Here we are pleased to provide you this insider guide to Kanchanaburi, our favorite eating destination outside of Bangkok. Kanchanaburi is Thailand's third largest province, and several distinctive ingredients & methods of cooking characterize the traditional flavors you'll find.
While many restaurants and sidewalk vendors in Kanchanaburi offer the same Thai-style food found in Bangkok and other provinces, old-school Kanchanaburi cooking doesn't use much sugar to sweeten the food. Traditional flavors of Kanchanaburi also use certain spices that aren't typically found anywhere else, in particular the Ka-Leang chile pepper which is grown by local ethnic hilltribes. The Ka-Leang pepper is "burning hot" and some suggest that it's heat level is double the hot prik-ki-nu found throughout Thailand.
In addition to the Ka-Leang chile, a very rare (and expensive) chile pepper called Prik Pran grows wild in local forests. Prik means chile, and pran means hunter. Prik Pran is very hot but not as "spicy" as the Ka-Leang.
Het Khone mushroom is another ingredient unique to Kanchanaburi, and neighboring Burmese forests. Het Khone, known as Termite Mushroom (termitomyces fuliginosus) are extremely rare and expensive, just a small amount may cost hundreds of dollars. You can find this tall mushroom in the wild forest of Kanchanaburi June-August (the rainy season), commonly near the dam near Si Sawat district. You might find Het Khone sold near the roadside, the people of Nong Khao village are known to trek into the jungle for 3 days to find them. The cap of the mushroom has a pointy head, is light brown in color, slightly wrinkled with a long white thick hollow stem. They grow near termite hills in the forest, the mushroom is soft and chewy, and meaty like chicken. If you ever get a chance to enjoy sour termite mushroom soup, it's an experience you'll never forget! This mushroom is also a known remedy for typhoid fever, nausea, cough, and reducing phlegm.
The Dee Plee pepper is another ingredient commonly used in local cooking, as well as the small yellow eggplant which is used to make something that only locals know about: "gaeng namyawk" (translated as thorn hurting soup, because the yellow eggplant grows on a thorny vine). Another local delight that you won't find elsewhere: "tom som yuak kluay" (non-spicy soup made from banana tree trunk).
Last we would like to mention that traditional Kanchanaburi cooking uses fish paste, or "kapi mon" rather than shrimp paste. Kapi mon is made of small freshwater fish (pla sil and play soi). So anytime a recipe would typically use shrimp paste, Kanchanaburi cooking would use the far less stinky, lighter-color fish paste.
At ImportFood.com we offer not only the best Thai groceries and cookware, we also know, and are happy to share with you, where to find one of the the greatest culinary wonders of the world. If you go to Kanchanaburi, get immersed in some of the best local "street level" cuisine on the planet.
The Thai/English food-finding map we've prepared here is very useful, with Kachanaburi city center at the start of your journey the five shops mentioned are all within 10 miles or so. You can easily hire a 4 wheel open taxi "Rot Kapaw" for a very low cost. These open taxis are within eyesight most anywhere especially near the main bus station. For accommodation in Kanchanaburi we love Comsaed River Kwai Resort, address 18/9 Moo, 5 Tambon Ladya, Kanchanaburi, Thailand 71190. Phone: 66 34-63144 (we have no affiliation, but we've stayed there many times, and they have a nice organic garden on-site providing excellent food). In the city center, River Kwai Hotel (phone 6634-513-348) is a good choice for "three star" accommodation at an affordable price.
|
