There are many small markets around the apartment here – they sell a varied assortment of fresh vegetables, live fish and chickens and eggs. I love the energy of these markets – they are always bustling hives of activity where there’s always something going on. Usually it’s a lot of shouting but sometimes you can see someone chasing a live fish or frog as it makes a bid for freedom across the street. They also sometimes sell cooked foods – often dumplings, filled bread-like things and many items I just can’t identify. This week a couple of friends introduced me to one of the amazing street snacks they sell here – the dan bing.

These are essentially crepes – made with a batter that looks suspiciously like wallpaper paste. This is spread on a large round hot plate. When cooked, an egg is cracked over the top and incorporated into the pancake.  Then come the herbs, the other small ingredients, the spicy sauce, the unidentified brown sauce that looks like chocolate but isn’t, then a mystery crunchy thing. It is rolled, cut in half and presented in a small plastic bag. You have to eat it immediately – which prompts thumbs up and smiles from all the locals as they know it is delicious. Actually it is inspired. It is soft and crunchy, spicy and fresh.

I was introduced to this just the other day and I’ve already been back. It’s also ridiculously cheap – 3 kwai (about 45cents) a one egg version and 4 kwai if you want to go crazy and have two eggs inside…I think I could eat this every day. The only snag is that it’s a breakfast food so you have to get there before around 9am or it will have run out and been shut down. I still think I’ll be a regular at this particular stall though..