thai bites at the chamorro village

i went to the chamorro village last night, and came across a new (for me, anyway) vendor selling mostly drinks, but also a couple of thai food items.


kanom tom

i picked up a little box of kanom tom--mochi/glutinous rice filled with a sort of brown sugared/caramelized coconut, and rolled in freshly grated coconut--and saku sai mu, balls of pork cooked with garlic and peanuts then covered in tiny tapioca pearls. the kanom tom is very similar to the filipino palitaw, but in a much more manageable size and with the interesting filling. it wasn't very sweet, the mochi was tender, and the coconut very fresh--oozing of coconut milk.



i had never had saku sai mu before, but it looked lovely--little pearly translucent balls nestled in their container like jewels, and served with lettuce, long stalks of cilantro, and the tiniest of boonie peppers (thai bird chiles). they hold an explosion of flavour in their tiny two-bite core; the finely diced pork is sautéed with cilantro, minced garlic, minced onion, palm sugar, and fish sauce. the flavour is sweet, salty, spicy and savoury all in one.


saku sai mu

it's a shame that most people just come to his table to buy beverages because these were interesting additions to the standard village fare. next time i'm there, i will definitely check to see if he's got other treats, because these were gems.