Snacking on the Streets of Bangkok

Legume Man

As long as I could remember, crunchy peas and beans are sold by Indian immigrants. It seems like they have a monopoly/authority on the fried beans. You would see a guy walking around with what looked like a small table on his head. I'd stop him if I wanted. He would bring the table down. You could see that it was not a table but a sectioned tray with four legs. Then you would select what you would like. The usuals are mung beans, peanuts, fava beans, black-eyed peas and green peas. It had been a few years since I ran into these guys. I noticed the change, the plastic basket. I stopped the guy and asked for mung beans, my favourite. He asked if I wanted 10 baht or 20 baht. I asked for 10 baht(~25 cents) underestimating the power of the comfort food. He put the mung beans into a small plastic bag and put sliced green onion, chili pepper and salt on top and handed it to me. It was as good as ever. I wished I had asked for 40 baht.

Grilled Banana

There are so many varieties of banana in Thailand. Gluay nam wah can be transformed into so many snacks and desserts. One of my favourites is 'gluay ping' or grilled banana. You will find almost ripe bananas, peeled and grilled on low heat over ash covered charcoal grill. Then, they are pressed and dipped in coconut, palm sugar sauce. I usually get mine grilled un-pressed without sauce. Lately, I noticed white and purple balls sold along side the banana. I asked the lady what were those. 'Potato and taro ball', she said. I tried a few and didn't like them that much. My grilled bananas were so good that 5 of them were gone in no time. They were 5 for 10 baht(~ 25 cents)