Experience the delicious world of Thai Street Food in the New Normal Style.
As of very recently, the Street Food of Bangkok has re-opened for sit down dining. The street food stall keepers and the visitors are taking complete hygiene measures and ensuring social distancing. Blogger ‘Mark Wiens’ explained these safety measures through a Street Food Tour of Chinatown, Bangkok.
Chinatown area in Bangkok is famous for it’s Thai Chinese Street Food and is crowded with food stalls. Post Lockdown; for safety measures, the street food owners have installed a piece of cardboard/plastic sheets as a barrier on tables. The tables are spaced out from each other, having a distance of at least 2 feet (0.61 m). The staff taking food orders and the cook preparing the dish are always in masks. Stalls which are in open, have put around a plastic sheet to protect themselves and the visitors from Coronavirus. Some stores came up with an amazing, creative serving style and took social distancing to another level by using a lacrosse bat. Most of the Street food stalls in Chinatown have a bottle of alcohol sanitizer on the food table. To make street food even safer, the owners have started wrapping the cutlery in plastic bags, thus ensuring no transmission of virus takes place.
Here are a few Thai Dishes that one must try in Chinatown, Bangkok :
- Tom Yum Noodles Soup – is a special Thai Delicacy with a mix of seafood and spices. The dish consists of a variety of fish balls with fried fish skin, peanuts, chicken broth, and sprouts. Each piece of fishball is very spongy and has a different texture. The fried fish skin is crispy but full of juice. The dish is an explosion of flavors in the mouth. An add-on seasoning of chili flakes and vinegar enhances the taste of the dish even more.
- Chinese Herbal Medicinal Drink – In Thailand, people call it the ‘Bitter Liquid’. The drink has a slight Molasses touch to it without being sweet. One can feel the herbs, the medicinal & warm properties of the beverage while drinking. The drink is similar to Coca-Cola in view but far away from its taste and healing properties. In times when COVID-19 attacks our immunity, one should consume the bitter drink for building up the immune system.
- Pa-Tong-Go – is a Popular Chinese Fried Savoury Donuts stall in Chinatown. The texture of Pa-Tong-Go is soft, puffy, and crispy at the same time. A coconut custard is served to go along with this savory. The custard is not overly sweet but it has the rich creaminess of coconut milk. Fresh, cold soy milk goes really well with the hot fried Pattango with soy milk adds a refreshing touch to the savory.
- Hoi Tod in a hot iron dish – The delicacy is made of fried oysters with the toppings of beans and sprouts. A sweet chilly red sauce goes really well with the dish. The dish is served on a hot iron plate which keeps the oysters and sprouts crispy and hot for a longer period of time. The Thai Suki soup absolutely compliments the dish which is a mix of veggies, egg, and chicken broth. The egg gives a thickness to the soup and is sweet and sour in taste.
- Kuay Tiew Kua Kai Tod or Crispy Fried Noodles – The Noodles are deep-fried and made extra crispy. It has a hot smokey flavor and the noodles are fried with chicken and egg. The dish makes for a perfect crunchy oily snack.
So next time, if one is in Chinatown for the yummy street food, enjoy the delicacies with masks, sanitizer & social distancing!
