A comment on Street Food

Street food is awesome. But you need to know what you're doing.
Street food is where you can find the local way of life and really begin to immerse yourself in the local culture.
However, for us travelers with weak stomachs, we have to be careful. While I find street food to be such an important way of engaging with locals and their local specialties, I don't recommend eating it every single day. Your outsider stomach just doesn't have the same gut bacteria as the locals, and certain foods will be harder for you to handle. Having said that, this isn't the time to turn up your nose at something because you think it looks weird. Besides losing out on awesome food, you may end up offending people by refusing to try things. My motto is to try everything once, even if it's just a bite (unless I'm allergic to it; which is a whole other situation-have you ever tried explaining an allergy in gestures?).
The main thing with street food is to go where the locals go and scope out stalls before you try their food. Here's how I've enjoyed street food safely when visiting a place for a few days or longer:

• I take a day or two to look for the stalls with the most locals, usually women and children.
  
• I also go with the regular eating schedule for the area, so I can see which stalls get the most traffic daily at meal times.
  
• If I know a local well, I'll ask them to point me to their favorite stall, as usually they can give you all the details on which stall is the most clean, where they get their meat/produce, and if anyone has been sick from eating there.
• In terms of beverages and uncooked things, I stay away for a few weeks if I'm living in the area long term. It usually takes my body that long to get accustomed to the food. I also use a filter/purifier water bottle all the time, but especially in areas where the local water is a no-go.

I'm saying this as someone who has grown up with multiple gut problems and several food allergies. However, even with those issues, I've still been able to enjoy street food sparingly and safely. I always learn the words and phrases for my allergens, so I can ask vendors (or play charades). If I have any doubt or feel the food does have an allergen, even though they say it doesn't, I won't eat it. That goes for food here in the US as well: anaphylactic shock is just not something to play around with.

Having said all that-- it really comes down to personal choice and awareness. If you see something about a stall that makes you uncomfortable- don't eat there. As all the guide books say, "if you decide to eat street food you are doing so at your own risk", but in my experience, that risk is (usually) far outweighed by the amazing food and connections you can make, even with just one meal. :)