Is street food good for you? Old rancid oil. Cheap oil. Food dripping with oil.

[KhunLA]

Except for the Canola, the Olive (EV), Coconut & Peanut are cold pressed/first pressed.  Not refined at all, I think, or simply the minimum.  Sure they get some kind of processing, but have most of their nutrients before the rest get ultra processed.

 

Beef Tallow or butter for cooking proteins.

Edited September 30 by KhunLA

[retarius]

4 hours ago, ronster said:

Probably equal to McDonald's , KFC , burger king etc .

The oil they mostly use is horrible and that's why I don't eat a lot of street food , as hours later you still get a horrible aftertaste in your mouth . I only use sunflower oil or olive oil if I'm cooking at home .

Obviously some places hygiene standards are non existent and what they put in som tam in some cases smells like a rotting corpse . But otherwise I have never been ill after eating Thai street food , only time I have been sick after eating was from KFC ! 

I won't eat that <deleted>e either

[retarius]

6 hours ago, connda said:

Is street food good for you? Old rancid oil. Cheap oil. Food dripping with oil.

 

What I see here is Westerner cultural superiority.  Westerners are freaking clean freaks.  In 17 years here I have seen all the tropes, exaggerations, and outright falsehoods about "Thai street food."  This is reflective of Westerners who come here already prejudging something that isn't part and parcel of their own culture - well, outside of perhaps food stalls you can find a fairs.
Ultra-clean Farang Fred:  "Unlike Thailand we have whole branches of our excessively large, nanny-state government dedicated to inspecting food establishments, especially "ify" food stalls at fairs."
Exactly!  One of the things I like about Thailand is that it doesn't have a nanny-state government monstrosity getting into everyone's business.  Kids can't even open a freaking lemonade stand in the West.

I've lived in Bangkok, Korat, and Chiang Mai and have often eaten Thai street food as well as getting to know the vendors who prepare the food.  Yeah - that does require you to have immersed into both the culture and the language of Thailand 👈 something most Westerners who lock themselves in gated communities and who associate primarily with their fellow farangs can never grasp.  I personally have lived IN Thai communities since I got here in 2007 and made an effort to learn the language and to assimilate the best I can into the culture. 

So I find that the topic of "Thai street food" just brings out the worst of Western Cultural Chauvinism. 
"It's dirty!
"It's greasy, cockroach laden trash!!"
"You'll get food poisoning!!!"

Hate to burst ya'll's ethnocentric bubbles, but the street food I've eaten is fresh, delicious, and generally prepared one order at a time right in front of you if you take the time to watch the process and interact with the staff.  Like any brick&mortar establishment (where you can't see the staff prepare the food), on occasion you'll find a place where the food sucks.  But those are the exceptions and not the rule.  And, oh!  I have had food poisoning in Thailand twice!!!  👉 Both times after eating at international fast food restaurants (I avoid those place like the plague now - can't name them due to Thai defamation laws). 

Denigrating "Thai street food" is just more Thai-bashing by Westerners who come to Thailand with bad case of Ethnic Egotism:  Western food clean; Thai street food dirty.  Most probably don't eat Thai street food because they already harbor the preconceived notion that it's unfit for human consumption.  That's ok, go back to your clean gated communities and eat clean food from Michelin 5 star restaurants and wallow in your Western ethnic snobbery.  Eating "Thai street food" is obviously beneath your social status.
"Dirty food for dirty people!  Grrrrr!"

Yes not is beneath meat to eat the crap from the street....it's dirt and taste that I can't abide. If you are too poor to eat decent food, go ahead eat that vile brew that would be closed down in a second in US or Uk for hygiene violations. 

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, CLW said:

Do you realize that not all streetfood is fried or dripping in oil ? 

What about those rice with topping restaurants or noodle soup of any kind?

Yes, fresh fruits peeled & cut in front of you.  BBQ every thing, hot off the grill.  Roast chicken in big clay pots.  Even fried chicken, if I see the oil isn't black.  Steamed Bao bun and such.

 

Common sense and choosing wisely goes a long way.

[KhunLA]

don't want to go too far off, but here's a break down of oils & the fats ...

Edited September 30 by KhunLA

[1FinickyOne]

4 hours ago, Gobbler said:

I make a delicious steak. 

What time?

[Gobbler]

3 x a day

[Fortunateson]

4 hours ago, Gobbler said:

I hope you deboned the chicken. 

Yes

 

[harryviking]

LOL! I consider Thai food NOT healthy at all. They poor in sugar and MSG plus the oil used is not always fresh and might be of a kind, so-called vegetable oils, that you should NEVER put in your mouth! I will however mention that I do sometime buy BBQ chickens and similar and have never ever been sick or had any problem with it. Most street food is as good as the one you make yourself. Street vendors do put their pride in making good and safe food. I just do not agree with things they add! Without it the food might even be considered healthy! 🙄😏

[thecyclist]

8 hours ago, Gobbler said:

I have repeatedly asked my girlfriend to stop buying oil-soaked food.  She brought back badly fried food last night. The oil smells off.  I used several paper towels to soak up the oil. 

 

It isn't coconut oil. It's not olive oil.  It's crap vegetable oil. 

 

There are no vegetables in the oil. 

Palm oil is what they usually use.Very cheap but bad for your heart. 

[Gobbler]

2 hours ago, Fortunateson said:

Yes

 

Try to convince a Thai it isn't ok to give a dog cooked chicken. I finally got the GF to stop giving a dog chicken bones.

[Gobbler]

All the people who voted that the street food oil is good for you must have had too much bad oil. 

[Sandboxer]

Just now, Gobbler said:

And many food trucks are gourmet.  Do you have anything that gives statistics to back up your assertion?

 

Yes, many are gourmet. Two things can be true at the same time.

 

My source is my life experience growing up in an ethnic urban ghetto around quite a lot of food service operators and how they "took care" of health inspectors. This was in South Central LA and Westwood.

[Gobbler]

Just now, Sandboxer said:

 

Yes, many are gourmet. Two things can be true at the same time.

 

My source is my life experience growing up in an ethnic urban ghetto around quite a lot of food service operators and how they "took care" of health inspectors. This was in South Central LA and Westwood.

What's your point? Do you live in the USA? I don't.  

 

Your sentences above make no sense. Have you been eating too much bad oil?

[Sandboxer]

1 minute ago, still kicking said:

That's what happens when you live in a banana republic I travel to LOS  twice a year and every time I eat street food I end up on the toilet for 1 week. 

 

You should visit Manila and try some pag pag.

 

 

[Gobbler]

2 minutes ago, still kicking said:

That's what happens when you live in a banana republic I travel to LOS  twice a year and every time I eat street food I end up on the toilet for 1 week. 

You're not making sense, either. 

[Gobbler]

Just now, Sandboxer said:

 

You should visit Manila and try some pag pag.

 

 

After all that I've written, why would try this?

[still kicking]

Just now, Gobbler said:

You're not making sense, either. 

Let me say that again every time I am in Thailand and eat street food  I end up getting diarrhea. 

[Gobbler]

1 minute ago, still kicking said:

Let me say that again every time I am in Thailand and eat street food  I end up getting diarrhea. 

Too much info. 

[still kicking]

1 minute ago, Gobbler said:

Too much info. 

You asks for it.

[KhunLA]

21 minutes ago, still kicking said:

That's what happens when you live in a banana republic I travel to LOS  twice a year and every time I eat street food I end up on the toilet for 1 week. 

You might want to choose something different to eat when selecting.  I've yet to have any issue eating Thai street food.  

[still kicking]

9 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

You might want to choose something different to eat when selecting.  I've yet to have any issue eating Thai street food.  

Not only street food, went to an Swiss restaurant  got sick as well and an Italian restaurant same thing happen. 

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, still kicking said:

Not only street food, went to an Swiss restaurant  got sick as well and an Italian restaurant same thing happen. 

Choose better vendors also ...  

 

24 yrs here, and surprisingly only twice, had problem from restaurants, and very popular ones.   One was a fried chicken breast, and damn raw in the center.  Went back to my room & puked.  

 

Another was a buffet, so not too surprising, although I was being careful.  Saw them bring something out from the kitchen, restocked on item, so I thought it was freshly cooked ... oops.   As soon as I bit into it, it was barely warm ... oh crap ... got back home, and same, puked shortly after arriving.

 

Actually not bad, as careful as I try to be, 6 beers to the wind, and I've eaten some suspect food.   Maybe the alcohol killed the bacteria 

[Gobbler]

13 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Choose better vendors also ...  

 

24 yrs here, and surprisingly only twice, had problem from restaurants, and very popular ones.   One was a fried chicken breast, and damn raw in the center.  Went back to my room & puked.  

 

Another was a buffet, so not too surprising, although I was being careful.  Saw them bring something out from the kitchen, restocked on item, so I thought it was freshly cooked ... oops.   As soon as I bit into it, it was barely warm ... oh crap ... got back home, and same, puked shortly after arriving.

 

Actually not bad, as careful as I try to be, 6 beers to the wind, and I've eaten some suspect food.   Maybe the alcohol killed the bacteria 

This is not about what makes you sick in a few hours. It's about eating bad oil and what it has done to you over the years. 

[Mark Nothing]

I would recommend avoiding street food.  After about 5 food poisoning episodes from street food vendors, I quit eating it.

 

I used to watch the vendors load up unsold foods and raw meats into the back of their pickups at 1 am and likely let it sit unrefrigerated until the next day and try to sell it again.

 

I would also be more concerned about rats and birds eating off the dirty plates and pooping in the soapy water after gorging.  Many times my food tasted of dish soap as the vendor didn't bother to rinse plates adequately between customers.  

 

 

[KhunLA]

41 minutes ago, Gobbler said:

This is not about what makes you sick in a few hours. It's about eating bad oil and what it has done to you over the years. 

And yet, the first sentence is ...

... "Is street food good for you?"

 

With text of OP of ...

... "Do you think fried street food is healthy? "

 

With poll asking ...

... "1. Is fried street food healthy?"

 

If you didn't want any commentary to go with  it, explaining why so, or what to  do or don't eat or do, along with consequence of eating, then next post and poll, you might just add ...

 

... just answer "yes or no"  and move along.   

 

Don't worry, I'll avoid your future post, as not wanting to give anyone an opinion, or information that might be helpful.   Strange how that happens in discussions on forums.

Edited September 30 by KhunLA

[Gobbler]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

And yet, the first sentence is ...

... "Is street food good for you?"

 

With text of OP of ...

... "Do you think fried street food is healthy? "

 

With poll asking ...

... "1. Is fried street food healthy?"

 

If you didn't want any commentary to go with, explaining why so do or don't think it is, or consequence of eating, then next post and poll, you might just add ..

 

... just answer "yes or no"  and move along.   

 

Don't worry, I'll avoid your future post, as not wanting to give anyone an opinion, or information that might be helpful.   Strange how that happens in discussions on forums.

So read the next sentence. Don't play semantics with me.  Read the whole damn thing.  The picayune crap that gets played by some of you is more than annoying. 

Start your own thread and place words in any order you want. 

 

Pettiness disgusts me. 

[KhunLA]

3 minutes ago, Gobbler said:

 The picayune crap that gets played by some of you is more than annoying. 

Pettiness disgusts me. 

Would you prefer to be the pot or the kettle ... 

[Gobbler]

18 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Would you prefer to be the pot or the kettle ... 

I'll make it easier for only you.  You bring up food poisoning.  This thread is about the long-term effects of oil and whether it is dirty. It is.

[spidermike007]

At some of the local night markets I see grilled fish which is quite healthy, and barbecued chicken which is probably fairly healthy. I think one just needs to be particular, obviously the stuff fried in toxic old oil is not going to do your liver much good. There's a lot of great fresh fruit on the streets, fresh juices and things of that nature.