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To the Khanom Factory

April 10th, 2009

Watermelon Shake

Nong Khai, Thailand – I biked through villages, past fields and more fields, by rice mills and mango trees. Kicking up the bike stand at 7 a.m., I was on a 55-km tour of the Thai countryside east of Nong Khai and I managed to make it a 65-km tour by convincing myself I had taken the wrong path, biking back only to find that it was the right way after all and turning back around again. The ultimate goal was a khanom jean factory at the farthest point on the arc of my map. Khanom jean are fermented rice noodles. Soft, white and thin, they’re made my fermenting pounded rice in warm water for days before rolling out the dough and then pressing it through small holes, sometimes a shower head is used. I’m crazy about khanom jean num ya, which is the noodles in a bowl of red curry thick with fresh water fish that’s been cooked until it breaks down. I couldn’t wait to see the noodles in process.

So, I biked on through villages, stopping at a local soccer game to make sure I was going the right way, continuing on a dirt road and on and on. As the day wore on, the sun got hotter and my interest in bucolic vistas waned, I kept telling myself the khanom factory was not far. I rode on, passing over a bridge, not far from the khanom factory according to the map. It was supposed to be just across the next road.

I saw temples and wooden houses and children playing outside. I stopped and asked at a roadside food stall. No, they didn’t know. I biked back in forth in front of the area where the factory was on the map. I asked again. Down the road they pointed. And then down the road asked again. They didn’t know either. It seemed that the map was a little outdated so I headed back.

Exhausted with a long road ahead, I started fantasizing about what I would have when I got back. The green mangos hanging by a long green string looked good. After filing through various meals, I settled on the ideal meal as a watermelon shake and nem nuang, the Vietnamese pork meat balls served with herbs, chlies, slices of fruit and vegetables, rice paper rolls, khanom jean and a spicy-sweet peanut sauce, all for wrapping and rolling up the ideal bite. Back in Nong Khai, I got to my khanom jean in finished form. I’ll find a khanom jean factory someday.