Hello, this is Reporter K doing an article on Thai cuisine. On my recent trip to Thailand I experienced some wonderful food, wonderful enough to write an article on. The first authentic dish I experienced was yes, at the airport food court. It was a delicious ramen-like soup, with clear broth. There were also various vegetables, pork, and a mysterious white ball. My first thought was, “Call Hurlock!” for he is an exceptional detective, but then I realized that he was busy, and much too far away to help. So I put it in a plastic bag and put it in my pocket. As I went through security before leaving the airport, I got beeped. The security lady checked my pockets and found the ball. “Why you bring meatball?” she asked. My face reddened, but then I felt angry. How was I supposed to know it was a meatball? My Nanny makes fantastic meatballs, and hers are brown. I checked into my hotel without further delay and began exploring. At the weekend market, I found some delicious street food like chocolate covered bananas (frozen), coconut ice cream, crisped rice snacks, and some amazing-looking iced coffee that was made by a dancing man holding two pots and pouring them while he spun. I also had a really great time with the fruits. Some of my favorites include longan, baby oranges, ripe mangos, and pomelo. For the more cultural foods, I got permission to watch a family cooking lesson. The father and son stayed home because the son was ill, but the two girls came. A table was set up with five mortar and pestles but because of the missing boys, that was too many. The tour guide and chef-teacher joined though, so they were only one person short. While the rice, sticky and plain, started steaming, they started cutting up various vegetables and roots for their curries. The mother and tour guide used green chilies, thus making green curry, while the chef made red. The daughter did not seem to like spicy though, and put in a very small red chili, which ended up making white curry. When all the things were chopped they smashed them in the mortar and pestle to make curry paste. But not before I noticed the tour guide put lots of extra hot chilies in the curry for their driver. The chef set them up on their own little ovens; each had a pot and spoon. He drizzled soy bean oil in the pots and put their pastes in them. He turned the oven on and said “Don’t let it burn. If it does, then you get no dinner.” They franticly tried to save their food from the clutches of the black crispy one, and were successful. Next they made Pad Thai. They cut up tofu and garlic and chose a couple shrimp. They made sauces and added a lot of what they liked, and not so much of what they didn’t care for. But the base ingredient was soy sauce and a bit of molasses, they stirred it with their fingers. They assembled veggies on a plate and went to their ovens. Now instead of a pot they had Woks, with mini shovels for spoons. First they cooked the garlic, pickled root, shrimp, and tofu. Next they cracked an egg. They waited for it to cook part way through (this is essential) before scrambling it. They took all that out and poured it on a plate. They added the sauce and the noodles. After a while they poured the other things on, including the veggies. And again they managed to evade the dark monster. For dessert, the chef served sliced mango with sticky rice drizzled with sweet coconut cream.  They all feasted. When their driver Mr. Arroun tasted they curry he was unsurprised and continued to eat. I guessed that he had asked for extra chilies. They had a boisterous dinner full of mirth and went home with the extra food in bags for the boys. This is Reporter K, signing off.