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The man stopped dead in its tracks. He literally squealed. "Chicken hearts!" He didn't even pause for a second and simply did a sharp turn to appear in front of the vendor. Street food, no less. He didn't care. I didn't bother. We've got tons of Norit. I'm perfectly fine with eating street food in Thailand. The super dodgy are always avoided. I've never gotten the runs from these roadside stalls in any spot in Thailand.

He didn't even ask me to interpret anything. He simply pointed and indicated the number of sticks he wanted. Of course the vendor understood. The narrow lane was crowded. So I stood aside. The man came back waving his triumphant purchases. 2 sticks of hearts, 1 stick of gizzard, and 1 stick of liver. He loved them all. He had this look of absolute contentment after finishing them all. Mind you, these were just savory snacks between a filling lunch and a definitely-going-to-be-huge dinner.

He swore that these sticks were more delicious than any of the yakitori and sumiyaki places at home. "10bht for 6 chicken hearts! Unbelievable! And those Japanese sumiyaki eateries sell it for how much? Like S$6 a stick?" I shrugged. I geddit. Once upon a time, I was crazy over chicken hearts too. Today, I liked my conservative grilled bananas. But yes, these stalls do superb tasting earthy food without (too much) MSG and rely on their traditional spices.

I'm sure you can identify the hearts, gizzard and liver.