The wonderful men who cooked my Pad Thai
It’s Bangkok, so it has to be street food. In the mad bustle of the city, pulling up a seat at a plastic roadside table is one of the distinct pleasures of being in Bangkok. Or in South-East Asia in general really.
I’ve never been a meat-eater in Bangkok (to be honest, most of the street meat scares me), but I have eaten a lot of seafood here on past trips and I have to say that the tiger prawns were delicious. Alas, now even they too are scraped from my list of eligible foods, so it’s a little bit harder to find good street food that doesn’t come with meat. From breakfast porridge with pork shavings, to delicious smelling green curry that unfortunately is very often full of chicken, it’s sometimes not easy to find a good vegetarian meal that comes with more than just egg and a few bean shoots.
So after a few tries of veggie-style Pad Thai … just when I was about to give up … I was taken to Sukhumvit Rd, Soi 38 next to Thong Lo BTS station. It’s a street food extravaganza but I’ve never been past the first stall on the right when you enter the street. Likewise, I’ve never had anything but the Pad Thai, a creature of habit.
Veggie Pad Thai on Sukhumvit Rd, Soi 38
I order a “Pad Thai Jay with egg” and take a seat on the brightly coloured plastic chairs that lead down into the alley behind the stall. Jay means something akin to vegan, so it seems to be understood that when I say ‘jay with egg’ it’s more vegetarian style.
Unlike a lot of other street Pad Thais, this one is full of vegetables – carrots, beans, onion, cabbage, and Chinese cabbage. The egg is always nicely cooked and the tofu isn’t too mushy. The bean sprouts on the side make it taste really fresh and light, giving a crunchy texture to the soft noodles and vegetables. The flavour of the sauce is slightly different as well, a nice tangy taste that is offset by the nuts sprinkled on top.
The last time I went I drizzled some of the chilli water over the top – word of warning to the unprepared, make sure you’re steady with your spoon if you’re attempting to ‘drizzle’! If I wasn’t sweaty just by being outside in the humidity, I was positively dripping by the time I finished my meal! Not a pretty sight for my poor boyfriend sitting opposite me. I can only console myself with the fact that he was sweating more than I was.
Apparently there are plenty of delicious stalls to try on the street, with a particular favourite being a yellow curry on the left halfway down the street. I’m yet to go there, but apparently it’s delicious. I wonder whether they’ll do a ‘yellow curry jay’?
If you’re in Bangkok, this is definitely one to check out. I don’t have too many nights left here, but hoping to squeeze in a couple more dinners from my favourite street food vendor. Maybe I’ll even try something other than the Pad Thai. Although, when you’re onto a good thing…
My Vegetarian Adventures 