Expert showmanship in the streetside preparation of a banana pastry

This Asian street-food vendor is a great showman, juggler, and all round bad-ass banana pastry maker.

Expert Cooking - AMAZING !!! (Thanks, wetdog2!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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knijon

I didn’t want to watch the video, but it was as if seeing the word “banana” triggered something in my brain that said “Look at it. Just look at it.”
Bartacus

Yeah, the headline should be “Just look at this Banana pastry making performance. Just look at it.”
- http://www.megatoothpastemammals.com Carpeteria
  
  Definite missed opportunity.
mdot

I looked and then I could not look away.
guanto

Going by what you can see in the video: some tourist area in Thailand.
- Marshall
  
  Yeah, I’ve only ever seen roti vendors in proximity to Western Tourists (and also, not coincidentally, clusters of prostitution) in Thailand.
  
  This is a popular “safe food” for backpackers who aren’t really interested in actually experiencing Thailand, or who have been bowled over by culture shock. It’s ashamedly common to hear someone’s summation of their Thai trip as involving eating these and fruit smoothies the entire time they were in country.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    It’s ashamedly common to hear someone’s summation of their Thai trip as involving eating these and fruit smoothies the entire time they were in country.
    
    And then wondering why they got diarrhea.
  - Virak_Mac
    
    Thais love Roti as well.
  - TheMudshark
    
    Damn right. Next time I´m in Bangkok I´m going to tell my Thai friends they can go have ice cream crêpes at MBK without me, as from now on I´m only interested in actually experiencing Thailand and am not going to be bowled over by culture shock anymore. I wouldn´t want to look foolish after all.
  - guanto
    
    I’m not judging, just wanted to clarify the (approximate) location and context (as evidenced by the English signs and the currency) since Cory just wrote ‘Asian.’ I bet those things are delicious, why wouldn’t you eat them?
http://twitter.com/ccb Chris Callison-Burch

Just look at this banana pastry prep, just look at it.
WaylonWillie

Who can tell us what he is making? I would buy two.
- sbattersby
  
  Traveling through Thailand many moons ago, we dubbed these vendors “banana gods” because their treats seem heaven-sent after a night of revelry.
  
  Known there as roti, it’s a light, stretchy dough cooked on a flattop griddle with your choice of sweet and savory fillings. He’s drizzling the pastry with chocolate syrup and sweetened condensed milk at the end. For a heartier twist, you can order it with peanuts or an egg scrambled in with the bananas, too.
  - http://twitter.com/Dree10K1 Dree
    
    How is this not just a crepe?
    - legotech
      
      Different dough I think? Crepes usually have a liquid batter that goes on the griddle and gets spread around to make a thin crust, this looks like it’s a raised dough that gets stretched like a pizza dough.
    - guanto
      
      A crêpe is milk, flour and eggs, a roti is water, flour and fat (and salt, probably). One starts out as a runny batter, the other as a pizza-like dough (minus the yeast). One is very soft, porous and moist, the other is essentially a flatbread with a comparatively dry surface.
http://www.facebook.com/cameronlow Cameron Low

In South East Asia, in countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia – as far as I know – these are call Rotis – often referred to as Roti Canai or Prata depending on where are you from. They are quite popular with no fillings, you have them as sides along with curries. But you can fill them with whatever..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_prata
http://twitter.com/jesuscliment jesuscliment

That’d be Thailand. I tried those and are A. Ma. Zing.
Senor Schaffer

I think he just has massive OCDs. :
User 100

“[...]and all round bad-ass banana pastry maker.”

You really shouldn’t use “ass” and “banana” in the same sentence.
No matter how many “pastries” there are nearby—it just doesn’t make up for it…
- siloxane
  
  Obligatory xkcd: Hyphen
http://twitter.com/FortunityDwi fortunitydwi

in Indonesia we call it kungfu chef ……. great …..
http://www.geekforce.com Hugh Johnson

I counted at least 6 instances of possible cross-contamination. Hope he keeps his hands clean.
billstewart

Looks a lot like a Benihana show, only with dessert.
spokehedz

And yet again, America misses out on this because people think that being a street food vendor is somehow ‘below’ them. Like picking fruit. Or working on a farm… We really are a nation of complainers are we not?

Do one thing, do it exceptionally well, and that’s all you gotta do. And sell it! Sell it like you are selling diamonds and pearls!
- L_Mariachi
  
  I take it your neighborhood has not experienced the food truck explosion. In San Francisco this guy could be charging eight bucks instead of 35 Bhat ($1.15)
pjcamp

Bananihana.
http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo

Awesome vendor is too quick for crappy bitrate.