Greenery Themed Blog Post

Greetings everyone!

I know it’s been a while since we have updated the blog. June and July has been quite busy for us as we prepare for the winter collection of designs. If you haven’t received the email newsletter, we’d like you to know that Shiana is giving site wide discounts on our items for bulk purchases :) the details can be found at http://www.shiana.com

Now, enough about that and more about the village and our greenery themed blog post! It’s been rainy for several days, which caused some trouble along the road sides (mud slides, broken trees, the usual rainy-season hindrances.) Luckily the village is at a high spot, and flooding is rare, and with the rain in full swing, we’re lucky that the forest plants were thriving.

Which leads us to this package right here:

Given to us by sweet Siwaporn, who makes Shiana’s lovely fish beads. The package is full of Phak waan (Pak wan) which when literally translated, means “sweet vegetable”, a leafy green vine, which really does taste sweet when stir fried or boiled in soup. Imagine a leafy sweet asparagus and you will get the basic taste of Phak wan.

We also saw that Ngu-ga started to grow some hot green chili in his garden. These were also picked right after the photo was taken to make a spicy chili salsa. The villagers often eat their vegetables with a spicy dip which is a bit different from the traditional Thai spicy dips and sauces because they don’t contain fish sauce. The dip contains soy sauce or salt, shallots, green grilled chilies (pictured), garlic, parsley and lime juice. You have to eyeball the amount of ingredients you put in, but it makes for a great dip, and tastes better on the second day.

Lastly, there is this odd tree. We found it while visiting Ngu-ga’s orchard. No one really has any idea what it is, but the “fruits” are hollow inside and the skin is quite thin. If any one knows, feel free to let us know!

Take care and have a great summer!
Angie