Several years earlier, in this same corner of Lumphini Park, I came across a hawker who sold ice cream without benefit of cup or cone. On this visit to Bangkok I wasn't so lucky; in already-brutal midmorning heat the playground was deserted, and food vendors were nowhere to be found.
Ice cream cone playground apparatus
Near the southwest corner of Lumphini Park, Bangkok
What's Thai for "siesta"? To be sure, when I'm exploring a remote corner of town, any town, there's seldom a safe, convenient spot to catch 40 winks. Generally I rehydrate and soldier on. My heretofore secret fallback — whose thousands of locations in Southeast Asia are stocked much more intriguingly than in the States: 7-Eleven. Gallery of puzzling potables to follow.
Beating the heat
Under an expressway overpass, Bangkok
Single-serving meat loaf.
Usually this is the only hard part.
They look a lot like longans, but they travel in bunches.
Mussel fry-ups aren't the only dishes on offer at this stall, just the ones with the fastest turnover.
When I bought this "Chinese herbal" beverage (20 baht), as the stall-owner described it, I expected that after-hours web research would pin down the main ingredient. I'll bet that's it, to the left of the only label, but I don't have a substantially clearer photo, and as of this writing the only English-language web mentions of "jub-lieng" are my own. Do any Eating In Translation readers have a clue?
Drinks vendor
Aw Taw Gaw market, stall 12/1, Bangkok
Too unrelentingly lemongrassy to be refreshing (25 baht).
Another drinks vendor, not far away
Aw Taw Gaw market, stall 10/9, Bangkok
The noodles, not shown here to best advantage, are the foundation for a wide range of Thai sauces.
My first thought when I saw this dish on display was that these must be vegetable and not animal.
The impression persisted when I was offered a sample, which prompted me to order a plate. (In the absence of English speakers and an English menu, all this was done in pantomime.) An indulgently oily and rich mouthfeel — note the pooled liquid at the right of the plated dish — disguised the aquatic origins of the main ingredient, small clams fried in rice flour (35 baht, about $1.10 at the time). Basil was likely responsible for the greenish cast. I'd be guessing to tell you more, except to note that this dish was aroy mak — very delicious.
Streetside restaurant
Th. Plaeng Naam (Th. Charoen Krung-Th. Yaowarat), Bangkok
(From an August 2010 visit)
Thank you!
