A breakfast sandwich hack, Thai style.

“That looks kind of like crispy bacon,” was one of the first things I thought when I saw the package of Thai pork jerky ($6.50) on the counter at Thai Thai Grocery. A stack of translucent sheets of pork—seasoned with soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, black pepper, and cinnamon—sat on a paper doily inside the clear plastic box. And then I tasted it. Spicy, sweet, porky, crunchy, and, above all, mouth-watering. It was so good that I had to hide it from myself lest I eat it all in one sitting.

I forgot all about the pork jerky until I came home with a buttered toasted everything bagel this morning. What came next is what I hope to be the first of many such sandwich hacks. Layered on top of the toasted bagel, the thin ruddy sheets of Thai pork added a nice crunch, along with a spicy sweetness to this new breakfast sandwich. There is somewhat of a history of Thai folks running bagel shops in New York City. I think they’d be well advised to add my creation to their menus.

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Thai Thai Grocery, 76-13 Woodside Ave., Elmhurst, 917-769-6168