CORNUCOPIA

Local delights

A rewarding restaurant crawl from Bangkok to Phetchaburi

SUTHON SUKPHISIT

I've written several times about restaurants within striking distance of Bangkok, where a good meal can be had after a manageable drive on a day off. The idea is to set off in the morning, arrive in time for lunch, and then return home by late afternoon.

But there are many people who like to make a weekend out of a trip into the provinces, spending Saturday night out of town and coming back on Sunday. Since the weekend is only two days long, the destination can't be too far, nor more than 200km or so, and reachable after a drive of perhaps three hours.

Given these requirements, there are many routes to choose from. For example, if you want to see a peaceful old riverside communities that have plenty of traditional local dishes (especially with fish), Uthai Thani on the bank of the Sakae Krang River is a good choice.

For mountains, forests and good steak and beef pies, head for Pak Chong or Khao Yai in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

If you are more in the mood for the seaside and some lively nightlife, there is Pattaya. For a quieter beach atmosphere, Haad Chao Samran or Cha-am in Phetchaburi are good places to consider.

Today I would like to focus on the route to Haad Chao Samran, and suggest that the most convenient way to get there is via Rama II Road, also called the Thon Buri-Pak Tho Road, even though there might by some slow stretches because of the construction being done in some places to widen the road.

Sea crabs just taken from the net and some others that have been steamed.

The view from Bang Taboon Canal.

`Nam phrik kapi' with `chakhram', `haw moke', `pla thu tom madan' and some fried `pla maw thate' at the Khun Ja restaurant.

After passing through Samut Songkhram, there is a turn-off to the left leading to Wat Khao Yee San. This is a shortcut to Haad Chao Samran in Phetchaburi province. It is a narrow road, and some stretches of it are being improved so you may have to drive slowly at times. But there is a good side to this because you will be able to admire the mangrove forests that flourish along both sides of it.

The community around Wat Khao Yee San is located on the banks of Bang Taboon Canal. The local people make mangrove charcoal, the best kind for grilling because it burns very hot without throwing off sparks. The cutting of wild mangrove trees is forbidden, because they grown in salt marshes, which are protected. But community here grow mangroves on their own land especially to cut and burn to produce the charcoal for sale.

In front of Wat Khao Yee San is a very good restaurant called Khun Jaa. It is on the bank of the canal and the view is very pleasant. The dishes are made from fish that live in the brackish water. One of them is called the pla maw thate, which is similar to the popular fish pla salit. The kitchen at Khun Jaa prepares it by coating the fillet with nam pla (fish sauce), semi-drying it for one day, and then frying it until it turns golden yellow. It is served with nam prik kapi (a prawn and chilli dipping sauce) together with lightly scalded phak chakhraam doused with coconut cream. (Phak chakhraam is an herb with fine, thread-like leaves that grows in salty soil near the sea).

Khun Jaa makes very good thawt man (a deep-fried fish and herb patty) and offers a local speciality called pla tho tom madan. This dish resembles a tom yam with the fish (a kind of mackerel) cooked in a broth made sour by madan fruit instead of lime. Madan are seasonal fruits, however, and when they are not available the dish is made the usual way, with lime.

Khun Jaa is open only for lunch, and closes at 4pm. They close before dark because this area is dense with mosquitoes in the evening.

Leaving the Khun Jaa restaurant and continuing along the road to Bang Taboon Bay, which runs along beside Bang Taboon Canal, the bay comes into view when you reach a high bridge that spans the canal. On one side of the bridge is a restaurant called Lae Lay that serves delicious food and has a view of the sea. Some of the best dishes on the menu are kaeng som pu ma kap bai chakhram (a yellow, sour-sweet-spicy curry without coconut cream made with crabs and the herb mentioned above) and pla duke thalay phat cha sai krachai bai makrod (saltwater catfish fried with chillies and herbs and served in a basket made from kaffir lime leaves).

Also near the bridge is a shop operated by the local municipal administration. On some days it offers a sweet made from the eggs of the horseshoe crab. It is a local delicacy made by frying shredded coconut in palm sugar until it become sticky and viscous, then adding the horseshoe crab eggs. The taste is extremely sweet (like the sugar and coconut candy called maphrao kaew), but it also has the flavour and aroma of the horseshoe crab eggs. It is made by the wife of one of the local administrators, and is unavailable on days when no horseshoe crabs with eggs have been caught.

The road then enters Amphoe Ban Laem in Phetchaburi, where the biggest salt evaporation fields in Thailand are located. No salt is produced during the rainy season, but the expansive fields, stretching all the way to the sea, are there to see.

If want to see the salt fields, when you reach Amphoe Ban Laem, go left. If you turn right, you will reach the city of Phetchaburi. If you want to go on into Phetchaburi after seeing the fields, keep an eye out for a narrow road called Thanon Pak Thalay when you are almost at the end of the salt field area. It leads to the city.

Phetchaburi is a province that has many claims to fame. It has a great number of sugar palms, most of them in the Amphoe Ban Taan area, which is far to the west and quite a long distance from the sea. Because of them, the province is well known for its sugar production.

Phetchaburi is also famous for its indigenous version of khao chae (a dish consisting of white rice in chilled, flower-scented water served with an array of delicate side dishes). It is different from the usual version, which is of Mon descent, and has been adapted as an item of Thai royal cuisine. The Phetchaburi version includes Chinese radish that has been shredded and fried in a sweet-salty mixture; little balls made from fermented shrimp paste, dried fish, palm sugar, and other ingredients that are dipped in egg and fried; and pla wan, made by shredding saltwater fish and frying it together with krachai (an aromatic rhizome), sugar, and salt.

There are dozens of places to buy khao chae along central Phetchaburi City's Sip Paed Metr Road. This road runs through the busiest part of town, where there is a market that is open all day. The most interesting part of the market is the seafood area.

The food of Phetchaburi is typical of that served throughout the Central Region. There are coconut cream-based curries like kaeng khio wan and kaeng daeng and hot stir-fries. The dishes always use saltwater rather than freshwater fish. Some popular favourites include kaeng saparot kab khai maeng da (a pineapple curry with horseshoe crab eggs), kaeng khio wan pu ma sai fak thong (a spicy coconut cream-based curry made with a kind of sea crab and pumpkin squash), phat phet hoy malaeng phu (spicy stir-fried mussels), and thawt man pla inse (deep-fried fish patties).

There is a local curry called kaeng hua tan made from a fresh-water fish, the dried meat of the pla chon (snake head). It is made with the unripe fruits of the sugar palm, which are cut very thin and fried with curry spices, coconut cream, and the dried fish, with sugar and nam pla added. Kaeng hua tan is a local speciality of the people of Amphoe Ban Laad, located in the western part of the province.

Haad Jao Samran contains a long road that runs along the seaside. There are many hotels and resorts, but near the end of the road are quiet and peaceful accommodations with reasonable prices.

At the very end is a bridge that crosses a canal and then connects with the road that goes to Amphoe Ban Laem, where the salt fields are. Near the bridge is a place where the fishermen moor their boats. Most of them go out at night to catch sea crabs or squid, returning in the morning, when they doc the boats and disentangle the squirming catch from their nets.

These crabs are top quality. Anyone can buy them at the same price that the fishermen sell them to market vendors. They are best when steamed and eaten right away, and this isn't hard to do because there is a little restaurant right nearby that will steam them and serve them together with a good seafood dipping sauce.

They make for a wonderful Sunday lunch before the drive back to Bangkok.

These are a few places to bear in mind if you decide to get together with a carload of family or friends and head down to Haad Jao Samran over the weekend for a good meal and a change of atmosphere.

---

Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next