Sam Yaek Market, Chiang Mai, Thailand
These babies are known as Thai chocolates. The smaller they are, the… chocolaterier they are. A staple for Thai cooking, they are wonderous things when used sparingly.
The girls went to a Thai cooking class today, and to the market to forage for supplies. TIL that you can stir fry these babies whole and add just a hint of heat to your dish (to the point that La Petite Fille ™ won’t complain (“just remove them before you serve them to me, daddy” she pleads). If you want to bump it up a notch, say for Pad Thai, then slice them in quarters.
And if you want something incendiery, you crush them, as they do with Som Tum.