I have noticed that a lot of the food I eat here seems to come with black flakes in it.

Like small flecks of charcoal off a burnt wok/pan... yuk!

So much so, that the pad thai I had a couple of days ago, and was covered in them, was very unappetising! And the Tom Kha I had today had black bits floating throughout, was also pretty gross. These were both at decent restaurants, and haven't been the only times...

Is it because the woks are not cleaned properly? Or is it a natural by product of using a wok? I think I read somewhere that eating burnt 'stuff' was 'supposed' to be bad for you (cancer causing)? Though, I've never noticed the same bits in, say, Chinese food...

Has anyone else noticed them?

Any thoughts on the cause?

I have noticed that a lot of the food I eat here seems to come with black flakes in it.

Like small flecks of charcoal off a burnt wok/pan... yuk!

So much so, that the pad thai I had a couple of days ago, and was covered in them, was very unappetising! And the Tom Kha I had today had black bits floating throughout, was also pretty gross. These were both at decent restaurants, and haven't been the only times...

Is it because the woks are not cleaned properly? Or is it a natural by product of using a wok? I think I read somewhere that eating burnt 'stuff' was 'supposed' to be bad for you (cancer causing)? Though, I've never noticed the same bits in, say, Chinese food...

Has anyone else noticed them?

Any thoughts on the cause?

Never had that in any of my food i can only think it might be the quality of the WOK i remember using one when I lived in Central America and the teflon came off when cooking s they loved to use a metal spoon when cooking which of course scratched the teflon off and into the food

My guess: Parts of burnt insects which always get in the wok at these less-than-pristine restaurants in LOS. The violent action of the stir-fry process whacks 'em up, and you just get to see the black pieces at the end of the road. As the Thais see it--just adds to your protein intake.

A more appetizing possibility is that the minced (sometimes ground) garlic and chili peppers which figure prominently in just about all Thai dishes tend to break up and carbonize (read: burn) sooner than the other ingredients--producing black flakes in the dish.

Pick your story according to the strength of your stomach. In reality, probably a little bit of both are true.

Might simply be pepper

I think it is a part of chilly's skin from (over-cook) roasted/fried chilli powder/paste

(Fried dry chillis before grinding)

I live by the moto

" when in doubt toss it out"

Maybe Truffle ?

Most of the time it's the dry skin of garlic that burns easily, or like Bambina said, Thai Chillies.

Most of the time it's the dry skin of garlic that burns easily, or like Bambina said, Thai Chillies.

Agreed.

Also a bit of onion skin or possibly flakes of dandruff. Dried scabs from oft' picked sores. Slivvers of nail, bitten but not chewed.

Ah..... gastronomy.

I found a long dark flake in my ice cream the other day. Tasted a bit like chocalate.

Do they move

My vote says "intergrated corn flakes"

I think they simply just haven't cleaned their wok properly.

Brings back to memory a story I heard when "moo krataa" was becoming very popular.

Someone told me that in one place, one of their employees had a very diligent day and decided some bleach and toilet cleaner would get everything sparkling clean. Unfortunately not enough rinsing and a whole load of people came down sick the next day!

So maybe those black flakes are not so bad after all!