A relationship that has blossomed over the decades with ne're a hint of regress or boredom. Yes, the street food named bamee-kiew is my secret culinary mistress and always will be. For those who are new in town or just haven't assimilated too well, this street food dish of yellow noodles, with slices of red pork in a soup is going to save your stomach many times.
Chysee bamee-kiew is the biggest franchise; the yellow sign is a beacon of civilization and is sometimes as frequent as 7/11. At 30 to 50 baht a pop, it is a pillar of Thai society. The never changing cheap blue or pink plastic bowls (Toaye), the used degraded chopsticks (Ta Kiab), metal soup spoons (Shorn) and the free water with ice. It is so simple in every conceivable manner and even for a foreigner to these lands, it is nostalgic and homely already.
Some say you can build a picture of ones personality by how they eat their bamee-kiew. Do they go for the special with pork dumplings (Bamee-Geaw) or just get extra pork (Moo Daeng). Do they enjoy the bits of pork fat lurking in the soup and to what extent do they infuse their soup with the 4 princes of condiments, chili flakes (prick pon), fish oil (nam pla), crushed peanuts (tour pon) and sugar (nam tarn). The only faux pas is to leave the chopsticks pointed into the soup, they must always be placed horizontally across the bowl during and after. Resting the chopsticks (Ta Kiab) pointed into the soup bares some resemblance to the incense sticks (Toop) you use when making a prayer to Buddha; this is therefore considered bad luck or unsacred if you will.
Over the years I have witnessed various amalgamations of Bamee-kiew, some vendors add the red pork sauce in with the noodles, some add a hint of garlic and some give an additional option of crispy ended pork fat. Much to my behest, I now find the small bits of pork fat are not added. As someone who hails from the island of Great Britain, I find crispy pork fat, or heart attack in a bag as we call it, particularly sumptuous. In the United Kingdom we are particularly fond of this snack when drinking at a pub, we call it pork scratching's.
The left is a home delivery bamee-kiew, who insists that Bamee-kiew must be both red pork and crispy pork fat. To the right is your typical street side experience. this vendors niche was to add some boiled radish. As you can see I partake in adding as much spice as I can take without killing myself, as you do.
So what negativity can be labeled upon this truly satisfying meeting of ingredients? none! when all is lost, when you are done with a hard days work which has tested your belief in the very boundaries and fabric of our society; there, in the distance, a yellow sign beams at you through the dark, a warm flush rushes through your body, a tingling in your toes and sweat upon your brow, all is forgotten; bamee-kiew neung krap