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Who could resist a Thai mama on the sidewalk selling undefinable mash
and soup served in plastic bags? I surely cannot – fortunately, for the
plastic bag stew turned out to be one of our favorites. It’s
worth 20 Baht in any case. Excited about the look of it we spontanely
decide to call it “crass stuff”. Happy about our discovery we walk on,
hoping that the boiling hot bag might soon reach eating temperature.

Crass stuff stall, Bangkok

Under a homely street bridge we soon find a place to sit
and decide that it is about time. Astonishingly the bag keeps its form
when I open it and grab inside to get a piece of zucchini out. First I
think of Ratatouille in Thai but the green stuff is much more liquid
and even the zucchini is hot as hell. Stefan tries it and spills some
of the soup on the ground. A group of young Thais who seem to just
hang out at the opposite street corner yet look highly important at
that is royally amused about our show. Finally one of them makes his
way through the blustering traffic that is surrounding us.  As he
closely inspects our bag, he nods approvingly. Of course he does not
speak one word of English.

Eating crass stuff from a plastic bag

With friendly gestures he beckons us to follow him across the road and
a breakneck plank across a sewage canal to a snack stand with a little
table. After speaking a few words with the owner he brings us one soup
plate and two spoons, pointing to a barrel of water with a cup on
it. We do not know yet that we’ll be in dire need of that soon, for
“crass stuff” turns out to be the hottest thing both of us have ever
eaten. Put on the plate, some tasty surprises arise out of the green
soup: Besides kilos of thai chilli of course, there now are some root
crops and chunks of mackerel-like fish from the dump the locals like
to call a river.

A plate of crass stuff

During the last bites my face begins to itch more and more, my mouth is
burning like hellfire and I am getting dizzy. Stefan says my head
looks like a red balloon.

Balloon face after eating crass stuff

Time for some water and something sweet. We had added some seasoning
to most other soups we ate in this country but this one really beat
us. As tasty as “crass stuff” might be – and tasty it really was -
never use without the necessary safety measures, such as something to
eat afterwards and extensive training in eating hot stuff! We kindly
say goodbye to the locals and continue on our way in pain.

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Who could resist a Thai mama on the sidewalk selling undefinable mash and soup served in plastic bags? I surely cannot – fortunately, for the plastic bag stew turned out...