Sorndaeng

  I've eaten at many, if not most of the upscale Thai restaurants in Bangkok, and have rarely, if ever, had a good meal. Nothing I ate at these restaurants was necessarily bad--no hairs were found, no surly service, nothing rotten--but rather, the food left no impression whatsoever. The general phenomenon seems to be that the more you pay for Thai food, the less flavourful it is, and the more predictable the menu tends to be.

Exploring Banglamphu with friends on a recent Sunday, it didn't take us very long to realize that on Sunday, in Banglamphu, absolutely nothing is open. Luckily, a few days previously, I was reminded of an upscale Thai restaurant that I've always suspected might be different from the rest, so we made it up Th Dinso to Sorndaeng.

A sign out front claims that Sorndaeng has been around since 1957.  A glance into the dining room shows that very little appears to have changed in 51 years: the service staff dress like soldiers, there are doilys and frumpy furniture, live lounge music (appropriately, a mild version of 'Sukiyaki' was sung at one point), and of course that most telling sign of old-school Thai elitism, a table dominated by several big-haired, silk-wearing Thai-Chinese women:

A had been eating here since she was young, and suggested we order krathong thong:

'golden baskets' with a sweet/savoury filling.

I ordered lon kapi, a savoury 'dip' served with fresh vegetables and herbs:

and yam som oh, pomelo salad:

The former was a very good take on a dish that's somewhat hard to find, and the latter was simple but delicious, incorporating no more than five ingredients including deep-fried cashews, and if I remember correctly, roasted coconut.

A ordered fish maw fried with egg and bean sprouts:

a dish I didn't think I would like, but which was actually very nice, deliciously eggy and smokey, a lot like or suan.

P ordered mee krop, just to see how it would stand up to that of Chote Chitr:

It wasn't bad, but not nearly as rich, citrusy and complex as Chot Chitr's.

We had a couple other things as well, including a soup with duck and pickled lime, and the yummy crab-filled hor mok shown at the top of the post. Virtually every dish was excellent.

Sorndaeng also proved to be one of the few places I was actuallly inspired to order a dessert:

Mango and sticky rice--a Thai cliche, but still very nice, even if it wasn't peak mango season.

Finally: highly recommendable upscale Thai food.

Sorndaeng (Google Maps link) 78/2 Th Ratchadamnoen Klang 02 224 3088 10am-11pm

Free meal

If you're hungry, in Bangkok, and don't happen to have any money, I'd suggest stopping by Government House. At the moment there's a crazy party going on there with heaps of free nosh:

It's been said somewhere that you always end up paying for free things, and I reckon the cost here would be having to eat your free pork and sticky rice while being forced to listen to somebody screaming about the current Prime Minister must 'die'. I lost my appetite, which was really too bad, as the selection of food was pretty impressive: curries, stir-fries, an abundance of omelets, candy and buns. If you wait long enough, an expensive German car will inevitably pull up and and unload even more food:

And when you're full, there are lots of pleasant places to relax:

It's the hottest party in town. And it's all free. Details here.

Get cooking

It's been a while since I've featured any recipes on these pages, and unfortunately, I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to do that anytime soon. Luckily, thanks to Maytel, I was recently reminded of a couple good Thai recipes sites that I'd forgotten about along the way:

Appon's Thai Food features nearly 1,000 authentic and well-organized Thai food recipes, all put together by a native of Thailand. She even has short audio clips of her pronouncing the various dishes and ingredients. Very cool.

And Thai Food Tonight has a recipe page featuring videos (and recipes) of quite a wide spectrum of Thai dishes. The woman featured in the videos, Dim Geefay, previously hosted a Thai cooking programme on US television.

Phitsanulok, August 16, 2008

A Chinese temple in Phitsanulok. I like the colours and the reflection of light off the puddles and the bus.

Northern noodles

Noodles are ubiquitous across all of Thailand, but they often take slightly different forms depending on where in the country you are. I was surprised to find quite a few different kinds of noodles on my recent trip up north. Of course, there's the famous khao soi:

and khanom jeen:

Paa Pong, the restaurant above, is in Lampang and is only open Saturday and Sunday. You can easily identify the shop by the long row of bubbling curries, which are served over the fresh rice noodles.

Paa Pong (Google Maps link) 125 Th Talat Kao, Lampang 085 706 7748 7am-10pm, Sat-Sun

But there are also some relatively unknown noodle dishes up north. The bowl at the top of this post is from Kamphaeng Phet. They make their own bamee, wheat noodles at this restaurant, which were slightly thinner and firmer than those elsewhere. The dish combines several types of pork and is served with par-boiled sliced green beans and bean sprouts on the side. The 'dry' (served without broth) version was excellent, and included just enough oily broth to moisten the noodles.

Bamee Chakangrao (Google Maps link) Th Ratchadamnoen, Kamphaeng Phet 8:30am-3pm In Phitsaunlok, there are a few noodle restaurants known for their seating, rather than their food:

Known has kuaytiaw hoy khaa ('hanging leg' noodles), you sit on the floor with your feet hanging over the edge, all the while looking over the Nan River. The noodles aren't too exceptional, but it actually was a fun way to sit and eat. One of the better restaurants (but not the one shown above) was:

Rim Nan (Google Maps link) 5/4 Th Phaya Sua, Phitsanulok 081 379 3172 9am-4pm

Sukhothai is known for its noodles that, like those of Kamphaeng Phet, combine several variations on pork, including an optional pork crackling topping:

as well a slightly sweet broth with more par-boiled sliced green beans and ground peanuts. Sukhothai noodles are usually, but not always, served with rice, rather than wheat noodles.

Jay Hae, the popular restaurant where I had the above bowl, also fries the noodles in the form of 'old fashioned' phat thai:

Jay Hae (Google Maps link) Th Jarot Withithong, Sukhothai 05 561 1901 7am-4pm

Hot off the presses!

  In addition to the previously-mentioned writing work, I did the photos (but not the covers) to two new Lonely Planet guides, Phuket Encounter and Bangkok Encounter.

Buy them at Lonely Planet or Amazon.

Hot off the presses!

Several months' work has finally taken a tangible form. Lonely Planet's Bangkok, which I co-authored with Andrew Burke, and Thailand's Islands & Beaches, of which I wrote several chapters including Food, have finally been printed.

Buy them at Lonely Planet or Amazon.

Likay

A performer waiting to go onstage at a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.  

While in Kamphaeng Phet I was lucky enough to come across a performance of likay. Lucky because there's not a whole lot to do in Kamphaeng Phet and also because likay is incredibly photogenic. Likay is, (taking from the upcoming Lonely Planet Bangkok) 'a colourful mixture of folk and classical music, outrageous costumes, melodrama, slapstick comedy, sexual innuendo and sociopolitical commentary'. It's quite a bit like ngiw, the Chinese drama which I've shown here previously.

The light was very irregular and it was at night, so I shot everything at ISO 800, the first time I've really shot that high with any of my cameras. The results seem to have come out OK, with less noise than I expected, and I actually kinda like the contrasty, saturated look of the images. I didn't get too many pics of the actual performance, as I found the backstage action a lot more interesting.

Getting reading for a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.  

Musicians playing at a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.

Getting reading for a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.  

Performing and offstage at a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.  

Performers waiting to go onstage at a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.  

Getting reading for a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.  

Performers waiting to go onstage at a likay performance, Kamphaeng Phet.  

Lampang's evening market

I've been in northern Thailand for two weeks now, but Lampang is as far north as I've made it. As one goes further south within phaak nuea (northern Thailand), the language, culture and food become more like those of central Thailand, so Lampang was really my only chance to get my hands on good, authentic northern-style Thai food.

Luckily it's a pretty good place to do this. There aren't too many restaurant serving local food, but the city's night market is terrific, although everything is take-away only. Luckily the folks at Riverside Guest House were kind enough to let me use their dishes.

It was very wet when I was in Lampang, and the market had lots of rainy season goodies such as bamboo:

and mushrooms:

Typical of northern Thai markets are the pre-portioned bundles of veggies and herbs for the various soups and curries. The one below is to make kaeng khae, the famous northern Thai herb-laden soup:

This woman made one of the best kaeng hangleh (a Burmese-style pork curry) I've had:

And the pic at the top of the post? The chilies, garlic and shallots will be peeled then pounded up with fish sauce to make naam phrik num, the famous northern Thai chili 'dip'.

Primitive photography

Definitely an pic that requires a bit of explanation...

The above is a camera obscura image of Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, a 700-year old temple compound outside the northern Thai city of Lampang. On the grounds of this temple is tiny elevated room with a small hole in the door. A white sheet hangs inside, and the light projected through the hole creates the (upside down) image shown at the top. For some reason, women are not allowed in this particular part of the temple.

Here's what the temple looks like:

For larger version of this image, go here.

I put my camera on a tripod and used a 15 second exposure (at ISO 400, f/4.5) to get the pic at the top. Would be fun to put a piece of photographic paper in place of the sheet; I'll bet the colours and textures would result in a fascinating image, perhaps something like this:

Phitsanulok, August 16, 2008

Guess it wasn't that important of a prayer.

Here's the same woman again, still yakking on her mobile phone, while coming out of the temple--one of Thailand's most sacred:

Just curious, in the country where you're reading this, do people talk on mobile phones while in mosque/synagogue/church? One sees it here quite often.

Cutting board meatballs

It was at Lampang's night market that I first came across look chin khiang, 'cutting board meatballs' (shown above). Several vendors were selling them, and just about everybody was eating them. Initially I was impressed by their size--roughly equivalent to a child's fist. But I also really loved how they were served. After being grilled:

the gigantic meatballs were served with a steak knife, the porcine cutting board shown above, and a sweet bottled-tasting sauce. Unskewer, cut, dip and eat.

They tasted about as good as they look.

Khun Manee

Khun Manee is a respected maker of khao taen (pictured above), rice cakes that are deep-fried and drizzled with palm sugar, in Lampang, a city in northern Thailand that is known for the sweet.

To make khao taen, sticky rice (both the white and 'black' varieties) is steamed then mixed with watermelon juice. This gives the rice a slightly pink colour and sweet flavour. The still soft rice is then pressed into rings:

and the cakes are then left in the sun to dry, which I was told usually takes a couple days, depending on the weather:

When sufficiently dry, the cakes are deep-fried. Khun Manee does this herself:

The cakes puff up amazingly fast, and a batch is done in less than 15 seconds.

The rice cakes are allowed to cool, then they are drizzled with a mixture of warm palm sugar, sesame seeds and a tiny bit of salt:

Khao taen were probably the first Thai sweets I ever tried (I was a student in Chiang Mai where they're also popular), and are still among my favourite, although I usually prefer the kind topped with sugarcane sugar. Nonetheless, I still downed a (rather large) bag of Khun Manee's in 1 1/2 sittings.

Khun Manee (Google Maps link) 35 Th Ratsada, Lampang (054) 312 272

In transit

  Am currently in northern Thailand, where khao soi (pictured above) has been flowing through my veins for the last few days.  Will follow up soon with exciting, action-packed dispatches from Lampang, Sukhothai and elsewhere...

Chinatown, August 1, 2008

A resident of Bangkok's Chinatown in front of his home

Barber shop in Bangkok's Chinatown 

Th Yaowarat, the main street in Bangkok's Chinatown 

Along Th Charoeng Krung, Bangkok's Chinatown 

A tea vendor in Bangkok's Chinatown 

Checking out Buddhist amulets in Bangkok's Chinatown 

For entire photoset go here.

Bang Saen, again

Bang Saen, the nearest beach from Bangkok, was the topic of my first blog post. That was way back in 2005, and I think I've only been back once since then.  It was high time for a re-run, so with Hock and Maytel and their mad wheelz, A, and all of our empty stomachs, we headed out on a recent Sunday.

Bang Saen is quintessentially Thai in that it's a beach where people go to eat, not to swim. You'll see a couple kids splashing around in the water, but the vast majority of people who go there plan to stay dry and eat all manner of seafood. All of Bang Saen's eats are prepared at dozens of tiny but bulging portable stalls at the edge of the sand:

It's been a mighty long time since I took part in good, old-fashioned yam khai maengdaa thale, horseshoe crab egg salad (shown at the top of this post), and I had plans to order this even before boarding the vehicle. Hock didn't seem so keen on it, but I really liked the combination of the strips of sour mango and the weird crunchiness of the eggs.

It's a given that somebody will order grilled prawns:

Maytel loved these. I'm not sure if I even got to taste one, but I did quite enjoy the garlicky seafood dipping sauce.

A ordered yam thua phloo, wing bean salad, which was a wise decision indeed:

mostly as there was no lack of crispy deep-fried shallots.

Somebody ordered po taek, a delicious variant on the ubiquitous tom yam:

which includes a variety of seafood and a generous handful of bai kraphrao, holy basil leaves.

And there was a grilled plaa kraphong:

which unusually, was stuffed with herbs, and less unusually, accompanied by more garlic-loaded seafood sauce.

A beautiful sunset was an appropriate end to our meal:

After which we left Bang Saen, feeling high from all the garlic.

The entire set of images can be enjoyed here.

Kuaytiaw khua kai

Kuaytiaw khua kai, wide rice noodles fried with chicken and egg, is a dish found all over Bangkok's Chinatown. I've had it a couple times, but have never been blown away, usually finding it often too bland or too oily. However a recent peek into a normally dark alleyway revealed the best take on the dish so far.

The dark alleyway in question, which also doubles as stall's 'dining room', is Trok Issaranuphap (Charoen Krung Soi 14), the hectic market alleyway generally known as talaat mai:

The owner stations himself at the top of the alley near Th Yaowarat and painstakingly fries the dish on a small brass plate over hot coals with no more than a tablespoon. The noodles, fried with garlic-steeped oil, stick to the pan, which coupled with the coals, gives the dish a deliciously smoky flavour and an occasionally crispy texture. In addition to egg and chicken, crunchy pickled squid and chopped green onions are added, and the whole lot is served on a bed of lettuce:

With a sprinkle of salty fish sauce, a dash of chili, and accompanied by the stall's sweet lamyai juice, kuaytiaw khua khai is one of Chinatown's better noodle dishes.

Kuaytiaw khua kai (Google Maps link) Trok Issaranuphap (corner Charoen Krung Soi 14 & Th Yaowarat) 6-10pm

Jok

One thing I particularly love about eating out in Bangkok is the informality. I've witnessed firsthand the hoops that people have to go through simply to eat out (not to mention the prices associated with this) in most other big cities around the world, and love the fact that I can virtually waltz into just about any place in town on a whim. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever even had to make a reservation for a restaurant in Bangkok. Until now, that is.

That reservations are necessary at Jok, a tiny restaurant in a tiny alley in Chinatown, is not surprising, given that the restaurant only has four tables. This is actually a significant increase from the time when Jok was famous for having a single table. But despite the 400% increase in seating, a three-month wait is still the norm here, and according to Mr Jok himself, no amount of money or rank will influence this. Luckily I have friends with more connections than myself who were able to take advantage of a last-minute cancellation. So on a recent Saturday the five of us headed over to Chinatown for a particularly decadent lunch.

There's no menu at Jok, and arriving at the restaurant, we were simply seated and told of what was available. We were begun with wontons:

which were generously stuffed with shrimp and topped with a delicious blanket of crispy deep-fried garlic. Almost dumpling-like, they appeared to have been steamed rather than boiled.

Possibly my favourite dish was a platter of smoked meats, including fatty pork, pork tongue and duck:

The meats had the slightest whiff of alcohol (Chinese cooking wine, we theorised), coupled with a favourable fattiness and a rich smokiness. The dish wasn't necessarily indicative of the chef's skills, but did show his talent for choosing high quality ingredients.

There were deep-fried snowfish steaks served on a bed of iceberg lettuce:

This was probably my least favourite dish of the meal. I've always found snowfish (plaa hima) impressive looking, but underwhelming in the flavour department. And if you ask me, iceberg lettuce belongs on Big Macs and not much else.

This was followed by steamed crab (pictured at the top of this post). In talking to chef Jok after dinner, we learned that his family had been in the crab business for 70 years. Indeed, it was while delivering seafood to Chinatown's various restaurants, he explained, that he 'learned' many of the recipes that later became the basis of his restaurant. It goes without saying that Jok knows his crab, and this was by far the meatiest I've ever come across, although unfortunately it appeared to have been steamed long before reaching our table.

We loved the abalone stir-fried with dried musrhooms and Chinese kale:

Until, that is, Mr Jok matter-of-factly informed us that it was mock abalone (apparently made from squid). Regardless, for me at least, this took nothing away from the peppery spiciness of the sauce and the delicious mushrooms and kale--my favourite parts of the dish.

Next was a dish of prawns deep-fried with ginkgo nuts:

This also turned out to be slightly disappointing, as the prawns were overcooked. I did like the texture of the ginkgo nuts though, which were pleasantly rubbery, not floury as I expected.

I really enjoyed Jok's 'Old-fashioned fried rice':

which contained more of that deliciously smokey pork (one of our group bought half a kilo to take home). According to one of the cooks, making the dish involved steaming rice, cooling it under a fan, refrigerating it overnight, separating the grains, and then slowly frying it, to allow the flavours of the various ingredients to penetrate the rice. It works, and the grains of rice were both rich, as well as separate and not overcooked.

Fried rice was followed by a delicious soup of grouper and pickled greens, and we assumed our meal was over at this point, but Mr Jok wanted us to try his most recent menu item, shrimp-and-fishcakes:

Part of the postprandial ceremony is the obligatory picture with Chef Jok himself:

And of course, if you'd like to come back, the reservation:

I suspect there'd be a minor catastrophe if this book was lost. Our next visit? Sometime in November.

Jok (Google Maps link) 23 Trok Issaranuphap Chinatown, Bangkok 02 221 4075, 02 623 3921, 081 919 9468

Calling all Oregonians

A curry dinner at Jek Pui, a popular stall in Bangkok's Chinatown that has no tables. 

18 of my Thai food images are currently on display at Pok Pok, the Portland restaurant that in 2007, was The Oregonian's Restaurant of the Year. Andy, Pok Pok's chef/owner was recently on a recon trip here in Thailand, and we were able to meet up and visit some of the places pictured. It is highly unlikely that I'll be able make it over to Portland to witness this for myself, so I encourage anybody in the area to stop by on my behalf. I've heard the food's pretty good too...

Things I like about Laos #4: coffee

It's by no means the best coffee in the world, and often the amount of sweetened condensed milk is enough to give a diabetic nightmares, but the combination of product and place makes Lao coffee a mighty satisfying brew.

It's particularly nice when consumed at Pasaneyom, a tiny family-run coffee shop in Luang Prabang:

Before the town's morning market was moved a few blocks away, the place was very popular among tourists, and they often outnumbered locals. Today it's a bit quieter and the locals have come back. The original owner died a few years back, but his son and daughter-in-law (pictured above) carry on the tradition of a caffeine-fueled breakfast next to the Mekong.