A colourful, in-depth guide to street food, by Bangkok based food writer, Chawadee Naulkhair – an absolute must for any food lovers visiting Thailand.
Thailand’s Best Street Food – What’s inside
In Thailand there’s no doubt that there is a bewildering array of street food available. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, with no idea what to order (and most probably not being sure of what you are going to get once you have ordered). This book is designed to help you overcome just such dilemmas.
A section at the start includes some interesting background notes followed by photographs and descriptions of some the more common dishes you are likely to encounter. Then it really gets down to business….
Each region of Thailand is introduced and the best street food districts are highlighted. This is followed by a whole page dedicated to each and every one of the featured street-side carts, stalls and shops from that area. In the provinces, Chawadee has focused on regional specialities to show the diversity that is available, while in Bangkok, she has focused on her favourite food, in areas she knows well, admitting that she has not, as yet, been able to cover every region. She sees her book as a work in progress.
With each listing you’ll find details of how to find the vendor, what they specialise in, any notable extras, what drinks are available, whether there is seating and whether there is a restroom and even what type it is (western or squat) right down to whether or not it provides toilet paper. I wish I had a book like this for every place I visit. It would be invaluable.
There is also a very useful street map for each district showing the location of every stall. Perfect!
Recommended for you: A mini guide to the best street food in Chiang Mai, Thailand
What I loved most
The description of the stalls and their tempting offerings fascinate me. From the deep-fried banana vendor, with a secret batter recipe, that can found by a particular set of traffic lights in Cha-am…. or the Phuket dim sum seller whose stall has no name, but is simply known as ‘the dim sum place near the hospital’…. to Bamee Soi 38 in Sukhumvit, selling buttery egg noodles and tender pork dumplings…. and the mobile vendor who sells the best mango sticky rice in Bangkok – every stall or vendor I read about had my taste buds crying out in expectation. I need to go to Thailand right now. Sadly, for the time being, my taste buds and tummy remain unsatiated.
Mouth-watering recipes
There are, however, twelve very tempting recipes dotted throughout the book, which all sound delicious. Sadly the excessively long list of ingredients for some of them, I would imagine, will put off all but the most determined cooks from trying them out. I take this though as a sign of the recipes authenticity, making the effort of preparing them correctly, thoroughly worth it.
One recipe that jumped out as a fairly simple, must try, was the grilled scallops with pork, butter and garlic. It had my mouth-watering profusely as I read the instructions and has again now just thinking about it. Time to try this out, methinks.
Buy Thailand’s Best Street Food on Amazon
UKÂ Thailand’s Best Street Food: The Complete Guide to Streetside Dining in Bangkok, Chiang Mai…
USÂ Thailand’s Best Street Food: The Complete Guide to Streetside Dining in Bangkok, Chiang Mai…
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Introducing the author, Chawadee Naulkhair
Food writer, Chawadee Naulkhair, blogs at Bangkok Glutton (check it out). She is a Thai-American from Pittsburgh who is now married with two kids and living in Bangkok. She has spent some 20 years exploring the streets of Thailand, in search of the very best street-side dining. Chawadee’s passion for food, as well as her sense of humour, shines through in is this video about her favourite food…
Best Thing I Ever Ate – Thailand – Chawadee Nulkair from BDA : Creative Agency Singapore on Vimeo.
Disclaimer: Thanks to Tuttle for sending me a complimentary copy of this book to review. Please note that the link to the book, Thailand’s Best Street Food, is an affiliate link so that if you purchase it via this link I will receive a few pennies to go towards another book to review. As always, I will only share with you my own, honest opinions.
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I am not a huge Asian food lover in general but I really believe that trying authentic Asian, and in this case Thai, food would likely change my opinion. I would really love to visited Thailand for so many reasons and I am sure that the cuisine is just an added benefit. I imagine the Westernized Thai cuisine that we have all encountered is likely to be completely different to the true, authentic options available on street markets!
Whenever my husband and I hear Thailand, we think of food! Food there is so glorious from humble street stalls to fancy places. These books sounds perfect for those big fan of food in Thailand. It’s also great that it includes recipe. I agree that the long list of ingredients means not taking any short cut and making it really authentic. Nice review. Will check out the book.
Oh what a good idea this book is – I get incredibly nervous with street food and knowing what is what that this would be like a bible to me if I was in Thailand!
I’ll have to check out the book since I’ll be going to Thailand soon and want to taste all the amazing street food
I’m sure you’ll find it really useful Noel. I look forard to hearing all about it and I’m sure you’ll take lots of yummy photos too.
OMG I love Thai street food. Pad Thai, fried bananas, pancakes, yum yum yum. We also did a cooking class in Thailand so I think if I had the book it would transport me back there straight away 😀
Oooh! A Thai cooking class. I love cooking classes when I travel. Food is such a wonderful way to connect with local people and culture.
Wow Kathryn, it’s amazing how descriptions and photos can make my mouth water at a silly time in the morning for Thai food … 10.25am! I think this book should be a must for anyone who loves food and is travelling to Thailand. What a great idea, and of course the research must have been fun and delicious as well.
Thailand is high on my agenda at the moment and Thai cuisine one of my favourites. I often wonder how authentic the dishes are that we have here in the west. I guess the solution to finding out is to either go or buy a book such as this one. My only worry would be whether I’m able to get hold of all the ingredients I need. Lemongrass, etc. is not a problem, but I suspect some of the less mainstream items might be.
We are frequent visitors to Thailand, and are fans of street food. You mentioned deep-fried banana and I am already a fan. This will be a handy resource from a person who knows what they are talking about. I like the idea that there are directions to find the stalls, as sometimes it is really difficult as Bangkok in particular requires some navigation. Love that toilet facilities are included. Great video, really lovely lady. Stuffed crab ..oh yeah.
Yes, I enjoyed the video too. And agree, the notes about toilet facilties is a great idea. I loved the book and hope to put it to good use one day.