Ayutthaya delights

FISH GALORE: ‘Pla chon phat phrik’ and ‘kaeng phet naw mai’ at Sawan Ban Rai.

Ayutthaya delights

Although the environment of the region has changed, traditional treats can still be sniffed out
Published: 8/08/2010 at 12:00 AM Bangkokpost
Newspaper section: Brunch

One thing that most people believe without question is that if you go to Ayutthaya, you must eat fish or shrimp, and that the dishes made with them should be local or old-fashioned Central Region recipes. This common bit of wisdom invites the question: Is it true that they have such unmissable food there and, if so, since when?


TASTY: Smoked and dried fish dishes at a roadside food shop on the edge of Thung Maharaj.

As far as Ayutthaya being a city of fish and shrimp, a look at the biology of the fish and the local environment will help to explain why. It is also necessary to look far back into the past.

The lifestyle of many kinds of fish, shrimp and prawns involves swimming upriver against the current, especially during the egg-laying season. They prefer to lay eggs upriver or upstream, closer to the source. Mother shrimp and prawns are special - they release their eggs in brackish water, where salt and fresh water mix, with about 15% to 20% of it being salt.

The hatched baby shrimp swim against the current, searching for food as they go. When they reach full size there is no specific place where they go to live. The catch depends simply on finding where the can be caught. Fish continue to swim upstream as far as they can, and are most active when the water is high and the current strong, especially during the middle of the rainy season when water flows down from the North.

At that time of the year the water is muddy because of the soil washed into it, so the fish are even more motivated to fight the current to places near the source where they will find the clear water that they prefer for laying their eggs.

Fish are not found only in rivers and streams, however. During flooding they also swim out into the fields, where there is plenty to eat and the food is of the best kind.

In the past, Ayutthaya was surrounded by huge expanses of rice fields. The main river flowing through them was the Chao Phraya, which came straight down from the North. There was also the Pasak River to the east of Ayutthaya in Lop Buri. Both branched of into many tributaries, like the Noy River, off the Chao Phraya that runs between Ang Thong and Bang Pa-In. There was also Khlong Bang Kaew that branches off the Chao Phraya at Ang Thong and joins the Pasak River north of Ayutthaya. A multitude of small canals also criss-crossed the area.

The territory around Ayutthaya was different from other areas because it was huge and free of the mounds used elsewhere to demark property boundaries. The owners knew where their property began and ended. In those days the fields were farmed once a year, with everyone working at the same time. They started at the beginning of the rainy season and then left the rice plants to grow naturally in the water, provided by the rain and the river water that flooded the fields. The plants did not die as the water rose but grew taller to keep above it.

When the water in the rivers was muddy and turbulent, many kinds of fish left it for the fields, where the water was clearer and full of special kinds of food like algae, plankton and other microorganisms from the rice stems and the morning glory-like phak boong vines that grew there.

Carnivorous fish like the snakehead went into the fields looking for baby fish to eat. Pla soy, a small species that likes cleanliness, also took up residence in the fields during flooding, among them carp, scaleless local types like pla khao, pla nuea awn, pla daeng, pla ma and pla kot, all of which roamed widely through the fields, rivers and canals.

Thung Maharaj, the name it was called by because of its great size (thung means meadow or field in Thai, and maharaj indicated enormous size) include banks of both the Chao Phraya and Pasak rivers. When the floodwaters receded from it, all of the fish returned to the rivers and canals. The local people knew that many of the fish they ate came from Thung Maharaj.

Villagers loved to catch fish by grabbing them in the water, and many of the foods they ate were made from fish. Nam pla was made from pla soy and pla ra, or fermented fish, was made by fermenting many different kinds of small fish together. When more snakeheads were caught than could be eaten right away the extras were salted and dried so that they could be used over time.

Many of the dishes made from fresh or dried fish were local specialities that were created for reasons having to do with time. For example, kaeng phet naw mai dong (a spicy, coconut cream-based curry with pickled bamboo) made with either pla sawai or pla thaypho come into being as a recipe for the dry seasons when fresh bamboo shoots were not available. A curry made with dried snakehead meat or just the heads, coconut cream and shallots was made during the time of year when the fresh fish became scarce.

These are the historical reasons why Thais think of Ayutthaya as a place of fish dishes and special local recipes based on them. But today, environmental conditions there have changed. The rivers have not flooded Thung Maharaj for more than 30 years, and the old system of farming the fields just once a year is gone.

The local dishes still exist and are made using the fish that remain in the rivers and canals, or that are raised in floating baskets. Today I would like to recommend a couple of interesting restaurants that serve them.

The first is a roadside place that serves grilled fish. To get there, drive along the Asia Highway until you reach the Ang Thong intersection, where a left turn will take you into Ang Thong. Take the turn, which will bring you to Amphoe Tha Ruea, Lop Buri. Cross Khlong Bang Kaew and continue on for just a bit, and you will come to a shop that does an expert job of grilling and smoking fish using sawdust and coconut husks. They offer smoked pla krathing and smoke pla kot, as well as dried snake-head fish or just the head, also dried, as well we semi-dried snakehead. The owners are natives of Thung Maharaj.

There are many local dishes available at Nakhon Luang in Ayuttaya, which is also off the Asia Highway. It is an important district located on the banks of the Pasak River and that was once full of fish from the meadows. Twenty years or so ago, the local headman, an expert cook of local cuisine, opened a restaurant there, but later closed it when he became too old to keep it running. Another one called Sawan Ban Rai opened to replace it, though, and it is very good. It is next to the entrance to Wat Khlong Nam Cha. To get there from the Asia Highway take the turn-off to Nakhon Luang and drive along beside Khlong Chonlaprathan. You will pass Mu Ban Aranyik where knives are made, and past that there will be a small sign on the left indicating the entrance to Wat Khlong Nam Cha. About 500 metres in you will see a house with a roomy shed-like structure that has an elephant grass roof. This is a very simple food shop.

It is a favourite with locals. You can ask anyone in the area about it and they will probably know it, but it isn't known among Bangkok foodies because it is so obscure. Local dishes include kaeng phet pla sayyoo sai naw mai dong (a spicy coconut fish curry made with pickled bamboo shoots and a fish found in the area), pla thaypho, a tom yum made with pla sayyoo, frog fried with garlic and pepper, pla lai phat phet (a spicy stir-fry made with eel), kai phat pla ra (chicken meat stir-fried with fermented fish), and pla chon phat phrik (snakehead stir-fried with chillies and herbs).

Sawan Ban Rai can be contacted on 03-583-0720. They are open until 7pm, except on Sundays.