Through a Chef’s Eye
A romatic streets … steel gray wisps of smoke drift lazily through the air, chilies dance in red-hot woks. The unmistakable smell of fresh curry paste fills my nose, with the euphoric scent of Thai herbs and spices. Sugarcane grinds noisily through a type of hand-cranked juicer. Hot-humid night air clings to my skin. Locals chatter an unknown, yet beautiful language all around me. Everyone is scurrying about, eating, drinking, laughing, cooking. Young children run to and fro, weaving through the stalls. The sizzle of pork-stuffed squid hitting the grill pulls me out of my reverie. I refocus on the task at hand, which is…eating everything in sight.I have waited my whole adult life and traveled twenty-four hours and almost nine thousand miles to be here. I am in Bangkok at the Khoa San Road night market, and from pad thai to dried bugs, I am eager to sample it all. If they sell it from a street cart, I will eat it.
I quickly purchase one of the squids (for twenty cents) straight from the grill and let my palate take over. The squid is stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, curry paste, Thai basil and eggplant before landing on the blazing charcoal-fueled grill. The combination of the rich pork, delicate squid, spicy curry paste and hints of smoke from the grill make these morsels truly addictive. Served with a perfectly balanced nuoc cham (thai dipping sauce), this takes calamari to a whole new level that I did not know even existed. I step over to where the sugarcane is being juiced and buy a glass of fresh watermelon and cane juice. On a hot summer night you could not ask for a more refreshing drink.