Solstice

K took control of the kitchen again this morning to make us a spicy tom kha (ต้มข่า) for breakfast. This coconut soup had cubes of tofu and pumpkin spiced up with lemongrass, chillies, kaffir limes, and garlic. With sticky rice on the side, over which I ladled the rich and zingy broth, it was a filling and comforting meal, and one I could imagine craving when at home ill.

Technically the winter solstice happened yesterday (21st December) Greenwich Mean Time, but owing to time differences, the exact moment of the event occurred this morning at 06:03 in Thailand.

The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, after which the days get longer and the mornings and evening brighter. This is very noticeable in England, which yesterday saw only approximately 8 hours of daylight (roughly between 8AM and 4PM). At the height of summer, in late June, the country enjoyed almost 17 hours of straight daylight (from before 5AM until after 9PM. That's a huge difference and must in part account for the seasonal swings in people's moods.

Contrast Ko Lanta, which is just narrowly above the Earth's equator at around 7°N (versus London's 51.5°). At this latitude, the observed  fluctuations in the Sun's path are minimal and the day length stays fairly constant, varying only by an hour between today's 11.5 hour day (sun up around 6:30AM and down after 6PM) and the 12.5 hour longest day in June (when sunrise is closer to 6AM and the sun does not setting again until nearly 7PM). I imagine this allows the Thais to get into a constant rhythm of 'early to bed, early to rise', which is not disrupted by shifting daylight patterns. Perhaps this is why Thailand is the land of smiles.

I have often thought that people should alter their behaviour according to the available natural light, but this becomes unsustainable at the extremes. In places such as northern Canada and Iceland, this would mean that people would barely leave the house for certain parts of the year. In fact, speaking to a Canadian recently, she told us that there is a booming industry in 'sunlight' bulbs. Of course, she now lives in Phuket.

With a dearth of tofu once again afflicting our fridge, I had to find other ingredients for tonight's pad kra prow (ผัดกระเพรา) - literally meaning 'stir-fried basil'. I used some magnificently meaty cep mushrooms we picked up at the market.

I stir-fried the mushrooms, morning glory, and blanched broccoli florets in a slightly sweet soy sauce with crushed garlic and red chillies. Knowing that 'kra prow' indicates that holy basil should be used, but having only sweet basil (horapha, โหระพา), I must have subconsciously left the herb out until after having taken the photo. Unlike sweet Basil's aniseed flavour, holy basil is much more peppery in taste. Still, the meal was tastier than this substitution or the poor photo would suggest.

Sato - Thai rice wine

We picked up a bottle of Thai rice wine, known as sato (สาโท). This is the base for the distilled liquor lao khao, but at 8% ABV makes a delightful drink on its own. Chilled, it is like a particularly floral white wine with ricey notes reminiscent of sake. It is rather sweet and is standing in this Christmas for the usual pale cream sherry that would be our regular tipple.