Food from the Streets of South East Asia in Photos

Rambler's Note: We are at the beach again. This time in Thailand. The road getting here was pretty uneventful so I thought it would be more fun to blog about one of the most important aspects of traveling...food.

For meals we always try to frequent local places. Unless one of has a desire for something Western or Japanese (which we haven't really except for a few of Mika's french fries cravings) we avoid restaurants geared towards foreigners as much as humanly possible. The food at tourist places is usually overpriced and many times the flavor is a watered-down version of the dish.

Our favorite restaurant in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. Choose your dish(es) and eat it with rice

A great place to find authentic and cheap local food is right on the street. It is simple, no language skills required. For example, when preparing your food the hawker might hold up two chilies essentially asking, "how spicy do you want it?" Everything is right there in front of you. Just point to what you want and use fingers to discuss the price.

Many street hawkers are semi-permanent and set up in the same place every day and at the same time depending on which meal they are serving.

A busy breakfast stand in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All of the noodle dishes are already prepared and can be eaten there. Though most people seemed to be getting it to go on the way work

A Chinese style donut ( like a churro without the sugar) sold at breakfast time in Kota Bharu, Malaysia

A nighttime sidewalk restaurant in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

While others are very mobile like this woman in Solo, Indonesia who pushes her Srabi (a pancake made from coconut milk, rice flour with a fruit topping) cart into place.

This woman has a motorbike with a Sum Tum (green papaya salad) serving sidecar in Trang, Thailand

while this guy in Solo, Indonesia goes door-to-door using pedal power to sell his goods. 

A cart in Yogyakarta, Indonesia selling Rojak, a fresh fruit salad served with a sweet and spicy and tangy sauce. They make the sauce fresh with every order.

Who doesn't love food on a stick!

Chicken balls, fish balls, pork balls, tofu chunks. The better hawkers will set them in hot oil for a few seconds and then serve with chili sauce.

Trang, Thailand

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Satay grill like this one in Solo, Indonesia, is a very common sight:

and just when you think you have seen it all, along comes a stall in Hat Yai, Thailand selling roasted pig face. Looking at this photo one week later I am still amazed that someone would buy and eat this.

These three guys obviously didn't read the story about building a house made out of bricks