One of the things I have always loved to buy in Bangkok, Thailand is orange juice. Now, I know it’s fresh orange juice I buy in Bangkok at any number of street stalls around town, because I see the vendors carrying huge bags of oranges up to their stalls, and then squeezing it. Just one taste, and you can tell that orange juice is fresh as well.
What’s interesting about fresh orange juice in Bangkok is the Thais actually add salt and sugar to it before bottling it, which gives it a much tangier taste than you are probably used to. They do it as, Thailand being such a hot country, you sweat. A lot. So the salt and sugar is added to the orange juice to replace what you lose when you sweat. And, of course, to make it taste great.
Salt in orange juice, of course, can be an ‘acquired taste’, and one I’ve definitely acquired over the years. When I first moved to Thailand, of course, I wasn’t a huge fan. Nowadays, however, I’m so used to Thai fresh orange juice, and love it so much, I rarely drink orange juice when I leave Thailand as it simply tastes too sweet.
You will find freshly squeezed orange juice all over Bangkok, and all over Thailand for that matter. Just grab a bottle at one of the street stalls or street carts you see. They are usually 20 baht or 62 cents for a small bottle, it is 100 percent orange juice that you will get, and most stalls will either sell it to you in a sealed bottle or put it in a cup on ice.
Try it. You may just love it.
