Tag: Chiang Mai Sausage

Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage)

Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage) | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage) | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage) | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage) | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage) | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage) | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Sai Ua (Chiang Mai Sausage) | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

Well friends, this is the last post from my time in Thailand. Although I’ve been gone from the country for a month and a half now, the fact is that after this post I’ll be done writing about it, looking at pictures constantly, revisiting notes, and all that. But in a way I saved the best for last.

As a birthday present for me, Kylie and Walt got the four of us a class at Ton Gluay Thai Culinary Heritage, a cooking school that Kylie found on a blog all about life in Chiang Mai. They contacted Ice, the woman who runs the school, and got us set up for an afternoon class to take place at Ice’s house. The cool thing about this class is that instead of rushing you through making four different dishes, you pick one dish to make from scratch. One of the dishes we hadn’t yet made in any of our cooking classes was the infamous Chiang Mai sausage, or Sai Ua, that we had eaten (and loved) on many occasions. It was spicy and juicy, with strong flavors of cilantro and lemongrass. Now, I’ll admit that making sausage from scratch isn’t necessarily the most appealing thing to me – intestines have never been high on the list of parts I enjoy eating or handling. But I was determined to try something new! So the class was scheduled and we were on.

When Jonah and I pulled up to Ice’s house on our motorbike, she and her boyfriend Eric (from New Jersey) were sitting out front, waving us in. Perhaps the first thing you notice about Ice is her petite but incredibly strong frame – turns out she and Eric are starting a gym in Chiang Mai and do lots of weight training in their yard. But the second thing you quickly notice is her voice. Ice is Thai but studied in Scotland and has also spent some time in the U.S., and because of this her accent is fascinating and hard to place. The way she said “cool” was so great that eventually all four of us started repeating it after her. If you want too hear what I’m talking about, you can check out the podcast that Jonah and I have been making and listen to the episode that features Ice’s class.

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Chiangsgiving: Thailand #3

Yi Peng Festival, Chiang Mai | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

Wat Phra Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Wat Phra Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, Chiang Mai | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
SP Chicken, Chiang Mai | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler
Lunch at Lert Ros, Chiang Mai | Serious Crust by Annie Fassler

Well, it’s Thanksgiving day as I’m writing this, or as we’re calling it here in Chiang Mai, Chiangsgiving. It’s one of the cooler days we’ve had since we’ve been here, with a high of only 87° today. Jonah and I are actually at the office tying up a couple of loose ends before the holiday weekend while my family and friend Dylan are up at Wat Phra Doi Suthep. We’re meeting them at a nearby market for lunch, then maybe hitting up a couple more wats before our own funny Thanksgiving dinner tonight at what has become our favorite restaurant in town (and actually Kylie, Walt, Jonah and I are doing a cooking class there on Saturday).

I’m sorry I took a little break there. You see, after the election, I tried writing a couple of different posts to put here, but none of them could adequately put into words how I was feeling. And honestly, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. So I’m not. Let’s all be ok with that and move on.

The adventures have continued here. Since I last wrote, we attended the Yi Peng/Loi Krathong Festival, hung out with some elephants, drove up to Mae Ngat Lake where we spent the night at a floating hotel, visited Buatong Waterfall (aka Sticky Waterfall), floated in the Chiang Mai Grand Canyon, attended a cooking class, and of course did this all while continuing to eat and work and host visitors. It has been an overwhelmingly busy couple of weeks, and while I’m not necessarily excited for our visitors to leave (mostly because it seems like they just here) I am looking forward to things quieting down a little bit.

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