Spicy Noodles—Unforgettable Street Food in Pattaya, Thailand

The street vendor with his cart full of ingredients.

Thailand is well-known not only for its red-light districts and shopping centers, but also for its street food. When I stayed in Pattaya for two weeks in August of this year, I almost went crazy sampling one street food after another. One of my favorites is this spicy noodles made by a vendor right across our hotel.

This vendor unfortunately didn’t speak English, so I didn’t know what the noodle dish was called. His cart was full of raw ingredients, from shrimps and squid, to several vegetables and other stuff I couldn’t identify (but which I found delicious!).

The ingredients were all cooked in boiling water for a few minutes.

He asked me to choose which of the ingredients to cook, dumped them for a few minutes in boiling water, then cooked the glass noodles as well for a few minutes.

After everything was cooked, he put it in styrofoam, asked me how much chili I wanted, and off I went with it to the hotel. I shared it a bit with my officemate but she found it too spicy. I absolutely loved the dish; I just wish I’d found someone who (1) knew what it was and (2) spoke English.