Fishy Snack? Pla Meuk Ping Bicycle to the Rescue (ปลาหมึกปิ้ง)

Pla meuk ping (ปลาหมึกปิ้ง) cart in Bangkok

All over the streets of Bangkok you’ll find mobile carts selling a fishy (more like squiddy) snack known as pla meuk ping (ปลาหมึกปิ้ง).

Similar to moo dad deaw, it’s often hanging on a food clothesline, displayed for passerby’s to acknowledge, while at the same time air drying in that wonderful Bangkok air.

Which squid will you be choosing?

Pinned up, you have a choice of which squid and size to choose from, the bigger ones costing more.

Pla meuk ping (ปลาหมึกปิ้ง)

After you order your squid snack, the vendor will unpin it, and toast it over hot charcoal. This gives the squid a nice fiery flavor, makes it hot and cooked through.

Pushing it through the flattener

He then runs the squid through a flattening device, fully stretching it out and making the squid tender enough to bite through (though still chewy).

Thai squid snack

You can either eat your Thai squid snack plain, or grab a little plastic bowl full of sweet Thai chili sauce with a garnish of crushed peanuts. The sauce adds some tang to your salty squid.

You’ve got to like both fishy things plus chewy things to enjoy pla meuk ping (ปลาหมึกปิ้ง), and if you do, this is a snack for you!

The steering was terrible!

And yes, the vendor from the last pla meuk ping (ปลาหมึกปิ้ง) bicycle I ate at, allowed me to take his bike for a spin.

They are actually a lot harder to maneuver down the streets of Bangkok than they look, really!