In Thailand, it is the roadside that is almost always, uniformly home to the best food to be had. During the many trips I have made to the country, this truth has only been reinforced. Nowhere is this truer than in Bangkok, easily one of the culinary capitals of the world in general, and of street food in particular. Finding good, cheap street food in Bangkok is not a hard task, all one needs to do is follow one’s nose.
The Thais take their food seriously, and it being a communal affair, roadside eateries heave with people at meal times – adding to the chaos of the already congested Bangkok roads. Needless to say the smell of food permeates the streets too. A walk down a main thoroughfare and the olfactory senses are assaulted with myriad scents and smells – the sweet, charcoal-laden smell of grilled sausages, the pungency of the chillies that accompany any meal, the tanginess that accompanies the soups, the fragrance of lemon grass and basil foremost amongst the many herbs used to flavour the dishes…
From breakfast to dinner to snacks in between, there are no meals that can’t be had on the road. Even the variety of food available on the street is astounding. There are certain foods that are only to be eaten on the roads. The ubiquitous Pad Thai is one. Found literally everywhere, this dish is a thin flat stir fried rice noodles flavoured with eggs, chicken or shrimp, bean sprouts, fish sauce, tamarind juice, lots of red chilli pepper and garnished with even more chilli pepper and an overload of peanuts – a good Pad Thai is an explosion of flavours and textures.
Bangkok, through history, has always attracted migrants from across Asia, and this reflected in the street food as well. The insanely crowded, bustling China Town is home to everything from pork noodles to dumplings to glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves, not to mention the array of seafood available. No talk of Bangkok street food can be complete without a mention sweets – coconut ice cream, Cendol ( a desert consisting of shaved ice, coconut milk, noodles and palm sugar with optional add ons of red beans, glutinous rice or grass jelly), mango with sticky rice, sandwiches with sweet kaya (coconut jam) or red bean fillings. Though most people don’t much delight South East Asian desserts and given the heat of the Thai capital, it’s the fruit salads that tempt more people. Raw mangoes and fresh juicy pineapples (often accompanied with a sugar and chilli topping, for an extra punch), rambutans, mangosteens, lychees flood the roads. Like everything else had on the street in Bangkok, they are bursting with flavours – fresh and completely satisfying.
The Thais take their food seriously, and it being a communal affair, roadside eateries heave with people at meal times – adding to the chaos of the already congested Bangkok roads. Needless to say the smell of food permeates the streets too. A walk down a main thoroughfare and the olfactory senses are assaulted with myriad scents and smells – the sweet, charcoal-laden smell of grilled sausages, the pungency of the chillies that accompany any meal, the tanginess that accompanies the soups, the fragrance of lemon grass and basil foremost amongst the many herbs used to flavour the dishes…
From breakfast to dinner to snacks in between, there are no meals that can’t be had on the road. Even the variety of food available on the street is astounding. There are certain foods that are only to be eaten on the roads. The ubiquitous Pad Thai is one. Found literally everywhere, this dish is a thin flat stir fried rice noodles flavoured with eggs, chicken or shrimp, bean sprouts, fish sauce, tamarind juice, lots of red chilli pepper and garnished with even more chilli pepper and an overload of peanuts – a good Pad Thai is an explosion of flavours and textures.
Bangkok, through history, has always attracted migrants from across Asia, and this reflected in the street food as well. The insanely crowded, bustling China Town is home to everything from pork noodles to dumplings to glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves, not to mention the array of seafood available. No talk of Bangkok street food can be complete without a mention sweets – coconut ice cream, Cendol ( a desert consisting of shaved ice, coconut milk, noodles and palm sugar with optional add ons of red beans, glutinous rice or grass jelly), mango with sticky rice, sandwiches with sweet kaya (coconut jam) or red bean fillings. Though most people don’t much delight South East Asian desserts and given the heat of the Thai capital, it’s the fruit salads that tempt more people. Raw mangoes and fresh juicy pineapples (often accompanied with a sugar and chilli topping, for an extra punch), rambutans, mangosteens, lychees flood the roads. Like everything else had on the street in Bangkok, they are bursting with flavours – fresh and completely satisfying.
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