phuket magazine

In Thailand even the sides of the streets often look like a moving feast

There are so many foods available from wandering or fixed-site vendors, and trying some is part of the Thai experience

Wherever Thai’s gather, food seems to follow. Sometimes it arrives on each end of a pole slung over a shoulder; on other occasions in a cart pulled by a vendor; but more often than not in a small kitchen attached to a motorbike. These mobile restaurants are an integral part of Thailand’s cultural landscape and provide affordable food to busy people with tiny kitchens and limited budgets.
Hawker food is invariably fresh. If you’re eating an animal product, the time between execution and consumption is minimised by the fact that vendors can’t store food as full-blown restaurants oft do. In addition, the hawker cooks much of the food as you watch, a process eliminating harmful bacteria. Raw fruits and vegetables are a problem for some people, but the great variety of food available makes it easy to avoid them.

Hawkers offer an amazing variety of food; some of the most popular dishes are as follows:

 
Barbecued food – such as chicken (gai yang), fish, usually mackerel or catfish, pork (moo yang) and eggs.

Steamed Food – such as corn (khao poot), rice dumpling stuffed with pork (salapoa) and pork or shrimp wonton (serevekhanon jip).

Deep Fried Food – such as chicken (gai tod), spring rolls (po pia tod) and fish cakes (tod man pla).

Stewed and Boiled Food – such as chicken with rice (khao man gai) pork with red sauce and rice (khao ga moo) and noodle soup (kwaytiao nam).

Sweet Items – such as deep fried bananas (kluay tod), coconut cream pancakes (khanon buang) and sticky rice with bananas or coconut then roasted (khao niaw ping) or steamed (khao tom mud).