Also pronounced with a rising tone, Chio is a cooking method with a moderate amount of water. Water is brought to a boil and shrimp paste, a little salt or fish sauce, fermented fish, garlic, shallots and fresh chilies can be added to taste before adding vegetables or eggs. Season with chopped spring onions, coriander leaves and ground pepper. For a hotter taste, 3-5 whole chilies and roasted and pealed ones can be added or eaten as side vegetables. The cooking method and ingredients are more or less the same as a Cho but without the sour taste and a smaller amount of liquid. Variety depends on the ingredients such as spinach or red ant eggs which are called chio phak khom, chio khai mot-daeng. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 1367; Siwan Chamrat, personal communication, June 20, 2007) |