Thai Ice Cream on a Hot Dog Bun in Bangkok, Thailand

Of all the thousands of pictures I want to share with you, this the first one I picked as it’s stayed in my mind since the day we came back from our trip to Thailand.

We were wandering the crazily intense and crowded backstreets of Chinatown in Bangkok. It felt like being in Las Vegas (flashing lights, various pings and dings from the mountains of brightly colored plastic toys lining the narrow alleys and dimly lit passageways leading to a maze of other stalls and alleys), combined with being in a stadium (people shoulder to shoulder, scarce centimeters between you and the person in front and behind, and advancing only a few inches at a time).

After spending about an hour in the alleyways, we exited to one of the bigger main streets, where the push carts of the food sellers could maneuver easier and slightly more breathing room was allowed.

Then I saw a boy walk by with a bun full of what looked like creamy ice cream. The first thing that I thought was of my beloved “Gelato in a Brioche” – ala Siciliano. I stopped the boy and communicated through a few words and gestures that I wanted a picture. The ice cream was piled on top of a hot dog bun that had been split down the middle. The sprinkle of peanuts on top did me in.

I would have gotten one myself, but at that moment we were urgently searching for something savory, so I filed it away to try later.

Would you take a bite?

More on Thai ice cream in a bun: Lee Zalben (from the Peanut Butter & Co.) calls it the portable sundae – Serious Eats