Making Pla thu

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 "Making Pla thu" is not a euphemism for one of man's favorite activities such as:  "banging", "humping", "doing it", "slapping uglies", "doing the horizontal mambo", and so many other colorful expressions. Making Pla thu is all about making a specialty food that is very popular here in Isaan.

If you go to the local markets, either morning or night markets, you will come upon one, if not several, vendors selling small diameter woven trays containing small silvery fish, "Pla thu" or "Pla thu Talay" (Talay is Thai for "beach" as in ocean beach)

In addition to the small, approximately 8 inch (200 mm) diameter woven baskets, the vendors also offer large baskets containing about 15 to 20 fish.

Pla thu is Short mackerel, Rastrelliger brachysoma, prepared in a certain manner. The fish populates the waters from Southeast Asia to Melanesia.

Duang's cousin, one of her 123, has a business outside of Tahsang Village.  The other day he called to inform Duang that they would be making Pla thu that day starting at 1:30 P.M.  He had called earlier to determine if I would be interested in taking pictures of the process - as if asking was necessary.  Of course!  I am always interested in exploring, learning and trying to understand all aspects of this culture that is so different from mine which I am familiar with.

Frozen Short Mackerel Imported from India

Under a threatening sky, Duang and I walked from the two lane highway that connects Tahsang Village to Kumphawapi, down the muddy narrow driveway to a new small cinder block home where the processing would take place.  On the side of the house was a good sized work area - concrete pavement covered with a sloped corrugated metal roof.  Beyond the covered work area, there were two large concrete urn shaped concrete containers which captured the run off from the roof during the frequent rains of the monsoon season.  This rain collection system is very common out in the villages of the Isaan countryside.  The rainwater is used for bathing, cooking, cleaning, and sanitary needs.  Bottled drinking water is purchased from local markets and established vendors who home deliver.

At the far end of the processing area there was a large propane burner, A frame structure, and several 15  kg portable propane gas bottles - identical to the one that we have under our kitchen counter for our cooking hub.  A very large aluminum kettle rested on top of the propane burner.

Adjacent to the fish processing area, there was a small pond that was surrounded by a fine mesh plastic netting that is often used in threshing rice to collect rice kernels that fall off the stalks that are handled in the process.  Inside of the fenced in pond, were various accoutrements associated with raising ducks and fish. Two separate narrow concrete drains built into the work area concrete paving and buried PVC pipes directed water and debris from the fish processing area into the pond.

We arrived early and neither Duang's cousin or his wife were there.  We got to meet the young couple that live in the house, maintain the property, and work for Duang's cousin.  In addition to daily wages they are allowed to stay in the house as part of their compensation.

Soon a middle-aged woman arrived on a motorbike. She put on a hat, apron, rubber boots and latex gloves before commencing to wash down the work area along with several large plastic tubs.  The water for washing down the equipment and work area came from a well in the back yard of the house.  Although the water came from a well it is not suitable for drinking or cooking.  Duang says that it has too much salt.  I suspect that the salt may actually be potash.  There is a very large potash deposit in the area.  There have been plans to exploit the deposits on a grand commercial scale but studies as well as permitting process have long delayed the start of construction.  No matter the reason, sodium chloride or potash content, the well water was only used for cleaning.  Water for cooking came from the concrete urns.

In a short while the middle aged woman was joined by the cousin's wife and the young couple.  At 1:30 P.M. the processing of the fish started.

The young man filled a large tub with water and added a large amount of salt to it stirring it with a plastic floor brush on the end of a wood handle.  The salt was not a refined table salt.  It was a raw local salt obtained from evaporating brine, obtained from wells, in shallow ponds under the unrelenting Isaan sun during the dry season.  The local salt was not pure white.  It was a myriad of pale neutral colors with square crystals ranging in sizes from 1 to 3 mm in dimension per side.

Into the freshly prepared brine mixture, he broke up the solid block of small fish that he removed from the plastic bag contained in the cardboard shipping box from India.  Using his bare hands he separated the individual frozen fish and placed them in the brine to thaw out.

They process fish everyday.  The day that I visited, Duang left shortly after we arrived to visit her family in Tahsang Village, the four person crew was going to process 90 kg of fish - roughly 200 pounds.  On other days they often process 150 kg of fish - 330 pounds. Some days they have to work until 8:00 P.M. to finish the work.  The frozen fish is purchased and delivered each day by a "big company" in nearby Kumphawapi. I am fairly certain that the fish is trucked up weekly or perhaps even daily from the Bangkok area.

The Fish Gutter At Work

Seated upon a very low plastic stool, with an inverted bucket underneath it for additional support, next to the thawing tub, the middle aged woman placed a large plastic bucket between her legs.  The white bucket was the type that you will often find in bakeries filled with shortening, jelly, or other ingredients.  You will also find these types of hard plastic buckets filled with wall joint taping compound in home improvement stores.  I don't know the origins of this bucket.  With a plastic colander, she would periodically scoop several fish out of the thawing bucket and place the filled colander over an empty bucket slightly to her left to collect the water draining from the fish.  As she selected each fish, she inspected it.  Out of the 200 pounds that she worked on, she rejected 4.  The rejected fish were dropped into the bucket located between her legs.  With a small knife like implement about the size of a paring knife - a roughly 120 degree curved tubular segment; sharp on one side with a handle on the other end.  In a single skillful, if not artful, movement she made a shallow incision behind the fish's head just slightly underneath the fish gill and eviscerated the fish, pulling the entrails through the opening and dropping them in the bucket between her legs.  The cleaned fish was then rinsed in a tub of water and placed in a plastic tub that had been placed on a very low concrete tiled table in front of her.

One of many fish eviscerated over two hours

Duang's cousin's wife and the wife of the young man, that was also working on the fish, sat on opposite sides of the low concrete tiled work table. To their side were plastic crates containing the open weaved bamboo baskets that the fish are sold in.  Their job was to selected the proper combination of cleaned fish to place in the bamboo baskets.  They selected fish to ensure that each basket contained roughly the same weight of fish.  Duang's cousin's wife used a plastic colander to scoop the cleaned fish out of the tub and dumped them on to the tiled work table.  The women would bend the heads of the fish to get them completely resting on the bottom of the basket.  As each basket was completed with fish, it was stacked up on the work table. When there were several filled baskets on the work table, the cousin's wife removed them and placed them on a large woven tray with long loop handles attached to it.

While this was going on, the young man was very busy doing all sorts of tasks.  It was very difficult to take a photo without his butt, or him bent over detracting form what I wanted to photograph.  However since I consider myself to be an environmental portrait photographer, I excuse my failures to be "capturing reality".

After setting up the first bunch of fish in the thawing tub, he filled the large aluminum kettle with water that he drew out of the concrete rain water urns.  He carefully measured some salt on a scale and dumped it into the almost completely filled kettle. He fired up the propane burner under the kettle and in a while, had a big pot of boiling water.  He used a very fine meshed paddle strainer to remove the scum on the top of the boiling water caused by the salt impurities.  He then added "Salt Vietnam". Duang's English description for MSG, and several bullion cubes to the kettle.  Once Duang had returned from her family visit, I asked her if the bullion cubes were shrimp or fish flavor. Well, it turned out that they were actually pork flavored.

Placing Baskets of Fish to be Boiled

When the flat baskets with the long loops were filled with 24 baskets of fish - 4 stacks of 6 baskets high. the young man placed a woven bamboo cover and a thick as well as heavy wood disk over the top of the stacks. He lifted them by hand using the long loop handles and lowered the assembly into the boiling water.  The cover and heavy wood disk kept the baskets of fish immersed in the boiling water.  The fish were boiled for a few minutes.  There was no timer or even a clock available to determine when the baskets were to be removed from the boiling brine solution.  I guess after doing this every day, you quickly develop instinctive sense when the fish are ready to be removed.  I was too busy photographing to time the boiling but it seemed to be around ten minutes to me.

Removing the Cooked Fish

When the fish were ready, after boiling for however long, the young man, against the backdrop of banana trees in the back yard and the clatter of heavy rains on the metal roof overhead, used a rope and a simple pulley attached to the A frame straddling the propane cooking station to remove the basket assembly.  A steel yoke shaped hook lifted the basket assembly by its long handles.  As he pulled on the line the heavy assembly emerged from the boiling cauldron in a cloud of billowing steam and a cascade of scalding brine falling back into the continuously boiling kettle.

Moving A Support Into Place

Just as the bottom of the basket assembly cleared the top of the kettle, the man slid two prepositioned sticks of wood underneath the raised assembly so that he could lower the basket assembly.  After removing the long loop handles from the steel yoke, the steaming basket assembly was placed on a metal tray against the exterior wall of the house to cool.

Steaming Hot Pla thu

After cooling off for a while, the fish basket assembly was placed inside of the home.

Pla thu Ready for Market

Everyone was completely busy the entire time that it took to process the fish.  While the baskets were boiling, the young man ensured that the fish to be cooked were kept moist by pouring water over them.  He also ensure that there was a constant supply of fish in the thawing tub.  The owner of the business, the cousin's wife, worked for as long, and just as hard as her three employees.  Whoops, I did not mention that she worked just as long as her employees. No, I did not.  I did not because it would not be true.  She actually works longer than her employees!  At 3:00 A.M. she was going to the market in Kumphawapi to set up her stall to sell the Pla thu.  Her husband loads up the truck, drives her to the market and unloads the baskets. She will remain at the market until she has sold out - around three hours.  Three hours to sell 200 pounds of fish before the sun rises?  Yes!  It has to do with the traditional marketing of food here in Thailand. From around 3:00 A.M. to 5:00 A.M. the morning markets are busy being stocked by the many small vendors.  The public starts to show up around 5:30 to 6:00 A.M.  Her pla thu for the most part is not sold one basket at a time to a housewife.  Most of her product is purchased by vendors who have stalls at smaller markets in the much smaller villages in the vicinity of Kumphawapi.  They purchase bulk quantities of the baskets to sell at their morning markets or in some cases - night markets.  Pla thu does not need to be refrigerated and can last up to two weeks without refrigeration.

After two hours the processing of fish was completed. After washing and cleaning everything, the employees were done for the day.

Here in Isaan as well as in Lao, the Lao people use a fermented fish sauce in cooking and on their food very much like Americans use Ketchup.  Pla Ra (Thai) or Paa daek (Lao) is fish that has been fermented at least six months.  It has a very strong and pungent odor. We or rather, Duang, keeps a container of it in the cabinet under our kitchen sink.  When we first moved into our house, I was upset one morning.  When I went into the kitchen, it smelled like the sewer had backed up into the room.  I was "somewhat" relieved when Duang told me that it was only the pla ra that her family had given us as a house warming gift.  I have actually vomited due to the stench of it - much to the amusement of my in-laws.  For some reason I have assumed that Pla ra or paa daek was made from sliced up fish and other ordinary ingredients.  That was until the other day at the making of pla thu.  Remember the middle aged woman eviscerating 200 pounds of fish.  When she had finished her 5 gallon bucket was almost completely filled with fish guts and fish shit.  The fish that had not passed QC inspection had also been tossed into the bucket.  She added a whole bunch of the raw salt and mixed it all thoroughly before placing a plastic sheet over it.  Later rice, sugar, pork bullion cubes, and MSG will be stirred in to get things going.  To say the least, I was appalled.  Duang kept reassuring me that it would be OK because it would be cooked and all the shit would go away.  I am not buying into that belief and will continue my boycott of pla ra or paa daek!

The Makings for Pla Ra, Paa daek

Through Duang, I determined that the cousin's wife pays 30 baht a day for her stall at the Kumphawapi Morning Market.  That is an expense of $1 a day.  I asked about taxes and fees that have to be paid to a government or governments for running a business.  Well there is a fee for having a business here - she pays 200 Baht ($6.66 US Dollars!) a YEAR to the government.

As for hiring people to work in her business, it is a private matter between her and her employees.  The free market determines wages other than a newly instituted minimum wage of 300 Baht ($10 USD) a day.  There is no withholding of a portion of wages for local, province or national taxes.  There is no reporting of wages. There are no requirements to keep and report safety and health statistics.  There is no unemployment insurance premiums to be collected or paid.  There is no requirement to provide any kind of insurances or benefits - it is a matter between the employee and employer.  The workers are paid in cash each day.

I was curious as to how and why the owner had decided to start a pla thu business.  It turned out that she had previously for two years at a big company that produced it.  She left to start her own business.

Here in Isaan, it is easy for a person to start a business and, if they choose, grow it to the point where there are some governmental requirements.  For me, having had started to look into starting a business in the USA for Duang to make traditional Lao clothing, this is very encouraging and refreshing.  I gave up after discovering 56 pages of regulations involved in importing cotton cloth into the USA.   Here the people are free to make a better living for themselves.  The government does not discourage or interfere with starting a small business.

Fishing In Isaan - Two Different Ways

Raising A Large Dip Net In Isaan

Last week I shared my experience of watching two Monks and some Tahsang Village men catching fish by draining the water and feeling around for the fish in the resulting muck.  That is one way to go fishing here in Isaan.

Another way to catch fish is to dip net for them.  The Mekong River is about 40 Km from here and serves as the border between Thailand and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.  The Mekong River is one of the planet's greatest rivers.  Besides supporting thriving international river commerce. the Mekong River supports the peoples of China, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam with its fish stocks.

However here in Isaan, most of the wild fish that is caught is not from the mighty Mekong River or even in rivers of much less size or fame.  There are not many streams to catch fish in either.  The wild fish are mainly caught in drainage ditches, drainage sloughs, mud holes, and flood plains.

In Isaan, rain typically falls from may until October.  In between, very little rain falls.  However, the land is flat and does not drain very well.  By the time that the natural monsoonal rains stop in October, the land is saturated, the rivers are flooding, and there is plenty of standing water.  The Mekong River floods which backs up the small streams that feed it from the interior of Isaan.  Since the water can not drain quickly into the Mekong or other waterways flowing to the south, the water level on floodplains of Isaan will rise dramatically.  This in turn supports the growth and reproduction of wild fish species.  The higher water levels allow the fish to migrate and feed upon recently submerged vegetation.  In addition to being a food source for the fish the submerged vegetation provides shelter for breeding and raising young fish.

In September when water levels are about their highest and into January when water levels have diminished greatly to the point that fishing isn't possible, you will find people fishing the drainage ditches  drainage sloughs, mud holes, and floodplains.  In many areas, people construct platforms out of bamboo from where they drop and raise nets to the water below.  In other locations people will wade out into the water to drop and raise nets that they have attached to a long bamboo pole or they will cast a large nylon net onto the waters to try to catch fish.

Fishing Platforms Outside of Baan Tahsang (Tahsang Village)

Duang's sister, as I pointed out in an earlier blog, had a large ditch dug along her back property line on the Kumphawapi floodplain.  Since her neighbors did the same thing there is now a good place for fishing for a better part of the year.  I had not been out to her place in wto years and I was shocked to see how many fishing platforms had been constructed.  When I arrived my sister-in-law's yard was filled with motorbikes and pick up trucks.  I quickly found out that the vehicles belonged to people fishing in the new ditch or slough.  I thought that perhaps my in-laws had set up a fish for fee business or at least park for a fee business.  They looked at me like I was crazy and through Duang I found out that all the people were family. Since Duang has 23 Aunts and Uncles along with 96 cousins just on her side of the family, it is easy to understand how a place could get crowded with "family".

Duang went off to the village to get her hair done and I wandered around taking photographs.

Fishing - Isaan Style   I Guess Since No Bait Is Used, There Is No Need To Stay Awake

On the day that I visited the site, people were using drop nets and throwing nets to catch fish.  In both techniques, no bait was used.  In the case of the drop nets, the people were using very large nets that were rigged off of their fishing platform.  Levers, fulcrums, and pulleys were used to provide mechanical advantages for raising and lowering the nets.  Other than the corrugated metal used in some of the platforms for roofing all the materials were local. Three pieces of thin walled tubing were welded together to create the each of the two required combination pin connection and journal bearing for the bamboo poles of the net boom and bamboo poles of the base of the platform.  I had seen young men performing welding repairs on some farm equipment at the Tahsang Village miller's house, so I suspect he was the source of these vital metal connections.  Many of the fishing platforms had little shelters built on them where the fishermen could eat, drink, and fish out of the direct sun light.  Oh, some of the fishermen also slept in the shelters.

When the fisherman thinks he has waited long enough, or when he wakes up, he will raise the net to determine if he has caught any fish.  If he has not, the net is lowered and the wait will start again.  If he has caught some fish he will use a net on the end of a long bamboo pole to scoop them up.  The fish are then placed in a bucket of water kept in the shade.  We are not talking about catching very big fish - the vast majority of the fish are around 4 to 6 inches long (10 to 15 cm).  There are no size limits on the catch with people keeping fish that would be too small to even use as bait in the USA.  There is no license required to fish.

Wakened From His Nap, Lao Loum Fisherman Checks His Net

Many of the larger sized fish never make it to the bucket, they are cooked and eaten on site.  Fishing along the embankment was a family gathering with people of all ages eating, drinking, gossiping, and some people actually fishing.  It was a great big picnic if not a party.

Fresh Fish Being Grilled

Some of the men were using hand nets to work sections of the slough.  Fish fences had been set along the ditch to encourage the fish to travel along certain routes.  The men using the hand nets collaborated to take advantage of the fences and the placement of their nets to trap the fish.

Casting Their Nets Upon The Waters In Isaan

 Once the nets had sunk to the bottom, the fishermen would pull them in.  Soon they would be holding a mass of nylon netting coated and dripping with chocolate colored muck.  Sometimes they would even find a couple of small fish in the last bit of the net once the muck was washed away.  The small fish would be placed in a small fisherman's creel floating near the fisherman,  The creel is woven from strips of local hardwood and is kept afloat by lashing empty 1.5 liter plastic bottles to it. One of Duang's uncles, most likely more than one, weaves these creels in Tahsang Village.  I have watched and photographed other villagers making the throwing nets.  Again, the people exhibit an amazing degree of self-reliance as well as self sufficiency.

Starting To Haul Net With Floating Creel Close By

Getting Down to the Business End of the Net

Most of the fishermen had completed fishing when I headed back from the slough to go to my in-law's house.  On my way back to the house I came upon, what for me was an extraordinary scene.  Near where the motorbikes and pick up trucks were parked, a tarp had been placed on the ground.  All the buckets and creels had been emptied on top of the tarp.  People were sorting through the fish and creating at least twelve equal piles of fish for the people to take home with them.  The individual extended family members were cooperating for the greater overall good of the family.  This was yet another example of the sharing and caring nature of the Lao Loum people here in Isaan.

Dividing Up The Day's Catch

Monks In The Mud - Fishing In Isaan

Monks Fishing By Hand Outside Tahsang Village

On my photography website I have a gallery entitled "Monks In The Mist",http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Travel/Monks-In-The-Mist/11244834_wcKqQz and another gallery entitled "Monks In The Morning" http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Travel/Luang-Namtha-Monks/11225188_Bjrhpm  Today, I ended up taking photographs that could be placed in a gallery entitled "Monks In The Mud".

We started the day with three main objects.  The first was to burn a CD of photographs for my client in Europe and send it to her.  The second objective was to go out to Kumphawapi and pay the monthly fees for our grandson to attend school.  The last objective for the day was for me to write a blog on fishing in Isaan.  I had recently posted a photograph on Facebook that one of my friends had expressed some interest in what was going on.  I had promised a blog related to the photograph soon.

Well, for many reasons, "soon" here in Isaan takes a while to become reality.  My main delay was getting caught up with editing and post processing the photos that I have taken in the past month.  I then started to clear up the backlog of blog entries that have been in my head for the past month.

First thing in the morning we got a call from Duang's mother asking why I was not coming out to the village to photograph the Monks doing something with the fish in the ditch outside of Tahsang Village.  Well, since we were then aware that something was going on, we incorporated a visit to Tahsang Village into our schedule.

I had seen a new holding pond being constructed outside of the Wat that is inside of Tahsang Village so I assumed there was going to be some kind of ritual or blessing to fill the ditch with water from the flood plain and stock it with some fish.  Well, I sure got that wrong. What was actually happening was the Monks from the Wat outside of the village along with some of the villagers were draining the ditch outside of that Wat and removing the fish.  They were removing the fish for the villagers to eat and to sell any surplus to help pay the electrical bill for the Wat.  The monthly bill for the Wat runs around 1,000 Baht ($33 USD) a month.

Tahsang Village Men Fishing By Hand

When we arrived at the ditch we discovered that the fishing had been going on for a while.  The ditch had been divided up into two sections.  The first and largest section had been drained to the point that rather than holding water, it contained about 18 to 24 inches of muck, a sort of earth pudding, and fish.  Several of the men were bent over knee deep in the muck searching for and grabbing fish with their hands.  When they did catch a fish, they washed it off in a bucket of water and either placed it in a collecting bucket or tossed it up on the embankment where people were cooking fish over the coals of a log fire.

Fish Being Cooked the "Old Fashioned Way"

I knew that they had been at it for awhile not by the number of fish that they had caught but by the number of beer bottles and Lao Lao (Isaan Moonshine type whiskey) up on the embankment where the fish were being cooked.  The people may have been working but that never seems to prevent them from enjoying themselves or making a party out of it.

The two young Monks of the Wat were also out in the muck grabbing fish with their hands.  The Monks did not kill the fish nor did they eat because it was past noon.  They only eat one meal a day and it must be completed by noon.  I suspect that they were doing it for the fun of it and camaraderie with the villagers. No matter their motivation, they were enjoying themselves as much as any one.

The Monks Working To Corner A Fish

A wide range of "fishing" attire was worn by the men.  Some of men wore pakamas (cotton cloth strip) wrapped around their waist and up through their crotch so that the looked like the main character from the 1937 film, "Sabu, The Elephant Boy".  One man was wearing only his western style athletic briefs.  Other men wore a sarong around their waist while others opted to wear cotton shorts or cutoff sweat pants.  The Monks were wearing something similar to Sabu The Elephant Boy undergarment only it was the same color as their Monk robes.   Well actually it was the same color as their robe before they entered into the ditch.  After everyone entered into the ditch, they were quickly covered with a grey creamy muck.  Their garment was also more intricately wrapped and twisted than the laymen.  The older Monk, perhaps 25 years old, had a belt type device around the top of his garment,  The device was not a simple belt but was comprised of tubes, cords, and perhaps a small chain.

Two Monks After Fish

I was invited to join them fishing but once again I was happy to remind them that it looked like work and I did not want the Police to come and take me to jail because I was working.  Having told them that they were happy to just have me take pictures of them.  I did not tell them that I did not have the heart or courage to go into the muck and actually try to grab something that I could not see with my bare hands. I did joke with them that I had brought a tuna fish sandwich to eat for lunch because I wasn't sure that they would be catching anything.

The Older Monk Takes A Rest From Fishing

They caught several small fish, ranging in size from 6 inches to perhaps 16 inches.  The smaller fish appeared to be Talapia and the larger fish I believe were Snakeheads,  They caught a few eel like creatures and some large snails.

Everyone had a great time laughing and joking as they fished.  The older Monk fell when he walked into a hole hidden under the muck - much to his amusement and everyone else.  The biggest laugh, so big that I almost fell down the embankment, was brought about by the youngest Monk.  He was squatted down in the muck when all of a sudden he started yelling and jumped up as a big splash could be seen exiting between his legs.  The largest fish of the day had swum between his legs and apparently brushed up against his inner thigh or someplace near there. I missed the shot but did see the fish.  Everyone was laughing hysterically including the Monk once he overcame his initial shock.  About 10 minutes later he captured what we believed was the offending fish.

The fish that were to be eaten were cooked the old fashioned way - they were thrown on to a bed of coals from the burning of a couple logs - no scaling, no gutting and no seasoning.  As the need for more coals became apparent the burning log was moved closer to the center of the fire.  Some of the fish were thrown on the coals alive and some people dispatched their fish before cooking them.  One man shoved a fresh twig down their throat to cook them over the coals.  A couple men placed the fish's head on an empty beer bottle laying on the ground and pounded the head forcefully with the bottom of another empty beer bottle. No matter how the fish were prepared, everyone seemed to really enjoy eating them.  I enjoyed eating and was thankful for my tuna sandwich.

One of My Buddies Displaying His Catch

Udonthani is the capital in Thailand of liver cancer incidence caused by a parasite that infects fresh water fish and snails.  The hospitals have signs posted informing the people of the danger of eating improperly prepared fish and snails.  The main contributor to infection is the consumption of unpasteurized fermented fish - a Lao Loum staple.  I am leery of eating local caught and prepared fish and snails.  I am not afraid of the fermented fish because just the smell of it makes me sick so I would never be eating it.

After the smaller section of the ditch had been drained and fished the village men went to the Wat where the women had prepared  all kinds of local dishes from the fish that had not been grilled.

Having had their fun for the day, the Monks returned to their quarters.

Having had our fun for another day, we returned to our home in Udonthani.

Fresh Plaa-Muck

 

 

New Years Day is celebrated in Thailand as well as Chinese New Year, Thai New Year (Songkran) and various Hill Tribe new year celebrations.

All the New Year celebrations are times for families and friends to come together for eating, drinking, singing and dancing.  These occasions are also times when special merit making, as opposed to merriment making, can be earned through offerings as well as special religious rituals.

Just as there are special foods associated with specific holidays such as Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, New Years Jan 1 is a time for many people in Thailand to eat plaa muck, which you most likely know better as squid or calamari.

On our way out to Tahsang Village on 1 Jan to gather up the clan to go see a special Monk, we stopped at the market in Kumphawapi to pick up some items for the trip as well as offerings to the Monks.  We had gotten up early at 5:00 AM so we arrived at the market around 7:00 A.M.

It appears that the recent opening of the Tesco-Lotus Superstore just down the road from the traditional Kumphawapi market has not adversely affected the talat sao (morning market).  The market well well stocked and it was just as crowded as when I first encountered it 6 years ago.  I find that reassuring because just as I believe in local solutions for local problems and conditions, I believe that the more a community can be self-sufficient the better served its members will be.  Keeping the profits of groceries in the community is more beneficial and more market responsive to the local community's needs than shipping it off to large urban centers or worst of all - offshore multinational corporations.

After we had finished our shopping, which will be subject of a separate blog, we returned to our truck parked across the street in the large vacant lot next to the banana seller's stall.  I heard an announcement from a truck's P.A. system and asked Duang what it was all about.  She told me that the man was selling "plaa muck" (squid).  I looked and saw about three cars from our truck, a man in the back of a pick up truck filled with several plastic coolers.  I wandered over to check it out.

Fresh Live Squid For Sale - 400 Miles from the Gulf of Thailand

The vendor had opened one of the plastic ice chests and with a wood stick was stirring up the water in it.  The water exploded with black liquid and the frenzied movements of white withering squid appendages - the cooler was filled with live squid.  Live squid - beautifully formed, firm and with bright yellows eyes - 400 miles, 8 hours from the Gulf of Thailand!

Duang caught up with me and as I took photographs, she translated my questions and the vendor's replies.  The man and his wife had gone to the docks and purchased the squid right off of the boats that night.  After loading up their plastic containers, they drove 8 hours through the night to Kumphawapi.  Although New Years in January is an official one day holiday, many people take 5 days for their celebrating.  The squid vendor will remain in the area and return to his home in Bangkok after five days.

Stirring the Squid

The man had installed a series of battery powered aerators and pumps to keep the squid alive.  Similar arrangements are also used in the market to keep the fish, eels, and prawns fresh and more importantly alive.  It doesn't get any fresher than being alive.  There is no concern about purchasing bad seafood when it is still wiggling when you leave the market.

The man tended the squid while his wife handled the customers.  There was a simple spring scale on the back of the tailgate and the money was kept in a pouch secured around her waist. Customers selected their squid from several that had been removed from a large cooler and displayed in a plastic tray.  The vendor's wife weighed the selected squid on the scale, placed them in plastic bag and collected the money from the customer.

I was very impressed for many reasons.  The first reason was the realization that although I was 400 miles from the ocean I was able to buy fresher squid than most of my friends who live near the water back in Connecticut.  I could buy it not because of any technological advancement that Thailand has over the USA but because of an individual's initiative to meet a market's needs.

The market system of Southeast Asia, for me, represents a paradox.  Although the markets do not have much in terms of commercial refrigeration and advanced packaging, I believe that the food is actually fresher for the consumer.  Without widely used refrigeration and packaging, the food has to be fresher.  Any spoilage would be obvious to the consumer who can handle the items, inspect the items, and smell the items before purchasing.

I was secondly impressed with the ability of a person here in Thailand with some initiative to create a business.  I can only begin to imagine the permits and licenses required if I were to decide to create a similar business back in the USA such as driving up to Maine and filling up ice chests with lobsters to then keep alive and drive to New York City (roughly 400 miles) to sell in some parking lot. For a start I know that there would be business license(s), commercial plates required for the truck, health permit(s), tax permits, and God knows what regulations to be followed for transporting live seafood.

Here is Thailand as well as countries such as Vietnam, Laos, China it is very simple for a person to set up a family business.  It is all left up to the individual's imagination and initiative. As the Nike slogan says ... They "Just do it".

In the USA if you were to hire a teenager every week to care for your children while you and your spouse went out for an evening or two, you, to properly follow the law, would have to consider the babysitter to be your employee.  As an employee, you would have to have a taxpayer number, make Social Security contributions (old age, and health) on behalf of your employee, withhold the employee's required Social Security contributions, withhold Federal taxes from your employee's wages, withhold state taxes from your employee's wages, contribute to unemployment insurance for the employee, report all kinds of information to both the State and Federal Government. You would also be responsible for maintaining all kinds of records.  Oh - you are also responsible to first determine that your babysitter has the legal right to work in the USA.  Now is that any way to run a country or to encourage people to start businesses or even to hire any one who has not established themselves as a business?

Fishing For Food

On the way home from the hospital yesterday, we came upon some people fishing along the main highway.

This is the same area where I had photographed a woman fishing using a dip net in July. The area is a flood plain that fluctuates in depth with the seasons. The water was quite high in the period from July to October - our rainy season. Now the water has receded quite a bit although we did get a small shower today - our first rain in a very long time.


For the past two weeks people have been busy cleaning up the dry brush and weeds from the drainage ditches and puddles of this flood plain. People have been installing and repairing the various fish fences placed in the water. The fish fences are constructed out of wood sticks driven into the mud with blue monofilament netting attached to the sticks with string. The fish fence is not directly involved in capturing the fish but serves to restrict their movement and concentrate the number of fish in a specific area. Dip and hand nets are then used to catch the fish in the concentrated areas. I suspect that the cleaning of the low areas and installation as well as repair of the fences is in preparation for the upcoming rainy season.

We had stopped earlier in Kumphawapi for Duang's son-in-law to buy a new hand net for his parents. It seems that everyone is getting into fishing this month. The large dipping nets have been basically idle since the end of November but the bamboo structures associated with the dipping nets remain in place. At certain points the area looks like a fishing camp with the number of platforms and suspended nets in place.

Fishing nets are readily available in the many small quasi-hardware shops in the villages and towns of Isaan. Some of the nets are very fine as in delicate. They appear to be made out of 4 to 6 pound test nylon thread. There is no need for heavier material because the fish that are caught in the nets are essentially minnows - the bait sized fished that we called "shiners" back home.

Today Duang's mother sent some food to the hospital to feed us. Of course there was sticky rice for all. Along with the rice she had made a soup out of vegetables and fish. The fish were about the size of bait fish back home or fish in your home aquarium - no more than 3 to 4 inches long from the tip of their mouth to the tip of their tail fins. With such small fish you might wonder how difficult it is to clean them for eating. There is no problem at all in cleaning them - you don't. The fish are cooked as they were caught. People use a metal spoon to scrape the flesh off of the body to eat.


With the lower levels of water essentially creating mud holes, the fishing strategy has changed to using hand nets rather the dip nets. The people get into the muddy water which is up to their waist and cast a large net on the water. They appear to be using the fish fence as a barrier to work their net against. The hand net sinks and the people get down almost on all fours in the water working the net to see what it has fallen on top of. The fish are captured by hand and placed in a home made creel made out of small diameter sticks. The people were having pretty good luck yesterday - catching some "big" ones - up to 9 inches long.


There is at least one tackle shop that I know of here in Udonthani and there are a couple of booths where you can buy some rods and reels. Fishing here is more of a food gathering process than a sport. As such, nets are much more efficient than a hook and line.

Sport fishing is not luxury that is within the reach of Lao Loum farmers here in Isaan.

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.