High Risk Chow: Eating in Cambodia, Vietnam and Everywhere

High Risk Chow: Eating in Cambodia, Vietnam and Everywhere

People jump off bridges, tethered only by an elastic cord; they leap from airplanes to experience the thrill of weightlessness moments before their chute opens, and they have unprotected sex with total strangers (unbelievable, I know).

These are all risky amusements and in such situations, billions believe rewards outweigh the risk.

Walking through the downtown market in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, sanitation practices (or their lack) did give me pause. Food was stored directly upon the well-trod cement floors, and the dark, unmoving air of this central market hung heavy with the smells of living and recently-slaughtered chickens and fish kept on display without benefit of ice. I did not see any soap or running water.



Still, there was no way I was not going to eat some of this food, and so I chose some fish and sausages that came hot off lump charcoal grills, probably at their safest and certainly at their most delicious. I enjoyed both very much, in spite of or perhaps because of the raw surroundings.







By contrast, the market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, was very clean and well-lit, with people scrubbing plates and eating utensils with soapy water before rinsing and reusing. We had some pho with rare beef, as well as crackling fresh, herb-filled spring rolls, some sausage with noodles in a bowl and, of course, a bahn mi sandwich.



After eating at this second and seemingly more hygienic street market, my stomach felt a little weird, but I’m still alive, and I consider the risks of eating on the street in Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh City and anywhere to be worth the risk…though there are certainly dangers associated with eating many foods.

There’s perhaps a comparable degree of risk, if of a somewhat different nature, associated with eating hamburger meat processed at a huge industrial facility or chicken raised and heavily medicated at a factory farm – these risks, however, are not what I consider acceptable.

I’ll take my risks on the street, where the food at least offers the reward of good taste.

I'm with you DH. I've had some *awfully* good street food in obscure villages in PRC, plus, of course, in the big cities 25 yrs ago. K-L at that time was a wonderful street-food place, a bit risky to say the least. Hong Kong and Singapore were more fastidious, but *nothing* in Asia at that time was up to NYC resto standards.

And your point about industrial beast-food is not just well-taken, but explicable: these beasts are treated with anti-biotics from their Day 1. Which causes a crash in the least-resistant population of bugs, and not just survival, but un-competitive survival conditions for rapidly reproducing more-resistant bugs. By the time these populations of bugs hit our stomachs, they are quite virulent.

Asian bugs, au contraire, survive in competitive situations, and the mix of populations is quite careful not to kill off its host, unlike the virulent populations selected by antibiotics. Asian bugs will upset your stomach, but not your life.

Eat away, I say!

Geo

It's why we get shots and carry antibiotics. Because there are too many cool places to visit and eat where they just don't get that whole sanitation concept. (But that said, you've done it the smart way -- get it while it's hot.)

Shots, pills - they really only help you so much. You still need to be sensible and follow a few rules, much of which David addresses. Although I was in largely touristy areas of Thailand and Cambodia, even most street vendors in those areas don't receive that many visits from farang.

But a couple of tips to always follow: One, watch your food being made. If you arrive at the stall and you simply see prepared food sitting out in the sun and you know it's not something that could safely stand for a long time in the heat, you'd be best to avoid it. If you do buy it (because it's likely so inexpensive and minimal financial risk) and find it's not really warm or hot to the touch but would have been had it been freshly made, just realize the risk and know that you might be taking two or three days away from your vacation. And if you're not in a developed area, you may not have access to the best medical care or even doctors that speak English. I was fortunate enough to have my first and only bout of food poisoning immediately upon my return home (and that was from Mexico) but I can tell you it is nothing I ever want to experience again, and not worth any food in the world.

Also, it's often easy to see which street vendors turn over food more quickly than others. They're the ones with larger crowds. If you see a stall with no customers, next to one with many customers (and assuming they're locals), that should be a red flag.

I've had remarkable luck in rarely or being only a little sick in my "developing" world street food experiences. The advice BR gives is quite useful. I'll add a few things:

1) Sometimes, whether because of sheer laziness or a powerful urge to try something, you may consume something that you immediately recognize will probably get you sick. Forget antibiotics, charcoal pills and other hoo-dads. All you need - I am serious - is two shots of hard liquor. Two shots, maybe three. Hell, have four. Of course, obtaining the hard liquor will be difficult in certain Muslim countries, but you will be fine in Southeast Asia.

This technique has saved me numerous times. From street oysters in Phnom Penh (is that the ocean or a murky river over yonder??), to undercooked street meet in Cairo, this technique has steeled me from the worst ravages of G.I. hell. It is absolutely crucial that you get the hard liquor in your belly within 30 minutes of eating the poisoned food in order for this to work.

2) Don't be afraid of street food. Eat it as soon as you arrive at your destination. If you do get sick, it will be within the first few days and you will have uncompromised immunity thereafter. Do this a few times, and you should be able to travel the world without getting sick.

3) Don't take your pretty, hyper-hygenic girlfriend to street food stalls in Cairo or Mumbai. She will get really sick. And you will laugh. And she will be mad at you, and never trust you, and you will need to buy her stuff.

4) If you do get sick and die, you will be dead, and death is like a long sleep with no pesky alarm to wake you up. So who cares!

But seriously (and I am being VERY serious), I ate at many markets and stalls like the one David photgraphed in Sihanoukville while I lived in Cambodia and never experienced more than a single, minor bout of the runz. I didn't shy away from unpeeled fruit, fresh veggies, juices, etc. (when did those become the devil?).

And on a final note, perhaps the most frightening experience I have had eating abroad was at a tiny, dingy truckstop bathroom of a restaurant in Cairo. After ordering a salad and some fried chickpea balls, I glanced over at the vegetable cutting station and noticed two workers frantically trying to plug a drain that was overflowing, nay shooting two feet in the air, with brown, bubbly water. Needless to say, I ran the hell out of there without even saying a word to the proprietors, and never looked back!

Habibi wrote:But seriously (and I am being VERY serious), I ate at many markets and stalls like the one David photgraphed in Sihanoukville while I lived in Cambodia and never experienced more than a single, minor bout of the runz. I didn't shy away from unpeeled fruit, fresh veggies, juices, etc. (when did those become the devil?).

Shying away from fruit, veggies and juices = fear of water(borne bacteria).

A driver I was speaking with in Bangkok warmed me against fruits and vegetables because, according to him, Thailand has few controls on the use of DDT. I have no idea if this is accurate, but would appreciate any input on that topic if anyone here knows anything about it.

Habibi wrote:I've had remarkable luck in rarely or being only a little sick in my "developing" world street food experiences. The advice BR gives is quite useful. I'll add a few things:

1) Sometimes, whether because of sheer laziness or a powerful urge to try something, you may consume something that you immediately recognize will probably get you sick. Forget antibiotics, charcoal pills and other hoo-dads. All you need - I am serious - is two shots of hard liquor. Two shots, maybe three. Hell, have four. Of course, obtaining the hard liquor will be difficult in certain Muslim countries, but you will be fine in Southeast Asia.

This technique has saved me numerous times. From street oysters in Phnom Penh (is that the ocean or a murky river over yonder??), to undercooked street meet in Cairo, this technique has steeled me from the worst ravages of G.I. hell. It is absolutely crucial that you get the hard liquor in your belly within 30 minutes of eating the poisoned food in order for this to work.

2) Don't be afraid of street food. Eat it as soon as you arrive at your destination. If you do get sick, it will be within the first few days and you will have uncompromised immunity thereafter. Do this a few times, and you should be able to travel the world without getting sick.

3) Don't take your pretty, hyper-hygenic girlfriend to street food stalls in Cairo or Mumbai. She will get really sick. And you will laugh. And she will be mad at you, and never trust you, and you will need to buy her stuff.

4) If you do get sick and die, you will be dead, and death is like a long sleep with no pesky alarm to wake you up. So who cares!

But seriously (and I am being VERY serious), I ate at many markets and stalls like the one David photgraphed in Sihanoukville while I lived in Cambodia and never experienced more than a single, minor bout of the runz. I didn't shy away from unpeeled fruit, fresh veggies, juices, etc. (when did those become the devil?).

And on a final note, perhaps the most frightening experience I have had eating abroad was at a tiny, dingy truckstop bathroom of a restaurant in Cairo. After ordering a salad and some fried chickpea balls, I glanced over at the vegetable cutting station and noticed two workers frantically trying to plug a drain that was overflowing, nay shooting two feet in the air, with brown, bubbly water. Needless to say, I ran the hell out of there without even saying a word to the proprietors, and never looked back!

So says the guy worried about pink slime

DH--

I wouldn't worry at all about DDT toxicity: if it has *any* effect at all, it's long-term, and you and I are waaay too old for it to matter in our cases.

The real danger comes from a humid developing country NOT using DDT liberally.

Geo

Habibi wrote:1) Sometimes, whether because of sheer laziness or a powerful urge to try something, you may consume something that you immediately recognize will probably get you sick. Forget antibiotics, charcoal pills and other hoo-dads. All you need - I am serious - is two shots of hard liquor. Two shots, maybe three. Hell, have four. Of course, obtaining the hard liquor will be difficult in certain Muslim countries, but you will be fine in Southeast Asia.

Purely anecdotal in nature but support nonetheless for Habibi's claim... Once in Athens a long time ago I had dinner with two other people at a taverna... we all ate the same thing but after dinner, the other two people had shots of brandy... I did not... and I got dreadfully ill... one of the other two felt a little sick and the third was fine... differing constituions, I suppose, but the alcohol certainly seemed to help them out... And since then, I have adopted the same strategy that Habibi suggests...

Always nice to have more reasons to justify a post-prandial shot... or two...

E allôa, a-a vostra salûte!

Antonius

Talk of high-risk chow reminded me of this blog post written last fall by the guy who's author of the four-hour schtick. Having read this, I'm convinced he's a world-class douchebag.

Habibi, your post made me laugh! My Mom's late boyfriend (who didn't die of food poisoning) swore by your 2-shot cure.

I should have adopted the two-shot cure while visiting Vietnam. I did fine with street food and hole-in-the wall/pop-up street restaurants, but felt ill after a lunch at the restaurant of a western-style hotel.

I have visited over 110 countries-on a tight budget- and still travelling. Food can be a delight and a problem. My husband and I share the same food but he seems to avoid the ill effects of tainted food. I am not so lucky. The only difference is his use of hot peppers and he drinks beer. Abroad, we eat local and stay away from western style foods ( i.e.hamburgers in India, Thailand and Egypt and other countries are always a red flag). We will walk the extra mile to find a place that appears cleaner than others or wait in line for a seat in a crowded cafe or stand. We have skipped meals for 24 hours due to lack of a decent option and forced to dine on snack foods such as chips, candybars and Cokes purchased at bus stations. Some "Hail Marys" seem to work at less than optimal places. But we have gotten really,really sick in places that you would not expect such as on an international airlines (oui),at a fast food chain in Indiana, hawker stalls in Singapore,and even at a high end hotel in Sao Paolo drinking Screwdrivers. We realize that on our trips we are going to get sick so we prepare-Lomotil for the long bus rides and Flagyl for persistent bugs and keep hydrated. We have had some incredible meals and some awful inedibles-all make for interesting travel experiences.