1. Fruit shakes! I will miss the life of fresh fruit and veggie shakes everyday. Imagine any fruit and you can get it blended into a cool treat. New faves include anything with beets (you hear that Erica?), passion fruit, mango/banana/pineapple, lemon and peppermint, and the good old mystery bag of mixed fruits. Dislikes- dragon fruit juice and red papaya.
-There is also fresh squeezed juice of any flavor sold all over the streets. I might never drink American orange juice again.
2. Rotee. Oh, thin little street pancake, I live for you. It is a small ball of dough flattened and then filled with goodness (bananas and chocolate, lemon juice and sugar, coffee flavor, even crab and ketchup for the adventurous) and then it's folded into a square and fried on a wok like pan. Also commonly known as a banana pancake round these parts. I have been eating them nonstop- I prefer sweet rotees over the savory. Current fave- lemon sugar and condensed milk.
3. Noodles noodles noodles! Homemade pad Thai from a cart for a dollar- hell yes! Pad see yew (wide noodles with soy sauce and egg)- scrumptious. Brad has taken a shining to noodle soup which is light broth with noodles, sprouts, herbs, egg, and whatever else you want to toss in. Unlike the people here I cannot get down on noodle soup for breakfast.
4. Dim sum...yum yum. I don't always know what's inside of those various steamed dumplings but it's usually a tasty treat! My rule- if the cart (or person) is busy then i will try it out. I still hate shrimp though and it's never pleasant when those little dried shrimps they love so much over here are in my dumpling. Boo.
5. Laap. This is a Lao specialty. Minced meat (beef, chicken, whatevs) mixed with shallots, sprouts, garlic, and mint and then fried. Throw a few other spices in and you have laap (or lap as I have also seen it spelled). I still don't eat a lot of meat but it was really tasty.
6. Tom Sam, or green papaya salad. Good god I love this stuff. Shreds of green papaya, carrot, tomatoes all raw tossed in some amazing citrusy spicy vinegarette and topped with peanuts and sometimes tofu. It's outrageously fresh and oh so good, as long as you don't get it "Thai" spicy. Then you pay. If you like to cook get adventurous and try to make this easy dish!
7. Puffies. I made up this name. It's a super crispy tiny looking pancake folded in half and filled with some creamy marshmallow fluff kind of stuff and toasted coconut. I'm now eating one of those... Mmmm puffies.
8. Quails eggs. These tiny eggs are a delight. Cooked in a pan with tiny bite sized pockets it's the perfect bite of protein. Sometimes they scramble them and add seafood to make little delightful balls of savory yummyness.
9. Random sausages. At the market we tried these grilled balls of meat- it looked like a mini bratwurst but when you bit down the flavor just exploded! Thailand and Laos loves their encased meats, almost as much as they love "sausage" (aka hotdogs). Order sausage for breakfast and you get a hotdog. Sometimes if you are lucky, it's even deep fried. As if they aren't already bad enough...
10. Mango and sticky rice. Quintessential dessert drizzled in coconut milk. A hit every time. Also strangely good is sticky rice on a stick dipped in egg and grilled.
11. Curries. I have really begun to appreciate the spice of a curry! Panang, red curry, and massman are a few that get a big thumbs up. I LOVE red curry (the coconut milk is a great compliment to the spice) with pineapple and veggies. I have yet to try the green curry but I will soon.
I have so many more foods to share so I will have a street food edition #2 in the near future. I didn't even go into the amazing Indian food we ate as most of that was restaurant related. I long for papad, malai kofta, chai paneer, and fresh lassies. Again, a whole other blog.
Before I go, a few things I will not be eating: bugs, rat jerky, pig knuckles, grilled chicken feet, skewered frogs (or frog soup), snakes blood or anything starting with snake, pig snouts, buffalo skin, liver, tendons, and giant grubs.
But hey, to each their own. I'm hungry again and off to get a snack.
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