Loi Krathong Festival Celebrated at Benjarong

The Loi Krathong is celebrated on the full moon of November in Thailand. Loi translates to floating and Krathong means small baskets or rafts. When we went to Benjarong, we saw a tray full of open baskets made using banana leaves and decorated with purple orchids and a candle. We needed to light the candle and float it. It is quite similar to our Diwali celebrations.

Floating a Loi Krathong

The floating baskets of leaves and orchids

Here is the unfolding of the menu served that night.

Benjarong, being true to its Thai tradition, hosted a great dinner for us. We were served the traditional Mian Khum, which contains spinach leaves, roasted coconut, chutney made of palm sugar, onions, ginger, lime and chilli. It tastes great and set the mood for the feast we were to have later at night.

Mian Khum

Wild Orchid- A great concoction of lychee, orange and guava juice, which was smooth on the tongue and a great accompaniment to the soup we had.

Gaeng Som Gung- A soup made out of Thai red curry paste, mushrooms, prawns, galangal and lemongrass. Bits of an egg omelet were added too. The soup was a little spicy, which was quite welcome considering the chilly atmosphere.

Gaeng Som Gung Soup

Yum Hed Hoo Noo- We were served this salad made of carrots, beetroot, black mushroom and sesame seeds. The flavour was a mixture of tangy and sweet. The tang was added by the lime juice and the sweet was from palm sugar (we are guessing!).

Pla Hor Baitaey- We were given fish fillets wrapped in pandana leaves. The flavour of the fish was intact and it was further infused with the flavour of the pandana leaf. It tasted great. A similar dish is available on the regular menu, but it is made with chicken. So do sample this dish while it lasts on the festival special menu.

Lock Chin Gai Ping- The name literally translates to chicken balls on bamboo skewers. The balls were soft and well cooked and they were great as fillers, with a sauce of chilli and garlic flavour.

(Left) Pla Hor Baitaey, (Top) Lock Chin Gai Ping (Below) Yum Hed Hoo Noo

After such a lip smacking spread of starters, we were very eager to check the main course out. The main course served us portions of the following items:

Glass Noodles, known as Pahd Woonsen Goong in the Thai language. The noodles were cooked to a good texture and they were the perfect gluten with the side dishes that followed. We were served Graprou Gae, a shredded lamb curry in holy basil sauce, with green peas, carrots and chilli. The holy basil flavour was well infused in the curry and it tasted great with the glass noodles.

We were also served a Burmese curry or Kaeng Bamaa, made using the Thai Red Curry Paste, Chicken and Coconut Milk. This dish is eaten widely in southern Thailand and it had a wonderful flavour imparted to it by the coconut milk and fried onions that were added to the curry. We had fluffy white rice to have with the curry. Kai Chi Gai or and Omelet stuffed with minced chicken was also served.

Burmese Curry or Kaeng Bamaa

Graprou Gae

The staff was very gracious and they explained to us the different kinds of dishes. In between serves, we were given lemongrass tea which helps in digestion. It is also said to reduce weight if one takes it regularly.

Finally, we polished our meal off with a helping of a date jaggery custard, sticky rice pudding, synonymous to the Bengali "payesh" and coconut ice cream which had crunchy coconut bits in them.

Sticky Rice Pudding, Coconut Custard and Coconut Ice Cream

It was a great meal and we enjoyed it with other food enthusiasts, discussing different food and their types. It was a great experience and we would like to thank Benjarong, South City Mall for it.

Food Bloggers Doing What They Do Best :)

Do try this special feat out while it lasts, which is 9th December 2012.