Comments on: Asian fast food artistry

Asian fast food artistry

nickyskye — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:20:41 -0800

Fast food in South India is fast | in Thailand iced tea is really cool | in Sri Lanka tea is cooled with dramatic effect | in Delhi the bread is made fast too | in Calcutta it puffs up magically | tea serenely | singly | or two at a time | in China tea is served with a long spout, acrobatically.

One more paratha flinger. And another. Another tea vendor in India Roomali (tissue) roti (bread) spinning Many ingredients Banana roti in Thailand. How the tandoori oven looks Roomali roti (tissue bread). How it looks when cooked. How to make Roomali (Handkerchief or tissue) roti (bread). Another Thai tea master How to make India tea, spicey tea - masala chai.

By: Earl the Polliwog

Earl the Polliwog — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:24:32 -0800

ASMR triggers all up in here, at least for some of the affected. This is very cool.

By: vidur

vidur — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:32:54 -0800

All I can say about making tea is that no matter how you are doing it, you are doing it wrong. The only right way to make tea is to make it my way.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:34:14 -0800

Nicky baby, I love ya. Thai ice teas on me.

By: defenestration

defenestration — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:42:22 -0800

I love the theatrics. I had seen the first video, but not the others. Thanks, nickyskye!

By: Runes

Runes — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:44:41 -0800

Ah, Indian street food. Despite all the dire warnings of how sick you'll get, it tastes sooo good. We always called that ordering a yard of tea, btw.

By: villanelles at dawn

villanelles at dawn — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:46:16 -0800

This is terrific. There should absolutely be a television channel devoted to unnarrated videos of street food vendors; and the first episode should feature the genius/art/magician behind my favorite kati rolls in Calcutta.

By: rmhsinc

rmhsinc — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:01:18 -0800

Thanks for the interesting post and the effort to out it together. After 700 plus posts on sexism, feminism, chauvinism, (un)civility, unspoken expectations, shifting cultural streams, sexual imposition/intimidation, subjective expectations and........... This was a most welcome relief. Perfect timing and I just had an iced tea.

By: rmhsinc

rmhsinc — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:02:33 -0800

"put" not "out"--to much iced tea I guess

By: sawdustbear

sawdustbear — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:02:59 -0800

oh, oh, and malaysian teh tarik!

By: MillMan

MillMan — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:25:18 -0800

ahhhhhhhh I would kill for some Indian street food right now.

By: rebent

rebent — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:26:38 -0800

AHHHHHHH WHY IS THIS FOOD NOT COOKED ON MY STREET?!?!?!?!?!?! MOVING ASAP wait.... does street food make you sick?

By: pravit

pravit — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:41:14 -0800

Awesome. Another feat I remember are the "hoy tod"(mussel omelette) makers in Thailand - they'd have this big flat griddle and throw an egg onto it, and it would break with the contents spilling out right onto the griddle and the shell would keep flying and land in a trashcan on other side. Wish I could find a video.

By: -jf-

-jf- — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:43:29 -0800

Pocorn in China. The second one sets off car alarms.

By: Forktine

Forktine — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 18:45:11 -0800

How many of those paratha things would you have to make before you had the muscle memory down that solid and could throw them without looking? If there was an NBA of street food, that guy would be a star. does street food make you sick? Nope. People tell lies about it being dangerous, but that's because they are greedy and want it all for themselves. Don't believe a word of it.

By: likeso

likeso — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:12:13 -0800

Yup, head tingles. And yeah, imagine the hours/days/weeks/years necessary to get that practised. The acrobatic Chinese tea pourer not spilling a drop, or the tea vendor in India, constantly dipping a cup with no handle into the hot milk and not burning himself. Nickyskye, very cool.

By: rebent

rebent — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 19:23:51 -0800

ug. After watching these video, I thought that I could smell delicious food cooking. My imagination, probably! dammit

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:15:52 -0800

*spicy tea pravit, you had me curious about Thai omelettes. Came across this vid: surprisingly bubbly. Never thought to use lime juice in an omelette. Must try that!

By: scruss

scruss — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:08:27 -0800

That Roomali roti guy's good, but nowhere near as good as the kid in my local Tamil takeout used to be. He'd flip one of these so big that he'd have to cock his head just so, so he wouldn't get beaned by flying dough. Takeout food hasn't been as good since a whole bunch of the Tamil community decamped north and east to Steeles and Rouge Valley. Too far to travel for a $4 kotthu roti.

By: Lovecraft In Brooklyn

Lovecraft In Brooklyn — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:22:11 -0800

Has bubble tea/pearl tea hit America yet? I love it.

By: funkiwan

funkiwan — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:24:56 -0800

This is like the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon of food prep. So awesome.

By: Kutsuwamushi

Kutsuwamushi — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:56:55 -0800

Bubble tea and pearl tea have been in both of my Midwestern college towns for years. You can get both, but if you order "bubble tea" you'll get pearl tea, and so you have to figure out what the actual foamy drink is called if that's what you want. (And it's not served as widely as pearl tea.) Bubble tea is actually pretty easy to make at home, too.

By: caaaaaam

caaaaaam — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:57:22 -0800

Thanks, this is really satisfying! Some other fun things to watch being made: takoyaki and hand-pulled noodles

By: -jf-

-jf- — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:30:15 -0800

Nice. The hand-pulled noodles video reminds me of this one, which I had completely forgotten about. It's basically the same thing, but with Alton Brown narrating. And looking up that one led me to this one, where Gordon Ramsay tries to learn how to do it.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:37:30 -0800

Wow caaaaaam, that takoyaki is amazing. How the hell did they make such evenly round balls from that glutenous mush, and with chopsticks?! Serious poking to get it cooked all the way through. My heart sank when one fell into the fire. But then I looked it up and it's made of -oh no- unicorns of the sea, my dear cephalopods. And baby ones too. Aww nooo. Beautifully made though. Love the hand pulled noodles.

By: gomichild

gomichild — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 23:48:29 -0800

Takoyaki is awesome to make at home - and I've also made it with prawns (you could even get away with a cube of chicken or tofu in the centre).

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 02:34:47 -0800

Korean Honey Candy

By: monocultured

monocultured — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:08:59 -0800

Psscht, I can make that takoyaki only in reverse, using only my mouth. seriously though, I'm getting me some glutenous flour and practice nudles!

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:37:27 -0800

I live in Indiana. These are like videos from the Delta Quadrant. Thank you!

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 05:04:31 -0800

Fantastic post! And I think Turkish ice cream definitely fits here as well.

By: underthehat

underthehat — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 06:19:30 -0800

Rojak Man has cleaver skills and loves Venga Boys.

By: zennie

zennie — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:37:15 -0800

Great thread. Reminds me to be less jaded about all the silly, yummy, awesome things out there.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:57:48 -0800

*Googles Delta Quadrant. Ahhh. Dear Thorzdad the world is way stranger than fiction. Oooh, love the additions to the thread! I was hoping for ones I'd never seen or heard of before. That Rojak man is awesome. PeterMcDermott, even though I already did a post, called Dragon Whiskers, about that marvelous street magic, Korean Honey Candy, your video is one I hadn't seen and is doubly delightful! Thanks all for making it a funner thread.

By: paperpete

paperpete — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:03:13 -0800

Well, that post just made my night. Really. Thankyou. :o)

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:10:23 -0800

does street food make you sick? Interestingly, I've heard that in a lot of countries (India included) street food is actually safer, because it's made out in the open, whereas restaurant food is made in the kitchen where you don't get to see what goes on and what basic hygiene methods are ignored.

By: brieche

brieche — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:54:47 -0800

Mochi-making (same vendor, different angles, all fun): one, two, three. Now with three people!

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:27:48 -0800

Great post. Thanks, nickyskye!

By: villanelles at dawn

villanelles at dawn — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:33:55 -0800

I've heard that in a lot of countries (India included) street food is actually safer, I spent four months in India and the only street food I avoided was panipuri. I was sick twice, both times from restaurants.

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:49:59 -0800

Why avoid panipuri, out of curiosity?

By: villanelles at dawn

villanelles at dawn — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:33:27 -0800

The water. Dont know if I was right to skip it, but it was really the only thing I didnt eat.