Trying New Foods on my Phuket Vacation
I went to Phuket, Thailand for a 5-day holiday recently. Phuket is more of a beach town and most people walk around with swimsuits and a hat all day long. The roadsides are lined with massage parlours and manicure pedicure shops and it seems to be the home of many foreigners. You will see more foreigners as compared to the local Thais. Most things are also more expensive over there as compared to Bangkok.
We did not shop much as there was nothing that we could not get back in Malaysia. However, whenever I go to a new country, one of my must-do’s is to try new foods. The foods that I tried were:
1. Yellow Dragonfruit
I have only heard of yellow dragon fruit but have never come across any. Was so excited when I came across this fruit as it is difficult to find in Malaysia. However, since we are tourist, the price was raked up and one whole fruit costs RM 10. In Malaysia, we can get 3 white dragon fruits for RM 10.
Verdict: Yellow dragonfruit is just overhyped. It tastes the same as the white dragonfruit and its flesh is also white.
2. Luk choop
Don’t be fooled by this glass looking mini fruit shaped desert. The filling of this desert is mung bean with condensed milk and the external is coated with gelatin or agar. Feel a bit sad to eat it cause the desert is shaped exactly like fruits. There are mini apples, carrots, cherries, durians and many more.
Verdict: I love the taste of these desert. It’s not too sweet and the mung bean filling is a lot. One fruit is never enough because you can pop it into your mouth in one go. Such a beautiful desert.
3. Soy Yogurt
Though soy yogurt is not unique to Thai, it was my first time trying it as I have only heard of it but never seen it in my home country, Malaysia. I believe this type yogurt is mostly found in international grocery stories.
Verdict: The yogurt tasted a lot like Chinese desert, taufu fa sans the ginger taste and brown sugar syrup. Overall, it was worth a one-time try.
4. Jujube
The Malay community call this fruit “buah bidara” and it’s easy to find all around Malaysia. The trees grow everywhere and sometimes beside the roads. However, their fruits fall everywhere on the ground and I have never picked it up to try it thinking it’s poisonous.
Verdict: The fruit is a bit hard to bite. Please only eat it if you have strong teeth. The taste is rather tart.
5. Bael fruit juice
This fruit heavily grows in the grounds of the resort that I stayed in. This fruit is then dried and made into a juice and served as a welcome drink.
Verdict: The juice is tasteless and it’s a remedy for those who have digestive issues like constipation and gastric.
Contraindications: Please do not take your diabetic medications/ insulin together with bael fruit as your blood sugar may drop really low.
6. Bailey’s coffee
I have heard so much about Bailey’s coffee but it’s my first time trying it. It’s a blend of coffee and whiskey. The alcohol concentration in Bailey’s is 17%, a bit on the higher side. There are also non –alcoholic versions of this drink.
Verdict: If you do not drink as often as me, you will find Bailey’s coffee to be too strong. Sip and drink gradually as the alcohol overpowers the coffee. Might not repeat it in the future.
All in all, Phuket was a memorable trip with a lot of new learnings. However, I might not go back for a long time since I am not really a beach person.
