10 Second Kitchen - Street Candy in Hanoi, Vietnam

 Watching a skilled candy maker create a beautiful treat in Hanoi, Vietnam.

10 Second Kitchen - Deep Fried Tofu on Lanmadaw Street

 Watching the tofu carefully fry along the Lanmadaw St in Yangon, Myanmar.

10 Second Kitchen - Pomelo Street Vendor Downtown Yangon

 Watching a woman carefully peel the last bit of bitter peel off of a Pomelo in downtown Yangon, Myanmar.

Quick Street Pancake

 A quick pancake made on the street in downtown Yangon, Myanmar.

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This Corn Is Steaming... But Not Mad

 This is a small basket of corn steaming from a street vendor just outside of Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon.

Want to see where all of the 10 Second Kitchen's took place, check out our Candy Map.

Deep Fried Snacks Rule On Street Food

 Watching these expert street food artist make a crunchy deep fried peanut treat at a street market in Bangkok, Thailand is what makes me happy all the time.

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A New Street Food 10 Second Kitchen

Watching them make fun and unique street foods at the night markets in Bangkok is always fun, particularly when you know that you're going to eat it a few minutes later.

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My Latest Thailand Discovery

 Over the last little while I've made a few stops in Thailand to enjoy some western delights (since I live in a country with very few western restaurants and shopping options) and to check out some great local Thai food too. I'm finding more and more that Thai food is having a similar identity crisis as Canadian food. While there are some sure fire Thai options out there, the food in Thailand (and in particular Bangkok) is starting to become more cosmopolitan. This basically means that I feel like in Bangkok you'll have an easier time finding something that isn't Thai than something that is. 

Even the local dishes in Bangkok are starting to get international twists. It's a tough argument as to weather or not this is a good or bad thing. If you love authenticity than it might be a bad thing, but if you love variety it's a good thing. Fortunately however, if you look hard enough you can really enjoy both. Since most of my travel to Bangkok is to enjoy some western treats, as well as the local favourites, for me it's perfect.

We can start this journey by looking at some of the imported places, and see how they're being handled in the Bangkok market. Some things appear to be pretty much exactly the same, but there might be an interesting twist. Take Taco Bell for example is fairly new to Bangkok, and most of the menu looks fairly similar to what you might find in North America. There is one difference however, every single Taco, Crunch Wrap Supreme, or quesadilla is spicy. It's not burn your mouth off spicy, but everything has a bit of a kick. This made it particularly challenging for me as I took an opportunity to have my first Crunch Wrap Supreme. I liked it, but it was a little spicy for my liking.

My beloved Tim Horton's, another new addition to Thailand, also has some twists on the classics. Recently I had a maple yuzu donut. Even stranger is the donut pictured above, and chocolate peanut butter donut. It's weird because I think this is an attempt to make a flavour of donut that appeals to foreigners, or at least what they feel foreigners would eat. The thing is, I've never seen a donut like this in Canada, so in fact it's not a donut we'd have. I'm not sure who these are made for, is it for locals who want to try a exotic flavour, or for expats that want a taste of home. Either way it's kind of inaccurate. 

They also have crazy custom boxes that I've never seen in Canada.

As well as overtly over Canadian merchandise.

One of the best examples of foods that have exploded in Thailand from other parts of the world is ice cream. I'm not sure how popular ice cream was before, but now I've seen lineups in malls just to get a soft serve ice cream cone. McDonalds ice cream is also really popular, but interestingly they've adapted some of the flavours for Thai tastes. Above is a mango, bubble tea flavoured sundae from McDonalds that's not only tasty but visually interesting.

Dairy Queen has also jumped in the crossover game with mango and durian sticky rice Blizzards. It's clever how they've managed to incorporate the rice on the top to make sure it keeps it's sticky texture.

Famous brands are even making special versions or packages to celebrate their Thai bonds. It's a little strange seeing a Nutella jar with a temple on it.

North America isn't the only place influencing Thai food culture. Other Asian countries are getting in on the act as well. Korea and Japan seem to be the heaviest influencers in Thai culture. K-Pop and J-Pop are everywhere, but so is the food. Overly decorated and super cute items are becoming the norm in Thailand, like these very realistic kitty cat ice creams wearing fruit helmets (thank you internet). While I can't confirm where these actually originated, it's a very Japanese idea to make something super cute and edible.

Street food is a really interesting place to see this crossover. After all, Thailand is famous for it, but it's even starting to get heavily influenced by outside sources.

This item was labelled as Cornyaki, a play on the Japanese Tayaki. Tayaki is a fish shaped cake filled with beans, cream, or chocolate. It's available all over Japan, and today it's available all over Thailand as well. This interesting version features a corn filling and a corn theme. It's another way that the Thai people have taken a twist on a foreign theme and made it their own.

The same night market also sold Tanghulu strawberries. This is a very popular Chinese street food that's also made its way to Thailand. If you're unfamiliar, it's fruit, covered in a candy coating that's super crunchy. As you can see from this video, when you bite into it, it crunches very loudly. Tasty and a good time for all.

I love visiting Bangkok, because it offers me so much. It offers me flavours and textures from all over the world, it offers me Thai flavours and textures, as well as hybrids of both. It's getting a little difficult to see what is authentically Thai and what's an import, but I kind of relate to that. As a Canadian, I come from a country made up of immigrants, people from all over the world. Each person, each culture and each tradition has place in my culture. Sometimes those traditions are changed to suit tastes and available ingredients and something else is born. Maybe this is why I like visiting Thailand so much. I can see things blending together, and cultures being enjoyed and celebrated in creative and beautiful ways.

Best of all, I can taste it all as well.

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Another Kenetic Episode of the 10 Second Kitchen - Cotton Candy and Popcorn on Street 268

I love watching people sell food on the streets. It seems so dirty, but also so tasty, all at the same time.

You can check out all of our 10 Second Kitchens on our Candy Map.

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10 Second Kitchen - Street Vendor On Street 51

I'm not sure what these little patties are called, but they're yummy.

Find out where I saw this on our Candy Critic map.

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10 Second Kitchen - Street Cart On Suramarit Blvd

Not all restaurants are in buildings, some are sitting next to traffic.

Find out where this cart normally is on our Candy Critic map.

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Candy In The Media - Mickey and Minnie Mouse In Thailand

I can't say enough about this amazing cartoon. First of all, I'm a huge fan of the new direction Disney has taken with Mickey Mouse cartoons, I love the look and I really enjoy the stories. Secondly, I love the fact that this entire cartoon is in Thai, no English at all, and you can still follow the story.  Finally, the fact that the subject is near to my heart, street food, really makes this one of the best cartoons I've seen in a while.

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Thailand Food Adventure

Thailand really is a food loving culture.  They love their own food, and they embrace foods from other parts of the world.  Their own food is uniquely theirs, and found just about everywhere.  There doesn't seem to be a huge range within the country, as you pretty much find the same foods in the north, south, near or far away from the water.  That's not to say that there isn't variety, the smallest towns and the large cities all offer huge varieties of Thai food in just about every form.

As far as international foods go, there is certainly some that are more preferred by the Thai people. American, Japanese, and some European foods are all over the place.  The European foods seem to be French, British, and some Mediterranean foods, but there are a few others as well.  You also find a lot of Chinese foods in parts of Thailand, but I'm assuming that's because there are also many Chinese tourists in this area.  The surprising thing is the number of Japanese and American restaurants in this country.  Some are restaurants that you don't normally see around, like MOS Burger and Japanese Curry houses from Japan, and Swenson’s ice cream from the US.  There are also many Japanese convenience stores in Thailand as well including 7-11 (Japanese style) and Family Mart.

When it comes to Thai food, the most obvious style of food is street food. There is not a market, or even street corner that doesn't have some kind of street food available.  The street food is far more sophisticated than what you would find in North American as well.  These street food restaurants offer complicated fish dishes, tasty skewered meat varieties, and even some tasty desserts. Each vendor generally specializes in one particular type of food, however several vendors are often crowded together so a group of people can really get whatever they want.  The mango sticky rice was certainly a highlight of our street food eating, but I'm a sucker for sweet treats.

Fruit is a big part of the Thai diet, both with the street food and in the grocery stores.  Just about every collection of street food vendors will have at least one juice maker in the group.  A few others offer fruits with crepes, or even on their own.  Grocery stores and markets also have a huge selection of tropical fruits, and it's easy to walk away with a juicy treat while you wander around town. Mangos, pineapples, and dragon fruit seem to be very popular. However the most popular fruit appears to be durian.

I'm not sure if durian is actually popular amongst the locals, or if it's some kind of silly tourist scam.  You find many durian stands all over tourist areas, but you don't really see locals lining up to eat the stuff.  If you've never tried durian before, the taste is smooth and creamy, but the smell is like an old sweat sock filled with rotting onions.  The smell is also fairly potent, so strong that the airport has warnings about not allowing you to bring durians onto the airplanes.  So these stalls all over town must be selling to someone, either Thai people that somehow have built a tolerance for this very smelly fruit, or tourists that try it as a dare.

One of the unique things I noticed about eating in Thailand is the choice of utensils.  You might assume that since it's an East Asian country, chopsticks would be the tools of choice, but that's not really true.  Chopsticks are around, but the eating tools of choice are forks and spoons, but not in the way you might be using them yourself.  In North American you generally use a fork to stab some foods, and a spoon to eat liquids.  In Thailand however they have a really unique way of eating their food.  They use a fork to collect the food onto the spoons.  Once the spoon is loaded up with a nice balance of all of the elements from the plate, you're left with a nice organized perfect bite of everything on your spoon.  You enjoy that perfect bite, and then start to collect the food with your fork to make another.

It seems like a strange way to eat, but it really makes for a very pleasant meal.  Each bite is a perfect balance of all of the flavours that you enjoy from your plate.  It's delicate, intricate, and really improves the way you eat.  It does slow things down a bit, but it's really worth it.  I may start eating like this more often myself at home.

I think if you're a foodie person Thailand has a lot to offer you. I also think if you're a picky eater there's plenty of simple western cooking available as well.  You may have to walk by a stall with squids hanging on a bar, or watch a person eat a deep fried fish head, but there's certainly something for the weak stomached and the food adventurer.

My only complaint about the food is the abundance of American and Japanese places.  Not that I don't like a few now and then no matter where I travel, just in some cases it was overwhelming.  There seemed to be some areas of Bangkok where the only Thai food available was the street food, and if you wanted to eat at a restaurant you had to either eat Japanese or American.

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Europe Street Food

Most people think that street food is something you only find in places like New York or California, but that couldn't be further from the truth.  Almost every place I've ever traveled has had some kind of street food to offer.  It's not just a North American thing either, Europe has a great selection of street food, and the variety in each country is spectacular.  Friends Eat has a great list of some of the not to miss street food countries in Europe.

Click here to check out the list.

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