspect that it is not by coincidence that the time to make kao tawtek is a month before the harvest of this year's rice crop.  Families now know how much rice they have as surplus from the last harvest, so that are able to make the special treat without fear of running out of rice before the new harvest is available.

Early last month, after our return from Vietnam, we drove out to Thasang Village.  Members of Duang's extended and extensive family were popping rice as part of the process to make this year's Kao Tawtek.



We ended up at one of Duang's Aunt's house.  Alongside of the house underneath the shelter of an overhanging corrugated metal roof, there was a stove made out of a modified steel barrel. The barrel had been cut in half with a large notch cut into the side. The barrel was then placed upside down on the dirt so that the notch served as a door to the interior of the barrel. A small wood fire was burning inside of the barrel using long pieces of fire wood. As the fire burned down, people shoved the unburned portions of the logs deeper into the barrel. On top the barrel was a large and heavy wok type iron frying pan. A woman was popping rice in the hot wok. She would take about a quart of brown rice seed from a woven wood basket and sprinkle it into the wok. She constantly stirred the seed inside the wok with a rustic broom made with a wood handle and reed bristles. In no time at all, the seed started to pop. With snap, crackles and pops the white interior of the kernel burst forth - much like popcorn.  She continued stirring the seeds despite the updraft of hot rice puffs. When the wok seeds were fully engaged in popping, she placed a battered old metal container attached to a wood handle over the wok to contain the rice puffs.

The sound of the popping rice seed, the swirling smoke, the swishing sound of the stiff reeds on hot metal, the sight of white rice puffs bursting upwards, and the smell of a wood fire all created quite a sensory explosion.  The shelter of the overhanging roof ensured that the pending rain would not interfere with the activity.



 

 

Occasionally another woman would stoop down and tend the fire. Most of the time tending the fire was adding just a couple more inches of the small pieces of wood into the fire. Other times tending the fire involved splashing some water on the coals to maintain a desired temperature in the wok - too hot a temperature would end up quickly burning the popped rice before it could be removed.

As the popping came to a conclusion, another woman would approach the fire to take hold of the large metal bowl that had been used over the top of the wok. She held the bowl at an angle as she swept the hot rice puffs into it.



The puffed rice was then carried to another woman who was tending a woven basket suspended from the overhead beams. The hot rice puffs were dumped into the woven basket that she rocked back and forth by hand to sieve the product. Unpopped seed and smaller puff pieces fell through the basket onto a mat comprised of sahts, woven reed mats, along with flattened recycled rice, sugar and fertilizer bags.. The rejected product is used to feed chickens and cattle. The acceptable puffs were dumped into metal pots and eventually placed into clean empty fertilizer plastic sacks to be used another day with the other ingredients.



 

 

The plan for the day was only to pop the rice and to wait until another day to cook in the sugar, millet, coconut, peanuts and package the delicious treat.

The work proceeded with a great deal of laughing and talking - very little transpires here in Isaan without a great deal of talking and gossiping.

The Kao Tawtek is finished for  Wan Kao Saht the Mid Autumn (Moon) Festival.  On this day, the Lao Loum people of Isaan make offerings to the hungry phii (ghosts).  In making the offerings to the phii, the people ask the ghosts to watch over and take care of this year's rice crop which will be harvested in October and November.  Close to the harvest, the people want to ensure that there are no problems with the crop.  The kao tawtek is a special treat for the spirits.

 

Kao Tawtek is also offered to the Monks as they complete roughly 60 days of the 90 day Buddhist Lent also referred as the Buddhist Rains Retreat. Families can also make extra income by selling surplus kao tawtek to people who want and need it but are not able or willing to make it themselves.

 

I am in constant admiration of the local people's self reliance and willingness to take advantage of the opportunities, many of them self-made, to support themselves.  Fortunately, especially for them, there is not much interference from government in the people's efforts.

The Lao Loum people, be they living in Thailand or in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos), may not live in "the land of the free ..." but they are free to make a living without cumbersome regulation.  My experience is also the same for the people of Vietnam.


 

 

Feeding the Spirits - Wan Kao Saht 2558 (2015)



A Villager Makes Food Offering At the Base of A Tat for the Spirit of a Departed Relative

Sunday was a special day in Isaan.  September 27 2015, 2558 BE, was Wan Kao Saht.  It is the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival.  For Westerners it is the "Harvest Moon".

On this special merit making is performed in offering food to the Phii (ghosts).  People also earn merit through offering a special treat called "Kao Tawtek" to their local Monks.  Kao Tawtek is a mixture of freshly popped rice, caramel, peanuts, shredded coconut and millet.  It is made in backyards, front yards, and side yards throughout Isaan just prior to Wan Kao Saht - typically in huge woks over wood fires. It is also traditional for older people to give gifts of Kao Tawtek and money to children.

Like many things here in Thailand, Wan Kao Saht seems to be adapted and amalgamated from other cultures. The Chinese celebrate a Hungry Ghost Festival and "Ghost Day" around the same time.  In Vietnam, the second biggest holiday with an emphasis and focus on children is celebrated at this time of the year.

I drove out to Tahsang Village, my wife's home village, early this morning to be able to participate in the daily merit making ritual of offering food to the Monks.  Although I left early in the morning, I was not as early as Duang.  She left our home at 6:00 A.M. to prepare for the ritual at the Wat outside of the village.  I drove through the bright green rice paddies, "high as an elephant's eye" sugar cane fields, and muddy fields lying in fallow, before I arrived at the "Outside" Wat (Wat Pha That Nong Mat).

On Wan Kao Saht, in addition to earning personal merit, the participants earn merit for the spirits of their dead relatives.  In the Lao Loum culture, as well as other Southeast Asia cultures, the people have to take care of the spirits of their family as well as other ghosts.  Spirits need merit in death as well in life to assist them in their journey to enlightenment.  Merit is the basis for determining what form and status a person will be reincarnated as.

Typical Daily Ritual of Making Food Offerings to the Monks

The villagers, in addition to the normal offerings of food for the Monks, had brought baskets of special foods wrapped in banana leaves.  The baskets were carefully placed on the floor of the incomplete Viharn (several years under construction but it does have a tile floor now) next to a concrete column.  A sai sin (sacred cotton string) was placed across the tops of the baskets.  The sai sin ran up the column, across the Viharn and ran down a second column near where the Monks sat slightly above the villagers.  The sai sin terminated in a ball placed on a plate at the side of the Wat's senior Monk.  The sai sin connects this world to other worlds, the laypeople to the Monks and conveys the merit making to the deceased people.

Baskets of Food Offerings for the Phii (Spirits)

Many of the women were dressed in white uniforms like the attire that Duang wears just about every night when she conducts her ritual upstairs in our home where my roll top desk has been converted into a shrine.  The women, including Duang's mother, were participating in a women's retreat at the Wat.  They spent the remainder of the day and most of the night reading and studying the scriptures and receiving lectures from the Monks.

In Buddhist Rituals, You Can Smile and Even Talk If You Want To

The offering of food to the Monks was a typical daily ritual with one exception, while the Monks ate their one meal of the day, the women in the white costumes along with a couple of Brahmans chanted in Pali for most of the time.

At the end of the ritual, the villagers gathered up their baskets and went outside.  The villagers scattered throughout the Wat grounds selecting specific trees to stop at.  My mother-in-law and several other women selected a large bohdi tree (Ficus religiosa).  She squatted down next to the exposed roots of the sacred tree.  It is considered sacred because it is said that Buddha sat under bohdi trees while meditating.  Yai Puh, Grandmother Puh, laid out food for the spirits of deceased family members.  The food was placed upon banana leaves and consisted of peeled fruits, sticky rice, chili sauces, dried fish, and other typical Isaan foods.  Off to the side was a banana leaf with betel-nut chewing items.  After the foods were laid out, water was poured over them as the family members said things along the lines of "You come down now to eat.  Good for you.  I miss you.  You look after family.  Good luck for you.  You go back up to Buddha. 



The offerings to the spirits also included two lit yellow candles and two sprigs of "dogkhut" - I suspect Thai jasmine buds.  When offerings are made to the Buddha, three of each item are offered - one for Buddha, one for the teachings of Buddha (Dhamma), and one for the Buddhist religious community (Sanga).  For spirits the offerings are in pairs.



After the family spirits had been offered food and drink, the people hung filled thin banana leaf packets in the trees throughout the grounds.  The banana packets contained food offerings to the other spirits.

Placing Banana Leaf Packets of Food for Phii

Duang and some other women, made food offerings to the spirits of relatives whose bones are kept in highly decorated steeple or spire shaped structures called "Tats".  Tats are reliquaries for bone chips of departed ancestors.  More affluent villagers have a free standing tat and those less affluent will often have a niche inside of the block walls that surround Wats.

Food Offerings At A Family Tat

Duang Making Food Offering to Her Father's Spirit

After a while, perhaps ten minutes, one of the men rang the Wat large bell three times signifying that the spirits had completed eating.  The small banana leaf packets were quickly removed from the trees and returned to the family baskets.  The packets will later be placed in the sugar cane fields, rice paddies, and other lands to feed the spirits (ghosts)  that inhabit them.  In return for feeding the hungry ghosts, the people ask that the spirits watch over the land and its crops bringing success as well as good luck to the owners.

Offerings to the Ghosts

The villagers returned to the Viharn to have a community meal with the food leftover from the offerings to the Monks.  There is always too much food offered to the Monks and since they are allowed to take only what they can eat that morning for their one meal of the day there are always "leftovers". The food, that the Monks have not taken, is eaten by the laypeople in a community meal in the Viharn after the Monks have left.

We returned to our home for a relaxing afternoon.  In the late afternoon, Duang offered food and drink outside our home to the spirits of our land.  After dinner she put on her religious attire and performed her nightly ritual which lasts about one hour.

Life goes on here in Isaan measured in part by the seasons of the crops and the cycle of religious events.  Whether it is the seasons of the crops, the cycle of religious events, or personal life milestones, life here always is interesting and is often "enlightening".

Coming Soon - Korb Siarn Khru Ritual

Life continues on here in Isaan - a cycle of events punctuated by milestones such as religious rituals and cultural celebrations.

Soon it will be May 1 once again.  May 1 is known as "Labor Day" in Thailand and in many countries around the world.  May 1 also marks other celebrations.

For me, more importantly, it is the day that a special ritual is performed at Wat Pha That Nong Mat.  Last night, Duang received a phone call from the young Monk, her son's friend, confirming to her that he would be conducting a "Korb Siarn Khru" ritual on May 1 and making sure that we would attend.

Korb Siarn Khru is one of those unique rituals that I am very interested in.  It is a ritual involving "White Magic", connections to a long ago past, links to an exotic land of spirits, and ancient teachings.  On the plus side, this ritual outside of Tahsang Village is untouched by tourism and mass media.  It remains for the time being a pure and genuine local event.

May 1 also marks the season of Bun Bang Fei - Rocket Festivals when homemade gunpowder rockets are launched into the skies over Isaan and neighboring Lao People's Democratic Republic.

May is an exciting month of festivals and rituals before the start of the rice planting season here.

Bone Washing 2558 (2015)

A Monk Washes the Bones of Duang's Father

Yesterday, 15 April, I drove out to Tahsang Village to participate with Duang's family in the special Songkran.  Duang had spent the previous night at the village rather than driving back home at a late hour. The Songkran holiday is a very dangerous time on our roads - the most dangerous time in the the country ranked number 2 in the world for highway deaths. Thailand has 44 traffic fatalities per 100,000 population only outranked by Namibia with 45/100,000.  It seems that it is during Songkran that Thailand tries hardest to become #1.

I arrived at Wat Pha That Nong Mat at 7:00 A.M..  The bone washing ritual was scheduled to be performed before the daily ritual of offering food to the Monks.  Bone washing rituals can be performed outside in front of the Tat or inside the Wat's Ubsoth (Ordination Hall).  Duang opted to have the ritual in front of the family Tat located along the Wat's perimeter wall.

I remained at the Wat while Duang stayed in the village organizing the family and completing final arrangements.  As it turned out the bone washing ritual for her father was not performed until approximately 11:00 A.M.  This was not that bad of a delay for me - other families associated with the Wat conducted bone washing rituals for their relatives before and after the daily merit making ritual of offering food to Monks.

Sahts were placed on the ground in front of the Tat.  An additional saht was placed upon the tiled slab of the Tat where the three Monks would be seated for the ritual. This year the four village boys who had become semanens (Novice Monks) for their school break, participated in the Veeboonkun family ritual. The "Nens" sat on a saht placed on the ground next to the Tat.

Two containers of specially prepared water to be used in the ritual.  The water was prepared by filling the containers with water along with flowers.

A decorative porcelain urn, ghoat, containing the bone fragments was placed in an ordinary porcelain bowl along with a plastic drinking cup placed to the side.  A decorative metal serving tray was prepared with small portions of food offerings, two yellow birthday type wax candles, two sprigs of jasmine buds for offering to Duang's father's spirit.

The Brahman who took over duties when Duang's Uncle was no longer able to lead the laypeople in rituals supervised and lead the family in the ritual.  Water was drawn out of the large container with the plastic drinking cup.  The scented water was first poured by the Monks, including the Nens over the bone fragments contained in the ghoat.

Duang Pours Water Over Her Father's Bones

After the Monks had sprinkled the bones, the bowl was placed in front of the immediate family.  Each family member repeated the water poureding.  When they had completed, other family members and others came up to the tray and poured water.  The ritual was not limited to adults.

Our six month old grandson, Pope, was experiencing his first Songkran.

Pope was very interested in the ritual.  Children here in Isaan are taught manners and religion at a very young age.  Pope was no exception.  He was lead by her mother's hand and poured water over the bones of his great grandfather.

Pope Helps Pour Water Over His Great Grandfather's Bones

After everyone, who wanted to, had sprinkled or poured water on the bone fragments, Duang placed her hand over the open top of the ghoat and shook it several times to agitate the fragments and water.  She then allowed the water to slowly drain into the metal serving tray.  She then repeated the process.  After the second time she removed the bone fragments and held them in one hand while she drained the water from the ghoat into the tray. After inspecting each fragment and brushing off any sand like particles into the metal tray, she returned the fragments to the ghoat.  The top was placed on the ghoat.

The focus of the ritual then became the offering of food to the spirit of Duang's father.

As the ritual continued, a sai sin was unfurled to connect the food offerings, the Monks and the bone fragments together. The sai sin, a cotton string or sometimes several cotton strings are used in Buddhist as well as Animist rituals.  The strings are tied on the wrists of people in the Bai Sii Ritual, several strings are wrapped around the steering columns of motor vehicles for good luck, and in a funeral procession a thick sai sin connects the Monks who are leading the procession back to the coffin with family members and friends in between holding on to the sai sin as they walk.  At the Wat during the most part of the ritual, the coffin is connected by a sai sin from the crematorium across to the sala where  much of the ritual is being conducted.

The food offerings for the spirit were brought to the two senior Monks who pour water over the offering to symbolize the transfer of merit to the spirit from the family.

 http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2014/04/water-transfer.html

Part of this ritual, involved the pouring of water by the family members into containers to transfer the merit of the ritual to Duang's father's spirit.  Upon completion of this part of the ritual, the water was poured on the roots of plants in another merit making act.

Offerings are then made to the Monks in the name of the departed person.  Special plastic buckets are readily available in stores and shops for offering to Monks. The plastic buckets contain items such as tooth paste, tooth brush, hand soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, and other toiletries.

Upon completion of the ritual, Duang's son took the ghoat and placed it back in the upper chamber of the Tat.  Duang, her youngest brother, and her son then washed the exterior of the Tat by pouring the remaining special water over the surface and rubbing it with their bare hands.

Life is measured by the passing of years and more specifically the rhythm of the seasons.  Another Songkran has arrived.  Some friends and family that we celebrated with last year, are no longer here.  During this Songkran, we wash their bones.

Another Songkran has arrived.  Some new family members have arrived and joined our extended family.  Little Pope celebrated his first Songkran marking a milestone in his life and adding a beat to the rhythm of this family's cycle of life.  Each death and birth marks the passage of time just as the planting along with the harvesting of the various crops in the surrounding countryside.

Allen's World, 2013 In Review

Now that just about everyone has gotten out their "Year In Review" or "2013 In Review", I thought that I would share some of my favorite photographs for the year that just concluded.  Staying here in Thailand gives me the opportunity to actually have two years in review, 2013 as well as the Buddhist Era year of 2556.

Life here in Isaan continued to be very interesting as well as fulfilling.  There were more than a year's share of festivals, family events, travels, and ordinary daily activities to keep me both satisfied and more importantly happy.

So let's see what the past year brought forth.

January - Udonthani
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/02/for-love-of-king-and-country.html

February - Ban Chiang
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/02/ban-chiang-weekend.html

March - Si That
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-rare-day.html

April - Maehongson
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/04/poi-sang-long-festival-wednesday-03.html

May - Ban That
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/05/ban-that-rocket-launches.html

June - Yellowstone National Park

July - Ban Nong Han
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/07/road-of-opportunity-plenty-of.html

August - Ban Tahsang
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/08/all-along-back-roads.html

September - Ban Nong Han

October - Sakon Nakhon
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/10/wax-castles-of-sakon-nakhon.html

November - Ban Tahsang
http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2013/11/another-rice-harvest.html

December - Luang Prabang

It had been quite a memorable year as every year is.  It was filled with joy, sadness, challenges like all the previous years.  It had been a year of many opportunities just as all previous years and as I know this new year, 2014, will be - for everyone.

Busy Tahsang Village Morning

Dying Reeds Prior to Weaving Them Into Sahts

I drove Duang out to her village this morning so that she could finish her preparations for our visit to family southeast of Bangkok tomorrow. Out of habit, I brought my camera gear along with me.  I did not have any particular thing in my mind to photograph.  However when I get out and about in the countryside I usually come upon something interesting to photograph and eventually share.  Today was no exception.

The roads out to Tahsang Village were filled with vehicles of all sorts and sizes headed to the Kumphawapi Sugar Company.  No matter the type or size of the vehicle, they shared on thing in common - they were extremely loaded with fresh cut sugar cane.  The growers are paid by the weight of the sugar cane that is delivered to the refinery. For that reason alone they are eager to get the harvested cane delivered as quickly as possible after it is cut.  Drivers are typically paid by the weight of the cane that they haul for the day.  With the interests and needs of both the growers and truckers aligned, the trucks are heavily loaded - sometimes too heavily loaded.  Last year we lost electrical power for a couple of hours.  There was a large explosion and then the lights went out.  Lightening strike?  No, not that time.  Sabotage?  No.  A too heavily loaded sugar cane truck, as in too much height, had cause to main power lines to short out as it passed under or rather attempted to go under the wires.

Dried Reeds Are Placed Into A Home Made Pot of Dye

As we entered into the village, I was pleased that I had brought my camera gear with me.  One of Duang's aunts was occupied with dying reeds in preparation to weave them into a colorful mat called "saht".

Bundles or reeds that had been dried and bleached by the sun, were immersed in hot water to which a commercial dye had been added.  A recycled tin can which had previously been filled with either cookies or crackers served as the dye pot.  The dye pot was set on top of a crude stand made from reinforcing steel (rebar).  A fire or four burning good sized logs heated the dye mixture.  As the logs were consumed, the elderly woman pushed each log forward to keep the active flame and coals beneath the dye pot.

She used two roughly fashioned wood paddles to stir the mixture, immerse the reed completely into the dye mixture and after about 3 minutes remove the dyed reeds from the pot.  After three minutes, the mousy brown reeds exited the dye pot a brilliant indigo.

Removing Dyed Reeds From the Dye Pot

When all the reeds had been dyed, the woman gathered them up and placed them along the village street to dry out in the sun.

The woman was not the only person busy at that location.  A younger woman was occupied cooking food over a charcoal fire.  When I write about charcoal fires here in Isaan or in Lao, I am not describing the sawdust, wood char, Limestone, Starch, Borax, Sodium Nitrate compressed briquettes sold as charcoal in America.  Charcoal here and in Lao is lump charcoal, 100% organic and natural - hardwood that has been heated (baked) in an oxygen deficient furnace or more accurately covered pit or earthen mound.

Making A New Khong Kao

Duang's uncle is a skilled weaver, was seated near by working on a new khong kao -apparently khong kao is the name of the woven basket that you steam sticky rice in as well as the name for the woven covered baskets that people store cooked sticky rice in.

Duang's uncle is quite clever.  He makes khong kao for steaming rice, khong kao for storing cooked rice, fishing creels, fish traps, and fish nets.  He uses all locally available materials except for the nylon string, scissors, and needles.  He uses knives just like we watched being made in Laos for shaving, chopping and cutting his raw materials.  He even rolls is own cigarettes.

On my way from his house to Duang's aunt's house across the farm road that bisects the village, I passed several homes where people were busy processing cassava for planting.  The sugar cane harvest is well underway now.  As part of crop rotation some fields of sugar cane are replanted with cassava after harvest.  The cassava harvest is also underway.  Sharing the Isaan back roads with sugar cane vehicles are vehicles filled with cassava tubers similar in diameter to sweet potatoes.  The stalks of the cassava plant are stripped of leaves and chopped into 10 inch (25 cm) pieces.  The woody stalks are soaked in water for three days and then placed in recycled fertilizer bags to be hauled out to the fields for planting.  Planting involves sticking the 10 inch pieces about half way into  newly tilled field.

Processing Cassava Stalks in Tahsang Village

I eventually made it across the road to Duang's aunt's house.  Four women, bundled up in heavy clothing, were busy weaving cotton cloth just as they were doing on my last visit twelve days ago.  Outside weaving is a cottage industry here during the cool months.  A little further north from our home is an area known for its silk weaving,  Duang and I will go visit the area in either January or February.  I suspect that we will also end up purchasing some home spun silk for Duang to make clothes for herself.  Besides supporting local culture and handicrafts, buying directly from the producers is also more economical for us.  There is also a certain degree of pleasure of having items that you know the producers and have watched them make the item.

Tying A Thread On the Loom

Adjusting the Threads On the Loom

I watched the woman weaving for a while and took some photographs.  As many times as I have watching weaving, I am still clueless as to how they are able to make such beautiful designs let alone beautiful designs from their head.  Today I got a little bit more of a perspective as to how they doing.  On the loom where the dark traditional design fabricate for skirts was being woven, the weaver spent a large amount of time counting and separating threads,  I also noticed that the thread that was inside the shuttle was two toned - indigo and white which made sense because the fabric was indigo with a white design.

Sharpening A Saw 

Around the corner of the house, Duang's uncle was busy sharpening a bow saw using his buttocks and foot to secure it as he used a hand file to sharpen the teeth.

As so often happens on these journeys out into the countryside, there was plenty of activity to witness, learn about and to appreciate.

The people may not have formal jobs but they are always busy.  That is the way life is here in Isaan ... there are always plenty of people doing something interesting.  It only takes some time and little effort to discover more of their culture and lives.