More often than not Thai food is complex, containing a grocery list of ingredients, and has each flavor turned up to 11. As such, I greatly appreciate when it can be made with a handful of ingredients and is devoid of chilies and fried garlic. In my experience the Thai foods that are the “simplest” happen to be what we refer to as desserts.
My favorite Thai “desserts” almost always contain fruit. Whether it’s Gluai Buat Chi (a hot soup of bananas, coconut milk, sugar, and salt) or the ubiquitous mango sticky rice, the fruit here is prime for eating with some other sweetened substance. While I can usually walk past a cart selling these two, if I see Gluai Dtot (deep fried bananas) coming fresh out of a large wok of equally brown oil, I’m only moments away from being 20 baht poorer.
I love fruit and I love deep fried foods. These don’t seem like they would go together all that well, but when the fruit is the hearty Thai banana and the batter made from rice flour, these two are a match made in greasy heaven. Also it’s great for all you vegans, vegetarians, and gluten intolerant folks out there.
You can find these at really any decent sized market in Thailand. More often than not they are served during the day, but can also creep into nighttime as well. My favorite place to get them is from the lady who sells them just down the street from my home. Unfortunately she only does this on the weekends. So if it’s a weekday I head to Kom Market just a bit south of the old town.
A bag will almost always run you 20 baht. They are usually sold alongside deep fried sweet potatoes and golden or purple balls of tapioca starch. All are worth checking out, but the banana are my favorite.
Here is a list of markets you can buy them at.
Kom Market ตลาดประตูก้อม
Siri Wattana (Tanin) Market
Mae Hia Fresh Market
The Good Stuff Chiang Mai 