LegendaryLife Blog

If you travel anywhere in Asia, you will see entire open air centers filled with street merchants selling everything from tea to noodle, beef to steamed vegetables and all of it tastes great! When I was in Malaysia, I would eat my breakfast, lunch, super and snacks mostly from street vendors. I remember I could eat my fill (I eat a lot) for the equivalent of about one dollar Canadian, at these prices, why bother going to the grocery store and preparing your own meal?

Be careful though

Sanitation at these places does take a back seat though, I can say I never got the stomach flu or food poisoning considering I was surrounded by begging stray cats and dogs that looked abused full of scars. I avoided any type of foods that where sitting for any extended period of time, instead, going for the freshly prepared meals that, although I had to wait, where probably the safest thing around. Drinking cups where basically rinsed with water before being given to another customer, never saw any soap being used but when your in the middle of nowhere, food is more important then sanitation. Sure, I could have eaten at restaurants, and I did do a lot of that, but nothing tasted as good nor was as cheap as hocker centers.

Tips to avoid sickness

Always have the street vendor cook a fresh meal in front of you, anything sitting for any extended period of time is a time bomb waiting to explode in your stomach. If you are in doubt, stick to dry foods as they tend to have lots of salt in them to kill off bacteria. Always follow your instincts, if you believe something isn’t good for you then, well, don’t buy it! Also, don’t return food if you don’t like it as it may insult the street vendor and you aren’t getting a refund anyways. You will most likely see the same group of street vendors, and they do talk to one another, if you becoming a pain, expect to have some extras in your food to keep you away in the future or to teach you a lesson. I also never drank water, stick to either unsealed bottled water, hot tea or a soft drink (at last resort). In the third world, drinking tap water from any source is asking for trouble. To be honest, I never washed my hands before eating at these places, I always figured that no matter how dirty my hands get, at least I know where those germs are from relative to a shared bucket of water or communal water source from the ground with the only exception being if I shook hands with somebody earlier in the day.

Tips to gain you extras with street vendors

Sure, a street vendor may charge you 1RM for a super, when he asks for the money (usually upfront), give them a bit extra… not only will they be surprised but you can be sure you will get extra special treatment the next time you visit them along with an extra large helping. To you, an extra 20-50% above the local price is pennies on the dollar but to some of these vendors, it can mean a profit at the end of the night or extra food for their family back home. This also works well in Mexico and in Japan by the way.

The Bottom Line

Street vendors are entrepreneurs just like magazine barons or real estate developers, treat them with the same amount of respect and it will go a long way towards making your meal in a far off destination that much better.