For the past several years, we have been spending our Lunar New Year in Thailand. Although we love exploring the vibrant food scene in Bangkok, we also head to the smaller seaside towns for a change in pace.
Night markets and street stalls are a great way to try many Thai specialties at once. One market we really enjoy is the Cicada Night Market in the seaside town of Hua Hin. Cicada Night Market is big, clean, a bit more "upscale", and includes many, many food stalls as well as vendors selling handbags, crafts, and all sorts of stuff.
Grilled Seafood!
Seafood is prevalent, and it's common to see street stalls or simple seafood restaurants grilling up seafood, which can be served with flavorful herb sauces.
One of our favorite night market items was this simple whole salt-encrusted fish charcoal fired on a spit served with Thai herbs and sauces. It was fresh, cheap, and such an authentic experience. We loved it.
I fell in love with the streetside oyster egg omelets, which remind me a lot of the ones that they make in Taiwan.
Mangos + Coconuts
We can never get enough mango sticky rice when we're in Thailand, it's so good! You can even get special purple colored rice infused with butterfly pea flower.
Coconuts are prevalent and cheap. I'm always up for getting coconut water, sometimes served in the shell of a young coconut. Other creative ways to enjoy coconut include coconut ice cream in a coconut (so good!).
Even if you can't make it to Cicada Night Market (which only opens on weekends), there are many other night markets all around Thailand. Even when we were in Bangkok, we stumbled upon areas that were lively and full of street stalls selling all sorts of fresh fruit, grilled meats, coconuts, mango sticky rice, and much, much more.
In general, Thailand truly shines when it comes to casual, street food. Fresh fruit and herbs are abundant, fresh, and cheap in Thailand. Plus, many street vendors only make one thing, and they have perfected it.
To learn more about street food in Bangkok, check out these posts that I wrote a few years ago when I went on a very cool walking food tour of Bangkok (and sought out some famous casual spots!).
Street Foods of Bangkok Part I
Street Foods of Bangkok Part II
Raan Jay Fai - 1 Michelin Star street food
Thip Samai - Best Pad Thai
Thailand Posts
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