How to Eat Street Food Anywhere in the World Without Getting Sick
Street food is one of the best ways to experience the culture of a country. While these makeshift counters may seem risky, street food is often just as safe, if not safer, than restaurants. Ask any seasoned adventurer. However, there are a few basic rules you should know to avoid any problems.
Explore regular street food before you go.
Before heading out on your next big trip, check out what street foods can be found at your destination. This can be dürüm in Istanbul, pork satay in Bangkok, choripan in Buenos Aires, or egg waffles in Hong Kong. Wherever you go, they have specialties that you should learn about.
Once you know what they are, use travel sites like Lonely Planet , Fodor’s , TripAdvisor , and personal travel blogs to find where to find them, look for kiosk-specific recommendations if possible, and make sure you know. what they should be looking at. how. If you’re worried about how you will handle food in a place you’ve never been, try training your culinary taste on the home front. Visit several local restaurants serving authentic cuisine.
If you have food allergies, it is also recommended that you look for ingredients for popular foods before leaving. You can also print specific allergy and food flashcards on sites such as Select Wisely and Allergy Translation . Jody Ettenberg’s Gluten Free Restaurant Cards from Legal Nomad are especially beneficial and safe for those with gluten allergies. Image-based translation books like Point It can help too.
Eat when the locals eat
You may know what you want to eat, but you also need to know when to eat. People all over the world eat at different times. Here in the USA, lunch usually takes place around noon. But in some countries, lunch is not served until late at night, for example, in Spain at 14:00 or much earlier, for example, at 11:00 in many Asian countries.
Be on their schedule so you know the food you order is freshly prepared and hasn’t sat out bacteria growth for several hours. You should be able to watch them prepare your food right here and now.
Look for busy queues
The best way to find the best street food is to ask locals for recommendations. However, you may not know the locals or feel comfortable asking them in your poorly trained language. When in doubt, always go where the lines are longest.
Why? The locals know what the matter is. They know the cleanest places with the tastiest deals. Waiting in line sucks, but it’s better than getting stuck in the toilet for two days out of impatience. World traveler Jody Ettenberg says it’s nice to see who’s in those lines too. A parking lot with elderly people, women and children queuing up is a good sign.
Explore open kitchens
Street food counters usually prepare everything outdoors. Smells on the streets are a great way to attract customers, but they also give you the opportunity to watch the process and make sure everything is in order.
Beware of people who handle money and then touch food with their bare hands, people who cook with old dirty dishes, unclean kitchen surfaces, flies and other insects flying around previously cooked food, etc. find another stance if something seems wrong. Also, if you can, try to stick with stalls that only sell a few items. If a counter sells a wide variety of products, it means that not everything is prepared fresh. Things will sit around longer.
Beware of cutlery
Some street food requires some kind of cutlery, but be careful with the tools the kiosks offer you. They can be dirty; even if they are clean, they may have been washed with local water that your body cannot handle.
Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt suggests carrying disinfectant wipes with which you can wipe your cutlery. Kepnes also suggests traveling with your personal pair of chopsticks so you’re always ready to dig in.
Always avoid these four things
No matter where you are, it is in your best interest to always avoid the following things:
- Counters serving food with ice or local water. The water may be dirty or contain bacteria that your body is not used to.
- Product that cannot be peeled (may have been washed in local water). If it doesn’t have a natural wrap, stay away.
- Food that hasn’t been fully cooked.
- Sauces that look like they’ve been sitting all day and don’t seem to make a lot of sense.
These rules, of course, can vary depending on where you are traveling, but in any case it is good to know them.
If something is wrong, stop eating.
Finally, if something is wrong with the street food you eat, stop consuming it in your body. You may be an adventurous person, but now is not the time to show how brave you are. For example, meat should be too hot to be eaten the moment it comes off the hob and handed over to you , it should not look soggy on the inside, and it should never taste or smell like putrefaction.
If you’re out for a bite to eat and the meat is cold or something, drop it and find something else. And if the food seems good at first, but after a minute it starts to give you trouble, do not overdo it. Pray you will only have indigestion and continue your journey.