My very basic keto lunch | The Keto diet (low carb, high fat) is one of the latest diet trends and is very popular around the world. Like its predecessor, the Atkins diet, lots of food manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon and it is not difficult to find ready prepared Keto food to eat. If you live in Europe or the USA. Living in Thailand, and not in Bangkok, it is a very different shopping experience trying to find even basic ingredients. When we first arrived in Thailand I would do the two hour round drive to Pattaya or Rayong to do my weekly shop. This got tedious so I started shopping at our local Tesco Lotus. Now, after almost two years most of my shopping is done in the shops and markets in our village, with a very rare trip elsewhere. |
I buy my veg mostly from our local roadside market and it is very seasonal. This week, for example, they have had brocolli, but only one sorry looking cauliflower. Carrots and potatoes were readily available, as were salad greens, tomatoes and spring onions and capsicums, but no celery, green beans or other keto friendly veg. Yesterday I ventured into one of the larger Tesco Lotus stores in Pattaya but I was still very disappointed with what veg was available, and at an affordable price. I bought a cabbage to make coleslaw but was unable to get aubergine or other keto friendly veg.
Most of our meat also comes from the roadside stalls, in the form of pork. I can buy very good pork in our village but for whatever reason fresh chicken is not sold at the side of the road. Bacon and sausage are two other staples when we are low-carbing, but I have to venture a couple of miles up the road to our local expat store to buy them.
Dairy products are another staple keto food that are either difficult or expansive to buy here. Dairy does not form part of Asian cooking, so most products are imported and this either means a very high price or a supply issue. Yesterday, while I was in Pattaya, I made a purpose trip to Siamburis expat supermarket (you can see their Facebook page here). If there are offers to be had on cheese or butter then this is the place to get them. My shopping basket included two large blocks of cheddar, a small bag of crumbled stilton, a large bag of cream cheese, 2 small tins of brie and four rolls of French butter. Luckily I have an electric coolbox that kept everything chilled during the fifty minute drive home.
I am on a ten week mission to lose some weight before our summer holiday, so keep an eye open for more shopping tips, recipes and the like.
In case you are interested the photo of the meal is my lunch from yesterday: 3 think pork breakfast sausages, 2 hard boiled eggs, 3 slices of salami with cream cheese, a largish piece of red cheddar and seven cherry tomatoes.
Coconut flour