Bael Tea

Bael (matoom in Thai) tea is one of my favorite drinks. Some people find the smell too intoxicating (huh?) but it’s precisely the smell that attracts me. I don’t know what got into me this morning but I woke up with a strong craving for it. I had bought a bag of dried bael slices a while back and forgotten about it. It’s just one of those drinks one gets easily here. Plus, I have never made my own until now. So, I pop a few slices into my small toaster-grill and intoxicate the whole house with bael smell. Ahhh…. Making it is as easy as………boiling water!

Ingredients:

90 grams (it’s the whole bag which is about 15 big and small slices)
1 liter of water (more if you don’t like it too strong)
Sugar (as much as your sweet tooth approves)

1. Boil water. When it is bubbling mad hot like ants on fire, add the bael slices.
2. Let simmer for at least 20 minutes. Longer if you like them very strong like me.
3. Add sugar and taste. If good, turn off heat. Pour into glass and enjoy! Or add ice and make bael ice tea.

I wanted to add red Chinese dried dates as suggested by a Thai magazine but I ran out of them. (Can’t believe I ran out of them! I usually have a LARGE bag in the freezer!) They are supposed to give the tea a wonderful aroma and date-y sweet taste. Next time, I guess.

PS. See, that was super easy wasn’t it? Grilling it first makes the tea even more intoxicatingly fragrant. Just don’t burn it!

Rice Crackers

They are one of my favorite snacks and come in different shapes and sizes. I like all kinds of rice crackers from different countries. Whether they are lightly flavored with salt, soy sauce, seaweed, sesame, palm sugar, chili paste……or eaten with dips/sauces, I can munch on them at any time of the day. I once visited a couple of kao tan (Thai rice crackers) places in Lampan, Chiangmai more than ten years ago. They both made palm sugar and dried pork toppings. The hygiene scared me so badly that I stopped eating kao tan for many years. Both places were horridly infested with swarms and swarms of giant green-eyed flies. Not to mention, the kao tan were left to dry in a dusty dirt-covered field. Come to think of it, it’s all very artisanal. I have seen and ate food made with worse hygiene in France, and yet, I never got sick there. Back here, I already had a few cases of gastrointestinal problems.

Back to the crackers. Way before I moved to France, Sis was singing praises of these particular paper-thin rice crackers in the picture above. I did not get to taste them until now. Whenever I came back to Bangkok for vacation, she promised me I would definitely get the chance to eat them. I waited for five years. The crackers are made by an old lady a la maison, literally. She makes them once a week every Friday in her house in Ekamai. It is best to buy them the next day, as she makes them in super large batches and needs to wait for them to cool down before she would pack and sell. They are very very crispy and super addictive. Sis claimed she couldn’t stopped eating them the first time that she tried them. She is right. I finished one whole big bag by myself. My tummy felt real funny for many hours after. We bought six large bags. I kept one and gave away five. Biiiiigggg mistake. Now I have to wait till Saturday to replenish my supply.

These are from Blue Elephant. Not bad.

I have been eating this brand for more than 10 years now! (I visited its “kitchen” once, and find the hygiene acceptable.) The rice crackers are made from sticky rice instead of the usual white rice, which I think gives them more taste. In the past they were just drizzled lightly in a palm and white sugar mixture that gives it a slight caramel-ly texture. However in recent years, they have also been sparsely sprinkled with sesame seed which I don’t think add anything to the taste.

Moving back home means I get to sample the various new toppings. A joy for me, but I still prefer the more “traditional” toppings. (Yes, I am a ninety-year-old, rice cracker munching grandma at heart.) When I get my new oven, I will be making some with dried pork shreds and nam prik pao toppings!

Kao Tan Kaithip (Thin rice crackers)
110/13 Soi Charoenmitr-Ekamai
Tel: 0-2391-1327

PS. Am also thinking of experimenting with XO sauce and dried mushroom shreds. How come no one has made them with jam or dried fruits? Or kaya/custard topping? Or dip them in chocolate????