The Mystery of Pintoh
July 5, 2006 10:40 AMUnless you’re Thai, I bet the first thing you were thinking when you saw the word pintoh was, “What the heck is that??” No, it’s not some weird Thai word for a physically-deformed fish exposed to radioactivity, and no, I didn’t mispell the word for a spotted prancing pony. It actually means “food container”, or more simply, a lunchbox. (Well, it doesn’t necessarily have to be lunch but you get what I mean.)
Just like the Japanese have a bento, Thais have a pintoh. This isn’t just your average lunchbox though. It’s not a small plastic suitcase-like box with a thermos of matching themes like the Americans use, nor is it an ornate lacquered box with many compartments for storing different types of food like the ones Japanese use. Although the pintoh looks relatively plain, the way it’s designed is ingenious, really. Originally made out of stainless steel, the pintoh consists of 3 or 4 (sometimes even up to 5!) round containers, each for storing different foods. They are then stacked up on top of each other and fastened with a clasp on top, near the handle. Pintoh is actually common in lots of countries, except that they’re called with a different name. Nowadays, pintoh is made out of plastic as well, with lots of different patterns and colors.
I’ve always enjoyed eating and I have developed an addiction for finding new tasty things/places to eat. I’ve been meaning to keep an online file on all things related to food but I never really got around to doing it. One day, I was reading one of my friend’s personal blog and I just thought, “Hmm…maybe I can make a food blog”. What I didn’t expect was to find so many other food blogs…I thought maybe people would think I was weird/gluttonous/crazy if I had a blog that was wholly devoted to food but I was glad to find out that I’m not the only one who feels passionately about food. Anyway, this food blog is going to contain things like food reviews, recipes and interesting facts about food. Each of these will incorporate to become what will hopefully be an impressive pintoh.
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3 Responses to “The Mystery of Pintoh”
hey hey jupsie,
U are finally doing what u like. I’m really happy for u (and for myself too). Now i can read up about FOOD and at the same time be updated of how u’re doing.
The pictures look great! You can count on me being a fan of your blog.
Take care babe and see you soon.
lol. i was thinking u must hv taken the chinese word of ‘pin toh’ as “yuu ti nai”.
we use to use pintoh too when we were catering from another household when my parents hv to work. it’s still around! most of them, in fact all, r ZEBRAs!!! lol.
oh, nice blog!
Hey Jup,
Nice Blog, reminds me i miss food in HK, esp the stinky tofu n the tentacles ha ha ha, though i as much enjoyed the food here in bkk esp the Kao niau with fried chicken n som tum in Som tum nua (siam sq) or just simply lab kai with sticky rice yummyyy not to mention my all time fav, krapao…
By the way, in singapore and malaysia they call it Tiffin carrier to transport delicious home cooked food to the office or relatives house in the olden days, now every 1 uses plastic containers (must be in lazy mode all time to do washing ah 555). One of the restaurants in Raffles Hotel serves Tiffin curry lunch buffet for the longest time (that was since i was very young that is) and if memory serves me well they still do have it till now.
Anyway, Good Blog site, i will visit regularly to keep my taste buds updated on yr recent findings 5 5 5.
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