Monday 8 June 2009

A tribute to the pancake man

Thailand is a wonderful place to live for a great many reasons - the weather, the low cost of living, the women, the smiles, the food...the list goes on and is well know to many.

A new one to add to the list is the pancake man.

First spotted cycling around the neighbour with his portable kitchen, honking his horn in the darkness of the night, our local pancake man is fast approaching the status of living legend in the Russell-Piankaew household.

Yes, you heard right, freshly made pancakes are practically delivered to our door.

I think part of his legacy is the mystery behind the man. Not one for conversation, he speaks neither Thai nor English and is incredibly timid although we've established he is from Myanmar.

Back to the important part, his pancakes are a delicious bargain at 9 baht (around 20p) each made fresh on the peddle-kitchen, smothered in sugar and butter.  

Mr Pancake Man, I salute you and your sinfully sweet goodies.

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There are, of course, more issues behind our beloved pancake man than just the deserts he sells.

As a immigrant from Burma, he is unlikely to be short of a tale or two and is probably living and working in the country illegally. Hopefully he is aware that, as recently posted, the Thai government has arranged an amnesty on illegal stayers until early next year.

8 comments:

Western Observer said...

It's hard to imagine a more calorie-laden snack but they are seriously tasty - particularly the banana ones.

The Frogblogger said...

Love the banana ones, though they are filling, I can't eat anything else for a couple of hours. Quite a few seem to be made/sold by Thai Muslims up Chiang Mai way, don't know if that's pure coincidence.

Mike said...

Hi Jon, coconut are my favourite. Nice little stall in Prachuap.

Too much sugar for my liking but nice for an occasional treat.

Second only to khao lam.

expatudon08 said...

the banana ones are the dogs bollocks
i have nearly made myself sick eating them after beer god i could eat one know

Jon said...

Apologies for the late response, been occupied eating pancakes/working ;)

WO, thanks for stopping by, love your blog. Will have to try the banana variety, just have plain old cholesterol busting cream and sugar here.

Hi Pete, gotta agree they are so filing. Locals call them 'rotis' (like the Indian bread) but not sure if it is specifically a Muslim delicacy or not - a reason to consume more perhaps?

Ah Mike, glad you mention Khao Lam, there's another of my fave deserts. I'm always surprised that much is known of Thai main course but relatively little of the deserts which can be equally as tasty - although some are just sickly sweet.

Expatudon, pancakes post beer?! I'll be avoiding that one then...

Martyn said...

I only recently discovered these tasty treats in Thailand and I'm hooked as they taste even better than the English version. In Wilai's village they call them Lo dtee(hope I spelt that right)and they are about the same 9 baht price mark. I haven't tried the banana ones but Wilai loves them.

Jon said...

That's the one Martyn, Roti (as in the Indian bread) by of course pronounced with a 'L' as you say.

A little research shows that they did, in fact, originate in India just like the roti breads us Brits eat with our curries. As is typical in Thailand it has been adapted to become thr outrageously sweet snack responsible for my rapidly expanding waist.

john said...

god reading this as made me really hungry i could eat my favourite a gulab jaman Indian sweet i walked past a place selling today