Som Tam

On my way back from lunch today, I ran into Charlie – the CFO of LMG Thailand – in the elevator. (Charlie is half Thai, half Australian which is why he has a name like Charlie and not Boonsong or Pomphet.) I was carrying a small bag of fresh pineapple. I buy pineapple almost every day from the same street vendor – you can’t go wrong for 10 baht (about 30 cents). Charlie pointed to the pineapple and asked, “So, you can eat food from the street vendors?” I thought, “C’mon Charlie, I’ve been here for over 5 months. If my stomach hasn’t adapted by now, it’s never going to.” But, instead I just smiled and said, “Yes. I buy street food regularly.”

That is one thing I will miss when I am back in Boston – the street vendors. They’re not all selling food I want to eat – or can even identify – but it’s still fascinating to see. And it’s all informal – people just seem to wheel a cart into a spot on the sidewalk, fire up a charcoal grill, and start cooking and selling. Maybe it’s grilled fish or chicken, maybe it’s curry, or noodles, or corn on the cob. (For some reason, corn on the cob is popular here.)


Tonight, on my way home, I stopped to buy a “som tam” from a street vendor. This guy is in the same spot every evening and he makes a really good som tam. Some times he makes it and some times it’s a woman who I think might be his wife. I’ve gone there enough that he knows how I like my som tam. That’s one of the advantages of being a foreigner here – you stand out from the crowd and the vendors remember you pretty quickly. (Som tam is a salad of green (unripe) papaya, fish paste, tomatoes, and peanuts in a chili/lime sauce. You get to pick how many chilies you want in your som tam, or how much fish paste, or a little sugar or none. I usually go for one or two chilies at most, but I noticed the woman in front of me tonight asked for four. Yikes!)

So, while he was making my som tam, I decided to snap a few photos – of his cart and the grilled chicken and fish he also sells – but also the other vendors immediately nearby.

It’s hard to convey in words and pictures how many vendors there are and how many people are out buying food on the streets – all day long, not just in the evening. I took these photos without moving more than about three feet. (Okay, so one guy is selling flowers on the steps of the 7-11 and not food.) And this is just one short stretch of one street along the way home. It’s just incredible how many places to eat there are on the street.

As for not getting sick, the trick is to pick the vendors who are doing brisk business. That way, you know the food is turning over quickly and is (relatively) safe. It’s worked so far – knock wood.

And here is what a som tam looks like on a plate.

They give you some cabbage and some green beans to go with it. (Obviously I am not a food stylist, but it sure is tasty!)

One thing that gives me a laugh whenever I buy a som tam from this guy is that, after he’s done making the salad and putting it into a plastic bag, he rinses his hands in a bucket of water that’s sitting on the sidewalk before he grabs the green beans and puts them in the bag. Very fastidious but seriously… is that really helping?!