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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 8:13:23 GMT
Time to pass in review a few bits of Bangkok street food.
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Post by hwinpp on Sept 17, 2009 10:24:27 GMT
The good stuff! Street food and snacks are so much better in Thailand than in Cambodia. Can we expect a full report? Hopefully this is just a tidbit to start the juices going.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 11:03:43 GMT
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Post by bazfaz on Sept 17, 2009 11:28:37 GMT
These are all along KSR?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 11:37:09 GMT
Most of them are either directly on KSR or within a block of it.
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Post by Hedonisttraveller on Sept 17, 2009 15:18:01 GMT
I agree, BKK is the capital of street food. Missed our far east trip this year as we couldn't afford it :-(
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Post by spindrift on Sept 17, 2009 16:38:36 GMT
Looks delicious. KSR = what?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 16:45:19 GMT
Khao San Road
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 17, 2009 17:26:23 GMT
I'm jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous
That is my idea of heaven! One of the ways the "developed countries" can be boring is that in their excessive zeal for hygiene they pinch off all the glories of cheap street food in all its variety and inventive preparation and serving.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2009 18:15:43 GMT
I agree, don't see much street food around here any more. Too many regulations.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 5:34:09 GMT
I was wondering what Thai parents think about their children eating junk food, because I passed another area just as the kids got out of school, and there were dozens of vendors waiting for them. This was an interesting thing that I hadn't seen before. It was a big vat filled with metal cylinders. I couldn't figure out what on earth the product was until the seller checked his metal tubes to see which ones were ready and stuck a stick in the middle to pull out an ice lolly (popsicle). I guess the metal concentrates the freezing temperature, so what's inside the tube freezes while the rest of the vat stays liquid. Of course there was one place of total and absolute interest to the schoolkids, same as in many other countries.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2009 12:32:57 GMT
It's actually quite simple to make a balanced meal in spite of all of the fried foods and noodles. There is a lot of fruit on sale, too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 18, 2009 17:19:00 GMT
Dragon fruit = food of the gods!
I don't know what Thai parents think about the junk food, but those pictures mirror something very common here. It seems most parents go pick up their kids from school. For little kids, this is @1:30 or 2 pm, so lunchtime. There are carts snugged right up to the gates of the school and the mothers come out and let kids have the sugary or other empty calorie crap.
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Post by billp on Sept 19, 2009 10:24:26 GMT
Junk food right outside the schools for sure. And look at how big the backsides are of some of those young girls. Apparent despite the dowdy uniforms. In the decade or so I've been going to Thailand, I've noticed a big increase in the number of fat kids.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2009 10:59:55 GMT
So have I!
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Post by lola on Sept 19, 2009 13:48:57 GMT
What would a quick moderate lunch cost in euros, approx? Like pad thai and a spring roll.
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Post by lola on Sept 19, 2009 13:53:29 GMT
We had the dearest Thai babysitter when the girls were little, the wife of a grad student. When she brought lunch for the day it was about the size of a pack of cards.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2009 14:03:33 GMT
Well, this was one of the more expensive carts. Most pad thai is only 20 baht and 3 spring rolls generally go for 25 baht. Anyway, let's say you decided to spend 60 baht here. So that would be 1.21€ at today's rate (or US$1.78).
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Post by jingjoe on Sept 20, 2009 2:53:03 GMT
The western world are going to kick themselves when they eventually discover the Dragon Fruit, especially the red flesh variety. It grows on a cactus type plant which is very hardy in most conditions.
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Post by imec on Sept 20, 2009 2:57:01 GMT
Oh, cool! I've never seen the red flesh sort or the little yellow skinned one for that matter. Thanks for this!
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 20, 2009 2:59:13 GMT
Oooo ~~ is that your plant, Jingjoe? I have a baby one. Hope it looks that good one day.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2009 4:08:51 GMT
Taking the bus from Nha Trang to Saigon, I saw that just about every Vietnamese family in that area has a "mini orchard" of dragon fruit plants in their front yard as a source of extra revenue.
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Post by fumobici on Sept 20, 2009 5:18:06 GMT
The Wiki page on dragon fruit: "There are some farms in Vietnam that produce 30 tons of fruit per hectare every year" That's impressive. Unfortunately while they appear to be able to handle brief light frosts they aren't truly hardy. Otherwise, even though they rely on nocturnal pollinators we might not have here I'd give it a go.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 20, 2009 5:21:04 GMT
Couldn't you go out at night with your miner's helmet and a camel hair brush, Fumobici?
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Post by fumobici on Sept 20, 2009 5:45:07 GMT
Although I'm quite an avid plant lover and gardener, I've got a thing about demanding plants. That thing being I seldom acquire them. I did have a nice stand of Himalayan and nepalese poppies (Meconopsis species actually), which are notoriously difficult, going for a while but the madness passed! I'm a huge fan of plants that require little or no care or maintenance.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 20, 2009 6:08:16 GMT
I've never lived in a cool enough zone for the Himalayan poppies, but was always intrigued by them. I once had a large and gorgeous collection of African violets and other gesneriads which lived happily outside under a big pecan tree. When it was time to come inside for the winter, they demonstrated their hatred for the gas heaters by dying furiously. They've never wormed their way back into my heart. (guess we should be talking about this in Putting Down Roots ) Speaking of dragon fruit ..... a few years ago I spent July in Mérida. The death heat was compensated for by the abundance of dragon fruit. After handing over several for a ridiculously low sum, the vendors would toss in a few more just to get rid of them.
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Post by jingjoe on Sept 20, 2009 8:44:48 GMT
Hi Guys - I'm registered now.
That's not my Dragon Fruit plant unfortunately, mine is still in it's infancy, yet it's starting to look promising. It should grow well in tropical, subtropical and temperate climates.
My mention of "hardy" referred to their drought tolerance.
Really like the street food photo's up top as well.
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Post by mockchoc on Sept 20, 2009 11:14:10 GMT
Hi jingjoe, nice to see another Aussie about.
I love the red fleshed dragon fruit best. Dried dragon fruit is lovely too.
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Post by imec on Sept 20, 2009 13:28:33 GMT
Welcome jingjoe!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2009 13:45:05 GMT
I'm very glad you could join us, jingjoe. There is even some sort of gardening section here where you can display your vegetal successes and failures.
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