Half a millennium before James Bond landed his seaplane at Scaramanga’s Lair on Khao Ping Kan in the 1974 film Man with the Golden Gun, traders had already started arriving at Phang-Nga Province, lured by promises of tin mining fortunes.
Phuket Old Town in the neighbouring province might be better known on the heritage travel trail, but back in its heyday, Takua Pa was also an international port of importance, home to a large number of Hokkien Chinese migrants as well as Dutch, Portuguese, and British traders. After the tin mining industry faded in the region, many of the Hokkien Chinese remained there and assimilated into the local community.
This once prosperous town still offers visitors a taste of the past. The pages of its history are presented through the authentic multicultural cuisine served at several local restaurants.
Southern comfort
“Southern Thai cuisine is robust and uncompromising,” says Chef Tanaporn “Kan” Markawat of The Local by Oamthong Thai Cuisine, a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand restaurant in Bangkok. “Every ingredient is there for good reason and a lot of the ingredients are unique to the region such as, sato (bitter beans), shrimp paste, fish and their innards.”
Traditional Southern Thai dishes found in Takua Pa include kaeng tai pla. The pungent curry is so named for the characteristic tai pla sauce derived from the fermentation of fish innards, a process which can take up to a month.
Kaeng Tai Pla contains liberal amounts of spices and herbs including turmeric, as well as galangal, chilies, lemongrass, and kaffir lime. Though less common, some variants of the dish use coconut milk in the recipe. As with other curry dishes, it is often enjoyed with rice, but can also be paired with Thai vermicelli known as Khanom Chin.
“The base of kaeng tai pla, the paste, is the derivation of almost all other Southern curries,” says Chef Kan, whose restaurant’s version of the curry follows family recipes originating from Trang in Southern Thailand. “If one considers durian to be the king of all fruits, I consider kaeng tai pla as the queen of curries.”
Another regional dish commonly found in the South is kaeng kati, a coconut cream curry. “The importance of coconut milk in Southern cuisine,” explains Chef Kan, “is that it harmonises and enhances the full-bodied flavour of Southern curries.”
Long established restaurants in Phang-Nga such as Ai Thale on Thai Mueang Beach also serve popular local specialties; such as, kaeng kati pu nim (coconut curry with soft-shell crab), along with dishes prepared using a locally cultivated seaweed named sarai phrik Thai (Thai green caviar or Caulopa macrophysa), including som tam and nam phrik (chilli and shrimp dipping sauce).
Bai Ya on Phetchakasem Road, Khura Sub-district, is also known for its local flavours, which include naam prik goong siap (spicy dried shrimp paste) and mu khua kluea (stir-fried pork with salt).
Hokkien flavours
As well as bringing their Sino-Portuguese architecture to Takua Pa, the Hokkien Chinese also introduced several distinctive Chinese dishes, such as loba (stewed pork), mi hun (vermicelli noodles), and mu hong (stewed pork belly).
“Our ancestors are Hokkien,” says Chef Somruthai “Fern” Kaewtathip, the Phuket born-and-bred owner of Luv2eat Thai Bistro in Los Angeles, USA. “One of the dishes I learned to cook from my grandmother was mu hong, a dish a lot of us grew up with. It’s a simple dish that’s complex in flavour and showcases the tenderness and juiciness of pork belly.”
One of the most famous restaurants in Phang-Nga to sample these renowned Chinese flavours is the legendary Hok Ki Lao on Sena Rat Road, where locals gather regularly to eat their fill of dim sum (dumplings), mi suea (stir-fried noodles), and steamed buns.
Sweetening the deal
This region of Thailand is also known for its desserts, including khanom bueang boran, mo si (a dish similar to Japanese mocha), and khanom krok Takua Pa, a sugarless variation of the country’s popular coconut rice pancakes. Perhaps the most well-known dessert here is khanom tao so, a mung bean cake-like delicacy filled with bean paste. The most highly rated source for this sweet treat is Chio Bakery on Phetchakaem Road, Thai Chang Sub-district.
Southern Thailand may traditionally be more well known for its beaches and islands, but foodies just need to dig a bit deeper into the region’s cultural heritage to find a treasure trove of culinary delights.
This article is brought to you by Tourism Authority of Thailand.
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