Chatuchak - Famous for something else

Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok is famous for their bargains. But few tourists know that there is an equally famous food outlet - Chatuchak Pig Trotters.

Oddly enough, the outlet is located in a gas station… Yes, right on the same premises as a gas station. Not the best location as parking is always a challenge there. But I can tell you that the place is a revelation really. We arrived at around 2pm and it was still rather crowded.

The air-conditioned outlet is spacious and clean.

When we sat down, they immediately placed 5 bowls of soup, 5 bowls of rice and then started taking order for the pig trotters and organs.

The soup is a pork based soup with seaweed, minced pork balls and liver. The seaweed adds a sweetness to the clear soup and it was so good, I had 2 portions!

Then came the highlight - the pork trotters. Braised till soft, the deboned trotter meat is soft and tender as one would expect. Nice taste of spices too - star anise, cinnamon and ginger.

Then there was another plate which is probably the trotter itself with bone and cartilage in. Plus some innards to go with. In our rush, I had forgotten to take picture of the chili sauce which is the vinegar type we have when we eat kway chap in Singapore. The trotters were so tender and meat fell off the bone and the cartilage was excellent too.

After my 2 bowls of soup and one bowl of rice accompanied by the pork trotters, I noticed they were putting aside the recently cooked trotters out to cool down.

Notice the amount of spices they use? Galangal, lemongrass, panda leave, garlic and many more.

Don't scoff at this pot - may not look appetizing but I can tell you the taste is wonderfully aromatic. Even the innards are flavorful and very tender.

So as far as I know, this is one place I will be going back to whenever I hit Bangkok and I go to OrTorKor Fruit Market for my fill of fruits. In fact, we went to OrTorKor right after our lunch here. Here is my previous post on OrTorKor. Stay tuned for a new report coming up.

Top Grade Sushi in BKK - Sushi Kanda

In my recent trip to BKK, we were hosted to a dinner at a Sushi Restaurant in Bangkok. Sushi Kanda.

From what I was told, they hand carry their seafood fresh from Japan everyday. The restaurant chefs are Japanese and so are the owners. So we do expect an authentic meal tonight. Here the sushi masters preparing dinner.

But to start off the evening, a bottle of Chateau Pavie… The Saint-Emilion Grand Cru did not disappoint after it was decanted. Excellent full bodied wine to say the least.

Then the food started rolling in - first up, lightly grilled sea scallops. Sprinkled with some chili flakes and eaten wrapped with the seaweed, the taste of the scallop was sweet.

Then came sashimi platter. Crab legs, fresh scallops and three types of fish - tuna, tuna belly and yellow tail. Crab legs were sweet as one you expect but the best part for me were the fresh scallops.

Otoro was also good - melt in your mouth quality fatty tuna belly.

Seems the night was going to be all about tuna - the soya sauce tuna. When I first had this dish many years ago, I had thought it was braised pork belly. Well done, not too salty and just a tad sweet.

Next up - one of my favorite, the Uni. Done here as uni sushi. Acquired taste - not many like the taste and texture of the uni. My wife does not like it so I get another share tonight!

Ikura-don was not something I liked initially. I had it once before but I guess the freshness was not up to par so the fishiness came through. It was not till recently when I tried it again that I realized that good quality salmon roe makes the difference. And I can say that this one was excellent!

Lobster sushi - this one I had to give up to my wife. She loves lobster. Sitting atop the sushi rice was the lobster brushed lightly with soya sauce. Sweet and salty at the same time. Actually one of my son dislike raw food, so I had his.

The grilled yellow tail cheek was done to perfection. Soft and moist on the inside, the cheek is sprinkled with salt and grilled. And we had to order sake to accompany this dish. Excellent pairing.

Fresh oysters - not my favorite so I passed. But from the looks of it, looks fresh. Those who had it liked it.

Then came the grilled mackerel. Instead of coming as a whole fish, the final product was deboned and sliced for easy eating. Grilled just nice with some sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

Otoro - that prized portion of the tuna. Here done sushi with a gold leaf. Honestly, the gold leave was more ornamental that taste changing. But the otoro was excellent.

Unagi - another one of those acquired taste. If not done right, the taste of the unagi will be overpowering and if too much sauce was put on, kills the taste of the unagi. In this case, the taste of the unagi was mild and the sauce compliments the unagi. And a generous piece of unagi too. And we are only like half way through...

Seared tuna was next. Not easy to do a good seared tuna but when done with sashimi grade tuna, the taste really comes through.

Blood red tuna sushi… yum yum.

Another one of my wife's favorite. Abalone. Fresh abalone was grilled and presented shell in.

Usually, fresh abalone tends to be hard but in this case, the meat was tender and flavorful.

I guess they grill the abalone with the shell - signs of the burnt marks on the abalone shell.

Another tuna sushi. Lightly brushed with soya sauce - the perfect accompaniment to the fresh tuna.

Squid sushi - not something I normally order. But when fresh ingredients are used, the squid and sushi tastes a whole lot different. Slightly crunchy yet soft on the texture, fresh squid tastes sweet.

By now, we were stuffed! Really stuffed. So when we were told the next dish was the mackerel sushi, we told the chef to pack it for take away. The mackerel sushi uses cured (salted) mackerel dipped in vinegar and pressed on top of a bed of sushi rice.

The chef uses a wooden contraption to lay the mackerel, fill the rice, add the cucumber, another layer of rice before pressing the fillings to make a compact rice cake.

Coming towards the end was the miso soup. Rather normal.

And at last - dessert. I thought we never will finish the meal. Tofu tiramisu. A nice touch but I prefer the real tiramisu.

Oh did I mentioned we went through 6 bottles of cold sake? Well the boys had their first taste of sake. They liked it and so we had some. 6 bottles for 6 persons. So the night came to an end and we could have walked all the way back to the hotel to ease off the stomach. We were so full!

Great food, great company. What could one ask for more?

Thailand - More than Bangkok

The Amphawa Floating Market is about an hour and a half away from Bangkok and we recently made it there with the family.

The main attraction is if course the floating market as well as a ride around to see the fireflies. The view along the Mae Khlong River in the evening is stunning having arrived around 6pm on a Sunday evening.

We had chartered a boat to bring us from the jetty along the river into the canals. I had to sit in the centre - I am the balance for the boat… The boys sat in the front.

Then the view of the market came into sight. Rows of boats anchored to the side of the canal selling cooked food. The shops are along the boardwalk.

The floating boats are selling cooked food - mostly freshly grilled seafood as well as the ubiquitous pad thai. Seafood available are usually scallops, fresh river prawns, squid and crabs.

So we walked around and finally settled down for dinner. One can choose to sit along the canal right above where the floating boats cook the food. But being a Sunday night, we could not get a seating area for 5. So we settled for a seat inside a coffee house somewhere in the middle of the canal. We ordered the food and the stall holders will deliver. First up, the pad thai stall.

Then the seafood stalls.

Then the taste test… pad thai first. The pad thai comes with small packets of sugar and chili flakes. Authentic pad thai as one would expect. Crunchy bean sprouts, fragrant egg stir fry with the noodles. Add to that some prawns and squid and it becomes a great dish.

The seafood followed quickly. First up the scallops. Looks nice but rather disappointing. The scallops were small and over-grilled.

So too was the sea bass. Wrapped in tin foil, the fish was grilled with scales on. What I liked was the lemongrass, lime and basil leaves they stuff into the cavity of the fish before grilling. Ok but not great.

The best dish was the grilled squid - done just nice. Slightly charred on the outside and still juicy on the inside. And when you dip into the thai sauce, great stuff!

The river prawns were not too bad but unlike their sea water counterparts, the river prawns are not as sweet.

Typically big headed prawns, it is a good thing they don't charge by weight.

Along the canal, some shops sell other foodstuff like fried fish balls. As we were already full, I did not try them.

Available are also steam paos.

And some fish paste dish - somewhat like our otak otak.

And when you are done, sit by the canal and watch the sunset.

After dinner, we went for a boat ride out towards the Mae Klong River to see fireflies in the dark. Unfortunately, it was a full moon night so the sky was a little too bright to be able to fully appreciate the fireflies. Still, it was a nice experience. Give it a go the next time you visit Bangkok. Something unusual.