pho-licious: Thailand

Prawn foie gras

Overall, the Sicilian red prawn (gamberi rossi) is still my favourite prawn of all time. But the river prawn, especially the big ones found in Thailand and Myanmar, are not too far off, especially when it comes to what's inside the head. The Sicilian red prawn's head is sweeter and has a more intense prawn flavour, whilst the river prawn's head fat is creamier and more comforting, almost like crustacean foie gras.

In Bangkok you can find giant river prawns at various locations throughout the city, but at P'Aor, you can get them with a prawn-fat enriched tom yum noodle soup. Flavourful and aromatic, sweet and sour, the soup of this bowl of noodles is incredibly addictive. I did expect it to be a tad more spicy, though that would be my only criticism.

Also highly recommended is the river prawn with prawn fat-infused egg on rice. A really ingenious creation – the oily goodness inside the head is used to scramble eggs which is then dumped in a big river prawn and steamed rice. In fact, if the river prawn wasn't there, I would be perfectly happy eating eggy, prawny rice. Damn good.

But then again, all is so much better with the giant river prawn, especially when you scoop out the foie gras-esque head fat. Here is a blurry picture of this amazing substance:

P'Aor's drinks are not too bad either; I washed down this feast with some refreshing roselle flower juice.

Price: 100 – 150 baht per person (2 people sharing 3 dishes and a drink each)

P'Aor

68/51 Soi Petchaburi 5, Between Soi 5 – 7, Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Bangkok

Phone: 026129013

Open Tues – Sun 10am to 10pm. Best to go during lunch before all the river prawns are eaten up

Not only for ramen

In many big cities around the world, when people think of pig trotters and asian food, they think tonkotsu ramen. And for good reason, it is up there with Penang Hokkien Mee as one of my favourite noodle soups.

But let's step away from the world of soup-noodle slurping. There is another way to eat pig's trotters – that is, slowly braised for aeons in soy and spices and served over rice with pickled veggies. Chiang Mai is known for this dish but a very good version is available in Bangkok in the foodie hotspot of Bang Rak, at Khao Kha Mu Trok Sung.

I really, really like how they cook this dish here. The rich, gelatinous trotter balances perfectly with the fleshy leg meat (make sure you order this combination), and all this richness is cut through with pickled vegetables and washed down with some homely radish soup. The sauce is light and not too salty, and complements the pork flavour rather than overpowering it. Dangerously addictive, and dangerously cheap.

Price: See prices in the picture

Khao Kha Mu Trok Sung

106/5 Charoen Wiang Road

Phone: +6622354930

Open: Mon – Sat, 10:30am – 7.30pm

Lazy man's crab

I love sweet, juicy crab meat. The act of smashing through the arthropod's armour and retrieving the meaty flesh within has to be one of the most rewarding gastronomic activities known to man. As much as I love this act, there are some days when I am feeling a bit lazy and wish the crab meat would just come to me.

And at Krua Apsorn, it can come to you. We opted for the crab meat cooked with yellow curry powder, which was pretty sensational. Sweet, delicate, juicy crab meat married beautifully with the subtle spice of the curry-based sauce; an extremely well balanced combination of flavours and textures.

The kingfish and green mango salad is also very good too; meaty-on-the-inside crisp on the outside kingfish, crunchy green mango slithers harmonised by a sweet, spicy and sour fish sauce dressing. My only criticism of this dish is that the kingfish was sliced too thickly, and thus as a result there was insufficient green mango dressing to go with all the meaty flesh.

Dessert at Krua Apsorn is pretty simple, yet simply stellar. Coconut sorbet might not sound like much, but when it is made from the juice and flesh of incredibly refreshing young coconut, it is pretty hard to beat.

Price: Around 300-350 Baht per person incl drinks

Krua Apsorn

Samsen 1 Alley, Wat Sam Phraya, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200

Open: Mon – Sun 9am - 8pm

Liquefied pad thai

Kang ban phe caused a bit of a stir when it opened up its first outlet outside of Rayong, in the middle of bustling Bangkok. And with mantis shrimp on the menu, it was pretty hard not to go investigate.

Rather disappointingly, the mantis shrimp served here were a tad overcooked, and once you overcook these critters, their sweetness, and juiciness, evaporates.

But, fear not, the prawn-head enriched tom yum soup noodle is worth making noise about. To me, the soup didn't exactly taste of tom yum – the chilli and kaffir lime notes were definitely toned down. Rather, it tasted like liquefied pad thai taken to the next level by prawn head fat. It is pretty damn addictive, though I can see it being a bit sweet for some people's tastes. The noodles used in this dish are perfectly chewy and slurpable, and have that all-important property of being able to grab droplets of soup and transport them onto your tongue.

I think this restaurant can reach stelllar status if they get their act together and cook the mantis shrimp a bit less, then you'll have a restaurant worth revisiting many a time.

http://www.kangbanphe.com/

Price: Around 150 baht per person

Three words you need to learn: Somsak Pu Ob

Glass noodles and prawns. Doesn’t sound exciting. And at 250 baht a bowl, it’s kinda expensive for Bangkok street food. But believe me, you just have to come and eat here.

One downside is the slightly long wait – around 40 minutes (at least when I went). So, if you’re wondering why it takes so long, check out the streetside kitchen and you’ll see why. One chef, four burners. Every move by this man is so precise and deliberate – and it shows in the food.

Result: Huge, ridiculously fresh prawns oozing with sea-sweetness, cooked to perfection. Glass noodles cooked al-dente complemented by the richness of pork fat, the heat of baby garlic, the tingle of Szechuan peppercorns and the freshness of spring onions.

My tip: let the sizzling pan in which you’re served this seafood delight cool, so that you can really enjoy the flavours. Then mix up and dig in.

You can also get the crab version: I will be back for this.

Address: Thanon Charoen Rat Soi 1, Khlong San, Bangkok

Opening hours: Mon – Sat 5pm – 10pm, Sun 4pm – 10pm (be warned: they sell out early!)

Price: 250 Baht – 400 Baht per person

This place isn’t too hard to find. Go to Wongwian Yai BTS station, and exit towards Saraphi 3. Walk straight up Saraphi 3 for 5 minutes and you’ll hit Charoen Rat Soi 1.

http://www.eatingthaifood.com/2013/07/thai-seafood-somsak-pu-ob-bangkok/

Glorious Pork Ribs

Amongst the hustle and bustle of Chinatown, a little roadside stall by the name of Khao Gaeng Jake Puey sets up around 4pm. Loyal customers and those keen to discover something new grab a small red plastic stool and wait patiently in anticipation of sheer deliciousness.

Whilst this place might be known for its curries, in my opinion, the curries are not what you come here for. You come here for their sweet, tangy and spicy pork ribs. Juicy and moreish, pile these up on your plate, then get stuck in. You will probably order seconds.

Also worthy of space on your little pink plastic plate is the stir fried crab meat with chilli, peas and black fungus (pictured to the right of the ribs). Addictive stuff.

Address: Chinatown, at the corner of Charoen Krung and Mangkon

Opening hours: 4pm – 9pm daily except Mondays. Better to go early in case the sell out

Price: 60 baht per plate

http://www.eatingthaifood.com/2013/10/thai-curry-kaeng-kari/

Duck to challenge the crown of Four Seasons

Many people around the world know about London’s infamous Four Seasons and its Cantonese roast duck. Even Bangkok has a branch. But let me tell you about a 150 year old shop in Bangrak whose duck, in my opinion, is a more than worthy contender for the supreme roast duck crown.

Prachak Pet Yang is where you’ll find this top quality duck – and whilst it is quintessentially Cantonese, there is a distinctly Thai twist to their roasted delights. Stuffed with ginger, coriander and a touch of kaffir lime, the sauce is more fragrant than the Cantonese version, and less salty. The duck is juicy, but don’t expect European sized ducks found in London’s Four Seasons, the duck is slightly on the small side.

But at 120 Baht for a boneless portion of half duck, this is a steal, and a must for any meat lover. Do bear in mind that the duck may sell out by 5 -6pm!

Address: 1415 Thanon Charoen Krung, Silom, Bangrak

Opening hours: 7am – 10:30pm daily (Closed during Chinese New Year and Songkran)

Price: About 100 THB per person

My little guide to Bangkok’s Sao Ching Cha area

Just a ten minute walk from Khao San road will reveal a haven of some of Bangkok’s best street eats in the charmingly old-school Sao Ching Cha area. The map below will hopefully guide you to some of the treats that I've had the privilege of indulging in.

The best Gai Yang in Town

Gai Yang is (Isaan-style grilled chicken) is ubiquitous throughout Thailand. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s mediocre. But once in a while you bump into some 5-star Gai Yang, the kind of stuff that will long live in your memory. For me, that once in a while happened in the Sao Ching Cha area of Bangkok, somewhere near the Chao Pho Suea Shrine on Thanon Tanao.

For 40baht, you get incredibly smokey, juicy chicken, whose flavours only really stand out when you douse it in the light, incredibly moreish chilli sauce provided. Probably the best Gai Yang I’ve ever had.

Sometimes places aren’t actually overhyped

Chote chitr (Map: No. 3) was catapulted into the spotlight when the New York Times featured this seemingly unassuming hole-in-the-wall restaurant in their Bangkok street food feature. I’m not normally one to frequent places visited by the masses, but since so many other foodies have been raving about it on their blogs, I thought I’d give it a try.

And yes, I was not disappointed. My first port of call was their sublime Mee Krob (written on their menu as crispy noodles, a name that certainly does not do it justice). Sweet, tangy, crispy and somehow incredibly addictive deep-fried to perfection rice vermicelli are accompanied by prawns, chicken, beansprouts and chilli in what has to be one of the best fried noodle dishes my tastebuds have ever been graced by. The secret to these masterful noodles, flavoured with palm sugar, lemongrass and ginger, is the addition of som saa, a very tart version of an orange which you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere in this city of angels.

Accompanying this was another one of their famous dishes, the banana flower salad, which, again, was truly excellent. Shredded banana flower, juicy prawns and slices of moist chicken breast are enveloped in a dressing of coconut milk, lemon juice and chilli amongst others, to create a dish whose tartness is expertly mellowed by the presence of coconut milk to provide a soothing and refreshing flavour combination.

Truly local ice cream

Just down the road from Chote Chitr is the perfect spot for dessert, another hole-in-the-wall famed for one thing; traditional Thai-style coconut ice cream (Map: No. 4). Nattaporn seems to be constantly packed with locals – telling you straight away, it’s good.

Unlike Western ice cream or gelato, it’s not creamy at all, and is incredibly light, kind of like an icy powder which instantly melts in your mouth to give way to a really unctuous hit of coconutty tones. The toppings aren’t bad too; but really, it’s all about this ice cream, a snippet at 30 baht per bowl.

Green bread, green sauce...

On Thanon Tanow you’ll find a shop (Map: No.2) which specialises in bread, either plain, toasted or fried accompanied by a variety of dipping sauces. This shop is distinctive in two ways; lots of bread pictures, and lots of pictures of Thai celebrities (at least I think they are celebrities) adorning their walls.

As a pandan (screwpine leaf) addict, I had to go for the greenest looking one; toasted green bread with a green and white dipping sauce. Green bread and green sauce aren’t always appealing to Westerners, but trust me, in South East Asia, green in desserts normally equals pandan, which equals vanilla-esque, fragrant goodness. So, the bread was pandan flavoured, and so was the coconutty dipping sauce, and, of course, it was delicious, though perhaps a tad too rich.

Smokingly sweet rice noodle goodness

Phat see eew, or stir fried flat rice noodles with pork, vegetables and a slightly sweet soy-based sauce, is the type of street food staple I wish I could have access to more often.

At Radna 40 years on Thanon Tanow (Map: No. 1), you’ll find a truly awesome rendition of this dish, for just 40 baht. Smokeyness, induced by the incredibly huge wok and matching dangerously large flame, is married perfectly to the sweetness of the dish. To help guide you to this phat see eew specialist, here’s a picture of the shop front.

Also worth noting that they apparently do a mean radna (flat rice noodles in a gooey seafood gravy).

Hainan noodles: noodle soup not to be missed

I think this was one of the best noodle soups I’ve ever had (Map: No. 6). At first glance, it doesn’t look that special, but trust me, this is a truly brilliant display of culinary prowess. Firstly, let me start with the Hainan-style noodles themselves – they look a bit like udon noodles, but with one key difference – they are incredibly light and dare I say it, even more slurp-able than udon noodles.

Secondly, the broth. Chicken-and-pork bone based, packed full of flavour but not overly rich, with a ever-so-slightly sour edge provide by Chinese sour cabbage. Really refreshing stuff. Lastly, there’s the toppings; with crispy belly pork the standout star here – somehow, the belly pork skin stayed crispy-ish in the broth. Must’ve been magic.

And if all this wasn’t enough, this little eatery on Thanon Mahannop offers another broth, slightly yellow-ish (possibly indicative of a curry-type influence) in colour for which unfortunately I had no time to try. On my hitlist for my next Bangkok visit.

Street sweet

Walking back along Thanon Tanow from Radna 40 years I bumped into this popular little stall (Map: No. 5) near the Chao Phor Suea shrine, which seemed to have a decent following.

Upon further inspection, taro pieces were being deep fried, and then coated in a fragrant pandan-sugar glaze. I was pretty darn full, but it smelled so good that I was well, powerless to resist. The pandan-infused crispy sugar coating worked a charm with the soft, sweet taro beneath. Pretty addictive stuff; just 40baht for a small box.

Pork in all its glory

Thong Lo Soi 38 is a mix match of excellent Thai street food stalls (note this is far away from the Sao Ching Cha area), often frequented by clubbers looking for their fill. My favourite without doubt is this shop doing a superb pork noodle soup.

It has an English menu, so it’s not hard to order their yellow noodles with crispy and roasted pork. The broth is saltyly moreish with a hint of sweetness from pork bones, and the crispy pork, well is self explanatory. The clever addition of Chinese celery adds a deliciously refreshing hit to round off a superb bowl of noodles.

At that time, even this outstanding bowl of noodles didn’t quite satisfy my hunger for more pork; so I nosily peered inside to see what else was on offer. Standing before me lay a huge pot containing a pork stew of all the flavour-packed offcuts, whose aromas were just too enticing, so I asked for a small bowl. The stew was incredibly rich and yet so incredibly good, and the meat that lay within was unctuously tender. Based on this, I’d say it’s worth being nosey every now and again.

Nearby, also on Soi 38, you’ll find a stall which does so called award-winning Phat Thai. I tried a bit of their Phat Thai Goong, and whilst it’s a pretty good rendition, I’d still say there’s room for improvement.

Crispy pork and rice with gravy

Pretty self explanatory. Crispy pork, roasted pork and Chinese sausage on rice with a sweet gravy. Hits the spot (Map: No. 7).

More interesting, however, was a sour n spicy fish dish:

And one whose veggies are packed full of flavour:

Worth checking this place out, especially if you’re in the neighbourhood for those Hainan noodles.

Koh Lipe Food Guide

Let the pictures do the talking.

Food epiphany: Som tam tod (fried papaya salad)

Sometimes, you have a realisation, which leads you to change the very manner in which you approach life itself. In my dictionary, I call those realisations epiphanies. I recently discovered at Koh Lipe’s Khonlay Restaurant (on Walking Street) that you can also have the food version of such realisations: a food epiphany.

What made me have a food epiphany? The dish pictured above, som tam tod (deep fried papaya salad). Why did it make me have an epiphany? Firstly, you would never expect a fried salad to be so good, and thus the extent of its excellence surprised me, even shocked me (but in a good way). Secondly, it was so good that I struggle to put it into words, but let me try. Soft on the inside, crispy on the outside tempura-esque slithers of fried green papaya, whose slight oiliness is cut through by the sour, spicy and sweet sauce on which it lies. Throw in crunchy snake beans, acidic tomatoes, earthy nuts and juicy deep-fried prawns, and you have a dish so good it shakes the very foundation of the old rule-of-thumb that som tam, gai yang and khao mun (som tam, grilled chicken and sticky rice) was always the way to go when eating som tam – well, I must say, after eating som tam tod, that perception has changed – hence, my food epiphany.

My only word of warning about this restaurant is that the service is extremely slow – so come for lunch, or an early or late dinner.

Razor Clams Two Ways

Khonlay Restaurant also knows how to cook seafood very, very well – exemplified by their use of razor clams. Below, you will see these creatures stir fried a la pad krapow – that is, with Thai basil, chilli, fish sauce and a slightly sweet soy. The aniseed hits marry beautifully against the juicy, ocean-sweet razor clams.

Even better than this, in my humble view, were the grilling of these unbelievably tasty sea dwellers on the barbeque in a light curry-based marinade, partnered perfectly with a delightfully heavy-on-the-ginger and garlic sweet chilli dip.

It’s not just the flesh of the razor clams which will awaken your taste buds, the smokily sweet juice of the clams of the shell are worth throwing your etiquette out of the window for a quick lick of the inside of the shell here and there. Just 250 Baht for both dishes (half kilo of razor clams), a bargain by any standards.

Simple ingredients, elegant execution

Koh Lipe’s best dinners tend to be of the barbequed type, with Monkey Bar’s being no exception. Here, their unique spicy-and-refreshing (I’m sure there was a hint of lemongrass in there) curry marinade does the trick. When laid atop fresh, succulent squid and charcoal-grilled to perfection, an additictively smokey taste leaves you wanting more.

When laid atop juicy, meaty tuna of the local variety, you have another winning dish.

Not quite as good but nonetheless a tasty treat were their grilled prawns (both xl and normal size).

This dinner, including matchingly refreshing large Chang’s, set us back only 300Baht each. Koh Lipe just kept impressing on the seafood front.

Southern style treats

Wonder along walking street and you’ll find a little restaurant focusing on roti, by the name of Roti Mina. This same restaurant doesn’t really cook your ‘classic Thai’ favourites like Phat Thai very well so stay away from those. What it does do well is a range of Southern dishes, which are hard to find elsewhere on the island.

First up is their deep fried clam omelette. Powerfully rich little clams, encased in a crispy egg based batter, are refreshed by the greenery of spring onions and the crunch of beansprouts, brought together by a sharp, sweet chilli dip. Good stuff.

Second is a special request from their menu – you will see a dish with a name which resembles “Beef/chicken fried with Southern-Style chilli paste” – get this but ask for prawns (goong in Thai) instead. The result is below. Simple, clean flavours, with a slight chilli and curry-esque aromatic hit.

Meal with a view

The Serendipity resort is probably Koh Lipe’s most hidden, secluded resort, and whilst the food is good, you’re more likely to come for the stunning setting atop a rocky perch on a private strip of pristine white sand.

Nonetheless, if you do come, here are a few of my recommendations for a slightly-expensive but nonetheless tasty dinner. For starters, their Thai style fried chicken wings are exceptionally crispy, with a pleasant garlic undertone.

Even better were their spring rolls; succulent prawn with coriander, garlic and water-chestnut enrobed in wafer thin crispy pastry worked a treat.

For mains, the fried red snapper is worth the money; a sizeable, fresh piece of snapper, crispy on the outside and juicy in the middle, laden with a slightly sweet sauce, accompanied by a rice pilaf and Chinese greens.

Also noteworthy was their jungle curry – made with a unique twist of pork belly. The only disappointment here was that the pork belly was not as melt-in-your mouth as I had envisioned, but nevertheless the flavour-packed sauce (note: jungle curries don’t have coconut milk!), enlivened with generous hits of coriander, made for a quirkily delicious dish.