Unstoppable Food Hunting at Yaowarat - Bangkok's Chinatown

11:53 PM
By Alehana
5 Comments

If you are given a chance to eat whatever you want in one night, what will you eat? Delicious appetizers? Mouth-watering main courses? Or unlimited desserts? So hard to decide, right?! It happened to me when I was in Bangkok. Thailand Tourism Board along with Yuk Makan invited me to have a culinary journey in Thailand. I stayed in the old part of the city, which only 5 mins walk away from Yaowarat Road – the biggest Chinatown in Bangkok! If you are used to eat Thailand dishes like Pad Thai or Tom Yum, Yaowarat will bring a special Chinese-Thai fusion cuisines. Along the way, there are hundreds of hawkers, selling different types of dishes. I was overwhelmed! Kudos to my super kind Thai bestfriends, we are up to something awesome. So, what to eat in Yaowarat??

1^st Stop: Fish Maw Soup (Kra Pro Pla Nam Dang)

Fish maw is taken from fish belly, having a gooey and sticky texture. It resembles shark’s fin without using the real sharks fin. The soup was boiling and topped with shredded crab meat. I was a bit disgusted when I saw it (it looks like beef’s knuckle – ‘kikil sapi’), but the taste was awesome! You can mix it with beansprout, coriander leaves and red pepper if you like spicy food. Many people queue for long hours because this 40 THB (15K IDR only) a bowl is such a treasure! Psst.. do not forget to try their seafood noodle, so yummy too! The stall is located in front of shredded pork shop with big cute statue of standing pig.

2^nd Stop: Wonton Cha Siew Noodle at Mangkon Khao Stalls

If you know the concept of Yin & Yang, that life is all about balance, this is it! The dry curly noodle with pork cha siew slice is perfectly combined with a warm soup flavor. It results in such a perfect combination! Initially, you should tell the seller which type of wonton that you want. There are shrimp wontons, pork wonton, or even mix. Obviously, I tried the mix wonton. Then, you can order whether curly or big noodle. You can order it dry or mix the noodle directly with soup. I am not a fan of pork, but this one was an exception. The pork was not oily and the flavor was subtle yet so delicious!

3^rd Stop: Thai-Chinese Rice Noodle (Kao Kai) at Kao Kai Ka Tra Tong Lung Stall

When I came there, the chef yelled at me and disallowed me to take photos. They also had rule that each person must order minimum 1 plate, if not than ‘Sorry-you-cannot-sit-with-us’ quote will go after you. The hawker itself was located in a shady alley in back part of Chinatown. While the food was being served on the table, I was tad shocked. It was very small and it could be finished in 4 bites! Despite its size, after I chewed it… OMG, it was such a joyful experience! Salty rice noodle mixed with iceberg lettuce and egg was never been that good. It was a very simple dishes, but a very hearty meal and you can feel the sincerity on it. The texture was al dente, and I felt like I could eat plenty more of this. Lovely experience!

4^th Stop: Thai Traditional Ice Dessert (Mam Kang Sai)

After big meals, I craved for some sweets. My friends suggested me to eat shaved ice. There are two types of shaved ice sold in Yaowarat; the modern shaved ice with syrup in Japanese-Korean style, or this traditional all-you-can-mix style. I picked the second one. The price was amazingly cheap, started from as little as 40 THB for 4 toppings! The toppings were out of the box too. There were jackfruit, durian, bubble, grass jelly, coconut, chestnut, lotus, and other Thai sweets with hardly-pronounced name. It was sweet but not too much, a bit similar with Es Campur (Indonesian version) The reason why I did not have a picture of me eating this ice because I finished the ice already when I remember to take a shot. It was tasty!

5^th Stop: Pa Tong Go

This super yummy Pa Tong Go perfectly ruined my diet! I was so full that night but I could not resist the crunchiness and sweetness from Pa Tong Go! It is a deep fried sweet flour ball with additional sauce. The flour ball is piping hot but the sauce is cold so it tasted awesome! You can also pick many types of sauce from original, green tea, strawberry, chocolate and many more. The inside part of Pa Tong Go is layered flour. Thus, it was very crispy and absorbed the sweet sauce very well. I licked the plate ‘til clean!

After all the delectable dishes, I felt so full yet so mesmerized. I did not expect that a food market like Yaowarat had many unrevealed culinary top secrets! Yum yum! My friends also told me the durian stall and one fried bread stalls in Yaowarat were one of the most famous hawkers ever. I wish I could eat all of them without being fat. *Sighs* So, now you know what to eat (read: must-eat!) in Yaowarat Chinatown. Let’s travel & eat together! Yuk Makan!

XOXO,
Na

P.S. More food review on nonahana.blogspot.com or IG: @triptasty.
Thank you Please & Mookie for guiding me around <3 font="">

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