How to order at a night market without a menu

Night markets rarely have menus, and where they do, the menu is for the tourists. The working method is the same everywhere: look at what the stall has made a lot of, watch what the person in front of you does, and copy them.

Counting is the one piece of language worth learning properly. Numbers one to ten, plus the words for 'this one' and 'the same again', will get you through almost any stall in any country.

Price transparency varies. In much of East and Southeast Asia the price is fixed and displayed; in North Africa and parts of South Asia it is not, and asking before the food is prepared is normal rather than rude.

Eat in the order the market is arranged. Grilled and fried items first while the charcoal is hottest, soups in the middle of the evening, sweets and drinks at the end when the queues have gone.

One habit worth adopting: sit down at least once. Standing and grazing covers more stalls, but the seated stalls are where the cooking is slowest and usually best.