Street food in China never ceases to amaze me. The incessant change of vendors that cook and sell different things depending on the time of day is truly unique.
Americans are fairly proud of their food trucks, but from seeing them up close at National Restaurant Association Fair a couple of years ago the logistics are easy. These trucks have modern kitchens that are a cinch to run.
Not so much in China where street vendors make do with unfriendly weather and minimal equipment. Even more fascinating than the street food vendors are the “snack makers”. These vendors have little trucks that churn out concoctions that can resemble cheetos and that sell for 3 yuan for huge bags. My friend Erica says there used to be many more vendors like this in the past. Some you would bring rice to and they would pop it for you with a air popper and fire. They remind her of her childhood before the on-set of mass-produced snacks. This photo shows a man producing lotus flour coils, a very unsual chip format!
One reply on “Chinese Mobile Snack Maker”
it’s true, there is something very magical about a street food vendor, no matter where you find them. perhaps it’s eating food outdoors, in a bit of haste, that makes it taste so good? maybe it’s the smells you’ve been tantalized with as you’ve walked up the street (the smell of roasting chestnuts is forever etched into my memory as paris+christmas. the charred metal drums dissipate the perfect amount of heat to evenly toast the nuts and at the same time help keep the vendor warm from the constant winter damp)? even the tune of a simple ice cream truck sends us scurrying to gather enough change to trade for a little frozen block of sugar to hold against our tongue. a simple street vendor is able to seduce us with his charms by including all our senses in the spell.
i would LOVE to try the air-popped rice!