- Good morning!
I hope you're having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens, I'm in
Chanthaburi, Thailand.
And Chanthaburi, it's about 250 kilometers
southeast of Bangkok on the coast.
It has a unique mix of cultures here
and some amazing food.
And so today we're gonna go
on a Thai street food tour of Chanthaburi.
We're also gonna explore some of the sites
and I'm gonna share it all with
you in this video right now.
(upbeat music)
(speaking foreign language)
We're starting off at the morning market
and there's just an abundance
of fresh ingredients here.
You can find ingredients
for anything you want
but there's lots of seafood
and this is one of the greatest places
to start your morning.
There's also a lot of pre-cooked food.
So we're gonna start eating very soon
but before we start eating
I just wanna tell you,
this is gonna be an entire video series.
We are eating our way through
the eastern part of Thailand.
And eastern Thailand, along the coast,
there are some very unique dishes
which I think are very underrepresented,
even in Bangkok, they are hard to find.
And so we're gonna be uncovering,
we're gonna be sampling.
I'm gonna be sharing with you
some of the lesser known Thai dishes
from the eastern regions of Thailand.
And so we're starting off in Chanthaburi.
We're gonna proceed on to Trat
and then go to some of the islands
and I'm gonna share it all
with you in this video series.
So make sure that you are subscribed.
Turn on your bell notification
so you get the next
notification of the next video
and okay, let's go to eat breakfast.
(speaking foreign language)
We're gonna start off
with some khao niaow bing,
which is just grilled sticky rice
but I could smell it
and it just looks cool.
She has little triangles of
neatly folded banana leaves
filled with sticky rice and
we got it stuffed with taro.
But yeah, it smells really good.
Okay, let's have a bite.
You take out the little bamboo toothpicks
and then you unwrap,
unwrap it revealing the sticky rice.
But I love the smell of
roasted banana leaves.
And you can see it's kind
of gummy, it's all molded.
Oh, it's so hot and steaming
and then there should be some
taro in the center there.
Oh, yeah.
That just slow roasts on
the grill so it remains hot.
What I like most about this
is that you have the sweetness
and I think there is some
coconut milk in there
but it's contrasted by some saltiness.
And then you've got the gooey sticky rice
but at the same time because
it's slow roast on the grill
you have some crunchy edges
and the whole packet is just smoky too.
Fantastic.
(speaking foreign language)
The gai yang, the grilled chicken here
looks and smells so good
that we cannot pass it by.
So we're getting some grilled chicken
but after that we've decided
that we're gonna walk a little
ways outside of the market
to the old town to eat a
special type of noodle dish.
It's fresh right off the grill.
It's hot, it's glistening.
It's really hot.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh, the juiciness of that.
And as she grills it,
she just continuously bastes it
with some kind of oil sauce
that's extremely tasty.
Oh, that's some really good gai yang.
And they sell just chicken non-stop.
(upbeat music)
That is extraordinarily juicy.
(speaking foreign language)
Just outside the market
we've stumbled into a lady
from her motorbike food cart.
She is selling sen chan.
It's one of the well known
noodle dishes of Chanthaburi
and she was actually
just, I didn't know this.
She just explained to us that sen chan,
so sen means noodle, chan
is short for Chanthaburi.
So it's the noodles of Chanthaburi.
So this is something you have to eat.
As soon as you walk past,
you can smell the aroma of the noodles.
It has this sweet chili aroma
coming from this entire cart.
This entire area actually.
So I'm just gonna post
up right here on her cart
and sample this.
But you can see there's
some little crabs in here.
She adds on some bean
sprouts and some chives.
Mmm!
Oh.
Oh, that's delicious.
I mean that is sweet enough
that you could actually call it a dessert.
But at the same time it is
quite well balanced with flavor.
She makes it all traditional style.
For the sweetness she adds in palm sugar
as well as tamarind.
But what I really notice
is you can really taste
the garlic in there.
And you've got that salty sweet contrast
and additionally the noodles,
they have that really wonderful
gummy texture without being mushy
and you can eat the whole crab.
So I'll try a crab next.
Oh yeah.
That has a crunch to it.
That tastes like exaggerated
crab flavor and I like it.
Tastes like crab eggs.
(upbeat music)
I gotta say, it's a little,
I mean it's very sweet for me.
But it is really good.
I like that balance of flavor.
I love that garlic
and I like the texture of the noodles.
And she is just awesome too.
(bright pop music)
One of the greatest charms
of being in Chanthaburi
is exploring that Chanthabun,
the riverside community.
Yeah, the streets are just charming.
The old buildings, the
old wooden buildings,
the mix of Thai-Chinese
and even some European architecture.
But we're gonna explore this area more.
But first we're gonna go eat some noodles.
(speaking foreign language)
The restaurant is right
within the riverside community
and it's called Je Eat
and she specializes in
a mix of seafood noodles
and so we ordered one with noodles
which is called Kuey Teow Tom Yam Thale
which is Tom Yam noodles
with a mix of seafood
and then we also got,
I think the same thing
but rice on the bottom
instead of noodles as well.
And what I like is that she
designs it so beautifully
and lays out the seafood.
The most notable seafood
on the plates is called goong
which is in English they're mantis prawns.
She has already them peeled
but they look like,
they definitely look like alien shrimp
if you see them raw.
It looks delicious and just a
blanket of different seafood
covering the rice and noodles.
I gotta try a mantis prawn first.
Oh, yes.
Mmm!
Oh!
Oh, that's incredible.
It's been actually a long time
since I've had a mantis prawn.
It does have a similar taste to a shrimp
but it's more like succulent.
It's not quite as muscular.
It's a little softer.
Kind of like a cross
between a shrimp and crab.
Oh.
Oh, that's fantastic.
It's sour, it's nutty from peanuts.
You get a little bit of,
it's balanced with sweetness as well.
A little bit of chili flakes.
Stir this around.
Oh man.
This is a really good bowl of noodles.
Okay, I'll get another.
What shall I get?
Oh, some of that crab plus
some noodles on this bite.
(bright pop music)
The rice, actually this
is extremely beautiful.
So there's rice on the bottom
and again that same mix of seafood
and then it's served with a
seafood sauce on the side.
And I'm going straight for
that mantis prawn again
with crab, with a little
bit of everything.
Oh, yes.
(bright pop music)
Those mantis shrimp are fantastic.
I like it with that sauce too.
You've got the fresh chilies in there.
Oh yeah, I think I like the rice version
better than the noodles.
(upbeat pop music)
Oh yeah.
That's nice and fresh.
That's muscular.
That's my favorite kind of popsicle.
(bright pop music)
That was a delicious meal.
I especially liked the mantis shrimp.
Those mantis prawns, they're so succulent.
And actually conveniently
right around the corner
is one of the main catholic churches.
It's one of the main iconic
landmarks of Chanthaburi.
This entire riverside community,
you'll notice that it has a
real Thai-Chinese feel to it
but not only is there
a big Chinese influence
and Chinese came especially to trade
and to do commerce in this region.
What's also fascinating is that
there's a Vietnamese
influence in this area
and additionally there's also influence
from French and Portuguese.
So Chanthaburi is really
a mixing melting pot.
(bright pop music)
This is one of the biggest
catholic cathedrals
in all of Thailand
and it was inaugurated back in 1909.
Built by the French in a
very brief period of time
when they occupied this region.
But now from what I was just reading
is that most of the people in this area
have a Vietnamese descent.
You can't go inside right now
but it's just nice to walk around
to get a view of the cathedral,
walk around this public square
and in the evening especially,
people come here just to hang out,
kinda just stroll around the square
and it's a very nice environment.
(bright pop music)
There are so many amazing
old wooden buildings in this community,
some of them are a little bit abandoned
like this one right here.
But others of them are still occupied,
people live within them still.
They're nicely renovated
and others have turned into
souvenir shops or little cafes.
But it's really pleasant.
Check out this building right here.
This is one of my favorites.
(speaking foreign language)
So I'm just walking past.
He watches our videos
and they are making some fish cakes.
In Thai they are called tod man
but this one is a unique version
because there's something
called krawan on top of it,
kinda plastered into it
and krawan, I believe that
it's the cardamom stems
but it's an amazing herb ingredient.
Okay, I can't wait to try this.
Mmm.
Oh.
Oh, it's fantastic.
That's all fish.
I love the spongy texture.
There's definitely some
red curry paste in there.
It's got that really smoky flavor.
- Thank you so much.
- Very good.
And that krawan comes in really nicely.
It's such a pungent herb.
Yeah, it's delicious.
(speaking foreign language)
That was some really
good grilled fish cakes.
Thank you.
(upbeat music)
I've been walking around
for at least an hour.
I think it's time for lunch
but Micah and Ying have
gone back to take a nap.
I'm gonna go to,
if you ask anybody
what restaurant to eat
local food at in Chanthaburi
this is one of the number
one recommendations
and I'm gonna go meet Songkram,
he's from Chanthaburi.
We're gonna go have lunch together.
Songkram.
So just one street parallel
to the walking street,
the whole riverfront community,
is this is one of the most
legendary restaurants in Chanthaburi,
it's called Chantorn Pochana.
And they have some unique dishes.
I'm excited to try the food here.
I really wanna experience
and share with you
some of the unique rare to
find elsewhere in Thailand
dishes of Chanthaburi.
Say hello to Songkram.
- Hello.
- All the food looks fantastic
but the number one dish
I was really looking forward to trying
at this restaurant specifically,
also in Chanthaburi is massaman durian.
And so massaman is a very common dish
but it's also a fusion dish
because it has Persian origins
mixed with Thai ingredients.
You can smell the spices
coming off of here
but normally it's just made with chicken
or another type of meat
and no durian is usually involved
but in Chanthaburi this is
one of the signature dishes
with durian in it.
Look at that rich nutty oily sauce.
Oh, big chunks of chicken but ah, yeah.
I have to try one of the chunks of durian.
Mmm!
Oh, wow.
Oh, that's incredible.
It doesn't really have
any of the characteristics
of a ripe durian.
It's much more potatoey
but at the same time it's a
lot more creamy than a potato.
Almost like taro but it's
not dry at all either.
And the massaman here is
actually fantastic as well.
It does have a sweet taste to it
but you can really taste the undertone
of the dry spices in there.
The cumin, there's probably
some turmeric in there,
the coriander.
That is a stunner.
Oh.
Oh, the creaminess of that durian.
The next dish is called
gaeng moo chamuang.
And this is also a very
local, very popular dish,
but it's not that common outside
of this region of Thailand.
And chamuang is a leaf.
In English it is the cowa garcinia leaf.
I think that's the scientific name
but that's the leaf
that's used in this curry
and okay, let's put some of
this on our rice and try it.
Mmm.
Oh.
You immediately get
an initial sweet and sour taste.
I think what I love most are those leaves
and the texture of the leaves.
You know how spinach has that kinda slimy
really soft texture to it?
These leaves are exactly
opposite of spinach.
They have a little crunch to them.
You can taste that they're cooked
but at the same time they don't get mushy
or soggy or slimy at all.
They remain crunchy.
The next dish and this is the dish
I'm most looking forward to trying.
This is one of my favorite dishes
from this region of Thailand.
This time they made it with fish,
stir fried up with krawan.
And krawan is, it's a local herb.
I believe that it's the stems
or the stalks of cardamom.
And also there's just
a ton of herbs in here.
It's a beautiful, beautiful dish.
Oh yeah.
Oh.
Oh wow.
Mhmm.
Oh, I love that krawan.
They have a texture like bamboo shoots
but they're like worlds of
flavor more than bamboo shoots.
They have kind of a ginger flavor,
kind of a lemongrass flavor.
A mix of all those.
And oh, it's good.
You've got the soft fish in there.
I absolutely love it.
And this one is called saeng wa
and it's minced up shrimp.
There are shallots in there.
It's like a dipping sauce
for all the vegetables that surround it.
This is just a gorgeous mixture though.
Look at all that.
Oh.
Oh.
Oh, I love it.
Oh, that's so good.
Now, I'm not totally sure
but I think that is not lime juice
but rather kaffir lime juice
which is not used all that
commonly anymore in Thai cuisine.
I mean the leaves are used immensely
but the actual fruit, I think that,
I think that's the juice from
the fruit of the kaffir lime.
It has a more mellow sourness to it.
But kind of like a deeper citrus flavor.
Oh, it's so good.
You've got the bits of shrimp in there.
You've got all the fine lemongrass.
You've got the shallots.
Mmm.
It's vibrantly refreshing.
Oh.
That's extraordinary.
Yeah, it's really really good.
Next up, for the soup tom rakam
and this one also has
krawan, the stems in it.
There's fish, look at that fish.
But yeah, rakam is a sour fruit
which is similar to snake fruit
and they add it to this as well.
This looks incredible.
(bright pop music)
This is the rakam, pieces of it.
It's a very sour fruit.
There are chilies in here
and then also the krawan.
That's all krawan in there.
So I'll take a little bit of,
let me try to get a
little bit of everything,
with the chili, some of the fish,
some of the krawan, and some
of the rakam all together.
(bright pop music)
Mmm!
The sourness from that rakam,
almost like a fermented sourness
and you taste that krawan,
the gingery lemongrass flavor
and the broth is so clean and pure.
Wow, wow, that's impressive.
And the final dish is gaeng pa pla
and this is really one
of my favorite dishes
in all of Thailand.
I know I say that a lot.
This really is one of my standards.
Something, if I see it on a
menu, I can't help but ordering.
Jungle curry with fish.
It's just always spicy,
it's loaded with herbs.
It has all the components
of a flavor overdose.
Yeah.
Mmm.
It's a little bit spicy.
I love that entire stock of
little green peppercorns.
That bumps up the flavor.
What's great about this curry also
is that it's a water-based curry
so it doesn't feel heavy.
It feels light, it feels healthy.
You taste about 25 different herbs
and chilies going on in there.
It's so good.
Yeah, jungle curry.
It's one of the greatest.
It's just a harmony with rice.
All the food is really good.
I think we've now tried all of them.
(bright pop music)
That's extraordinary.
The kaffir lime flavor, it
will blow your taste buds.
(bright pop music)
From now on, all massaman
curry should include durian.
What an absolutely impressive meal.
That was delicious food.
What stands out to me,
what I'm still pumped
up about is that krawan,
those cardamom stems
which were in a couple
of different dishes.
What an ingredient.
It's so good.
That's something you
need to seek out to eat
but also the durian massaman.
Oh man, that was good.
Those chunks of durian
in there were fantastic.
Thanks to Songkram for
coming out for lunch.
Songkram, he watches our videos
so he sent me a message
when we came to Chanthaburi.
And he's actually a police.
So he's really cool.
(speaking foreign langauge)
It's something nobody misses
when they come to the old town Chanthaburi
is this very old ice cream spot.
In English they call it rocket ice cream.
And they make popsicle style ice cream,
old style ice cream, ice cream bolan.
I got a flavor that is the,
I think it's the original flavor.
Mmm!
So the ice cream is in the center
and then the topping is on the outside.
It's like an icicle topping
coating the ice cream.
That flavor is almost like
a roasted, almost like a,
it tastes almost like a cola.
It's interesting.
It's definitely something you
have to try when you're here.
And right across the
street is our friend Pian.
He has a retro clothes shop.
If you need some vintage clothes,
definitely check out his shop.
Overalls, tank tops.
(upbeat music)
(speaking foreign language)
This stall is very well
known for their kluay tab
which are grilled bananas.
And normally they kinda crunch them down
and then mix them with syrup.
So she is just roasting up tons of bananas
over a, it's a very low fire.
So you can feel, you
can see all the action.
So it's a very even heat, low heat.
But she just continually
rotates the bananas
until they are cooked and
then puts them in a bag,
chops them up and mixes
them with the syrup
and this is a very well known place.
This is one of the must eat things
when you're in Chanthaburi.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, that's sweet.
It's almost like a caramelly
sweetness in that syrup.
But the banana's wonderful.
The banana is sweet but
sour at the same time.
(upbeat music)
Okay, the kluay tab was excellent.
Whoa, the heat is roasting
hot this afternoon
and we are jumping in the car to go to,
Songkram.
- Yep?
- Where are we going?
- Chumchon Nong Bua.
- Chumchon Nong Bua.
- Nong Bua.
Yeah.
- Oh, okay.
Is it a--
- It's about a snack.
A weird snack.
- Ah, okay.
Interesting snacks.
- Yes.
But it's very good.
- Okay, that's the next destination today.
(upbeat dance music)
That was only about a 15 minute drive
all the way from the
center of Chanthaburi,
but this market is
called Chumchon Nong Bua.
And I actually don't
really know much about it
but it is an old community.
They're known for interesting snacks.
And again it's just kind of
a pleasant charming community
to walk around and snack.
(speaking foreign language)
I didn't know this until a few minutes ago
but the main snack that
we came here to eat
is called khanom koey ling.
The direct translation of this dessert,
and I apologize in advance,
but it is called monkey penis snack.
She takes the batter which
is made from sticky rice
and mix it into little worm shapes
and then drops them into the hot water,
boils them until they're finished
and then she strains them
and then they go in a bath of coconut
and get bathed in coconut.
So coconut covers them
and that's the snack.
This is something you won't
find elsewhere in Thailand.
This will be my first time to try it.
Mmm.
Yeah, that's like sticky rice batter.
Kinda chewy and gummy
and then what I love is
just that crust of coconut.
That is unsweetened so far
but they do give you a whole
little tub of sugar to add to it.
You can add as much sugar as you like.
(speaking foreign language)
(laughing)
Okay.
Okay, hold this note.
(laughing)
Mmm.
The sugar has that nice
sesame nuttiness to it
and that's both sweet and salty.
Well that was a first for me.
That is one of the more explicitly
named Thai sweet snacks.
But it's pretty good.
You should definitely try
it when you come here.
(upbeat dance music)
(speaking foreign language)
Next up, we're stopping for some ice cream
and they have fruits
that look remarkably
similar to the real thing.
We got, of course I had
to go with the durian.
Oh, it's cold.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Oh.
Oh, that's awesome.
Oh, it's so good.
Yeah, that's like extra creamy,
sweet cream frozen durian.
There's no second questioning
what type of fruit this is.
You know immediately.
Mmm, excellent.
(speaking foreign language)
The owner is just explaining to us.
She makes it here but she
actually sells it in Bangkok
to some of the retail
stores where they resell it.
But she uses 100% durian.
There's no sugar in it.
It's just all sweetness from the durian
and then some milk in there
and then freezes it back in form,
back in durian nugget shape.
It's just a small market,
very low key, very relaxing, friendly,
and some very very unique snacks
that you won't find
anywhere else in Thailand.
A pretty cool place.
I desperately needed an
iced coffee right now.
(bright pop music)
I'm at that stage right now
where I could sip up this
entire cup in one gulp.
Oh, that's refreshing.
That's what I needed.
We're on our way next to,
it's a temple, also a monument
which is a little further
down the road from here.
(bright pop music)
That again was about a 15 minute ride
and we have arrived to King
Taksin the Great's shipyard.
But there's a ship here, there's a beach,
there's kind of an area,
kind of a park area and a shrine.
(bright pop music)
This is a monument and a tribute
to King Taksin the Great.
He came to this area, to this shipyard
and this is where he assembled his armies
and his troops and his navy.
And so now, it has this
really peaceful feel to it.
It's really nice to visit.
(bright pop music)
I think I'm gonna end the
video for today right now.
From here we're just gonna
drive back to Chanthaburi, the town.
And we need to take a little rest.
There's been a lot of food already today
and it's been really good.
Chanthaburi, it's a quiet city.
It's quite a peaceful province as well
but it really offers you some rewards.
I will have all the information below
about the things we did
and the food we ate.
So you can check all the
information out below.
Remember to click thumbs up and subscribe
and also click the little bell icon
so that you get notified of
the next video that I publish.
And speaking of next video,
tomorrow we have plans to
have an amazing seafood feast.
We're gonna meet up with Uncle Tom
who's known for his gigantic oysters.
So it's a video you're
not gonna wanna miss.
And yeah, make sure you subscribe.
I will see you on the next video.
Thanks again for watching.
