My local wet market

[hwinpp]

Just thought this might be interesting for people planning to live in Cambodia. Basically all local markets have the same kind of stuff for sale. For western products it would be better to go to a supermarket.

Pork and beef



Vegetables





My personal veggie stall







Hair dressing salon



Rice and sundries





Fishmonger

[bixaorellana]

Ohhhhhhhh ~~

This is great! I feel right at home ........ except that I don't know what many of the food items are.
The purple flowers behind the squash flowers are particularly intriguing. What are they, please, and how are they used? And what are the purplish stalks to the right of them (above the hair salon pic) -- the ones with the wonderful cross-section on the ends? One more question: why is it called a "wet" market?

Thanks so much for these, HW. Boy, do they make me want to visit that part of the world even more now!

[hwinpp]

My girlfriend fries the stuff, it's good. I prefer the yellow flowers though, they're from a pumpkin I think.
The purplish stalks are from the lotus plant. Very nice to eat in soups, also fryable. They stay crackly.

I think markets used to be completely divided along the lines of dry goods and 'wet' goods markets. Wet markets sell vegetables, meats and fish (always sold live so lots of constant washing/hosing with water).

[Deleted]

That makes sense why it's called that,yes.
HW,I feel the same as Bixa ,feels like I'm so there!!! And I have your part of the world top on my list of places to go. Thank you for this and WELCOME BACK!

[bixaorellana]

Ah yes, that does make sense. As I said, I get a feeling of familiarity looking at this very foreign market. I think you get the same feeling when looking at my market pictures. I see the layout is roughly the same as here, with the stuff that's not produce or meat placed along the perimeter.

Lotus stalks! It would be so interesting to be able to shop and cook there.

Question for Casimira or whomever: do you think those purple flowers might be water hyacinth in bud?

[Deleted]

I know and love a lot of that stuff already, but I think that Bixa is really going to have to make a trip one of these days.

[imec]

Thanks HW - great pics! I never tire of seeing markets.

(I too was intrigued by the purple flowers)

[hwinpp]

Question for Casimira or whomever: do you think those purple flowers might be water hyacinth in bud?

Interested too. I asked GF, she did say it's a water plant but only knew the Thai name which I've forgotten.

And now I've googled it. Looks like they're water hyacinth buds. And those purplish stalks are actually water lily stalks, not lotus stalks. So I've been told by a colleague. Correct or not?

[Deleted]

Well, as we know, sliced lotus looks like this, but can it be purple? That's the question...




If I search for "sliced lily" I don't get any suitable photos.

[curt]

Here's a link to a pano of my local wet market, "Bangson", Bangsue Thailand. I posted a link to avoid blowing out the page!

cheapeatsbangkok.com/photos/thai/bangson_pano.jpg

Yes, like explained earlier, they are called wet markets because they are wet. Many of the vendors even wear rubber duckies!

[Deleted]

I'm wondering if the term 'wet market' has been used locally in the Occident in the past. It would seem completely normal since stores selling 'dry goods' were quite common. By opposition, the reverse should be true.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks for checking, HW. I'd imagine your colleague is correct. Also, I think the stalks are the give-away that the purple flowers are water hyacinth.

The panoramic picture was illuminating, Curt. One thing that really struck me is how high the roof is and that it's open all around. Even though markets here spill out all around the main structure, that structure is always closed in. I guess in the wet markets there, they figured it was already wet, so why worry about rain blowing in.

[curt]

I love to watch the vendors deal with rain. It always amazes me, the makeshift shelters that develop.

[lagatta]

Welcome to curt! Curt and hwinpp, are these pretty much the same throughout Southeast Asia? - though obviously the food items vary somewhat.

[hwinpp]

Jack the cross- sections in your pic are indeed lotus, but it's the roots, not the stalk:



I like them a lot, fresh or dried.

I think most markets throughout Southeast Asia will have about 95% the same produce and the rest probably different, very local stuff that you can only get in the particular area the market is located in.

[spindrift]

Ah! that's interesting. I'm putting up my Phuket market pictures on another thread! The veggies are the same but I didn't see the lotus roots or water hyacinth stalks.
I love shopping at markets whereas my friend living in Phuket only buys from Tesco and other supermarkets. That's hard to believe.

I love your pictures.

[hwinpp]

Maybe the people in the south of Thailand don't eat the stalks... that's what I meant by 'local' produce. I know they have a very interesting kind of 'bean' called sataw, it's eaten in Malaysia as well. Strangely enough the Khmers don't have it in their markets altho' they do have the trees.

I'm going straight to your thread now, SD.

[spindrift]

Hwinpp - I have lots more pics to post of a 'cooked food' market I found on Phuket. I'll be asking you to identify the food. ;D

[james]

Love those pics.

[lola]

Beautiful photos, HW. Would love to see someone in action using those vegetables, and then sample it of course.

[hwinpp]

Here, Lola:

www.flickr.com/photos/hwinsiemreap/sets/72157622833092228/

[Deleted]

All these years I have weeded those water hyacinths out of the pond and tossed into the compost heap. I never knew they were edible. I have seen furniture made from them,beautifully woven chairs,but no clue about food.How are they prepared HW.?
Again,thanks for a fascinating thread.

[bixaorellana]

Maybe HW would be willing to get some water hyacinth flowers and photograph them being cooked.

In the meantime, I found this the other day after I saw the pics here & figured out they had to be water hyacinth. Green Deane is pretty irritating, but this was the most complete info I was able to find online:

[Deleted]

Thanks Bixa,good to know these things.(The guy is truly irritating however, I've seen some of his other videos and he does know his stuff )

[hwinpp]

The water hyacinth buds are eaten raw with a dish made of silken rice noodles and curry. Lots of raw stuff is cut in, including these flowers, yellow flowers (though not the pumpkin buds), tamarind leaves, water lily stalks and some other plants.

I'll see if girlfriend uses them and how she prepares them if she does.

[Deleted]

Sounds divine HW. Thanks.I look forward to being able to eat my weeds with gusto!