Day three in Bangkok! Started the day with a lovely walk through Charoen Krung Rd., through the river district of Bangkok, with Christy, Leslie & Jon. We got smoothies from Fruit Moose- mine was mango, passionfruit & lychee. Lychees are small fruits about the size of a ping pong ball with a mottled green, brown and red peel that makes them look like a kind of dry nut. But inside there is a small clear fruit with the texture of a peeled grape and a very tangy sweet flavor. I wish we could get them in America! We've been enjoying the food here so much, and it's quite easy to do because not only is it incredibly cheap, but as Christy & Jon agreed, it's like an all-day buffet. Every hour of the day there is a different assortment of food carts lining the streets offering everything from ornately sliced tropical fruits to sweet smelling curries to various types of meat on a stick. I honestly think you can walk through Bangkok and never be more than a block away from someone ready to stir fry a fresh batch of pad thai for you, complete with fresh thai basil, leeks and diced peanuts for around 50 baht ($1.50).
In my three days here so far, I've tried bananas fried in what I think was coconut oil, mango cupcakes with shredded toasted coconut on top, handmade pork sausage with lemongrass smoked in coconut smelling chips, a mango-lychee-passionfruit smoothie, seaweed wonton-shaped pouches (colored purple & white) filled with a finely diced garlic & peanut mix... and of course, several variations on pad thai! So far it's all been incredibly delicious, and safe- none of us have been sick. Perhaps we are just lucky, but the one advantage street food has vs. eating in a restaurant is that you can see how it's being stored & prepared. So if they pull the chicken in your pad thai off ice and cook it in an extremely hot wok before your eyes, then I feel pretty safe about eating it.
If only it were a little less oily, I would love being able to eat thai street food snacks throughout the day every day! I think they're definitely onto something and the flavors of coconut, peanut, garlic & the various sauces are always fascinating to me.
In my three days here so far, I've tried bananas fried in what I think was coconut oil, mango cupcakes with shredded toasted coconut on top, handmade pork sausage with lemongrass smoked in coconut smelling chips, a mango-lychee-passionfruit smoothie, seaweed wonton-shaped pouches (colored purple & white) filled with a finely diced garlic & peanut mix... and of course, several variations on pad thai! So far it's all been incredibly delicious, and safe- none of us have been sick. Perhaps we are just lucky, but the one advantage street food has vs. eating in a restaurant is that you can see how it's being stored & prepared. So if they pull the chicken in your pad thai off ice and cook it in an extremely hot wok before your eyes, then I feel pretty safe about eating it.
If only it were a little less oily, I would love being able to eat thai street food snacks throughout the day every day! I think they're definitely onto something and the flavors of coconut, peanut, garlic & the various sauces are always fascinating to me.
Sounds like an amazing adventure! Just a side note... You can get Lychee in Florida. In fact, right now is Lychee season here. You just have to know where to go to get them. They are everywhere down in Miami and here in Orlando you pretty much have to know someone with a tree to get some. In a few years, Jon will just have to walk across the street from his parent's house to get some as we are growing our own little Lychee tree. So tasty!
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