In today’s column I’d like to visit an exceptional restaurant serving Chinese-Thai food. It is located in an ordinary-looking shophouse with the cooking area out in front. Customers are seated in an air-conditioned room, where they are presented with a menu with a long list of dishes. Those who know it will recall it used to be located behind the sports arena at Pathumwan but has now moved to Lat Ya Road in Thon Buri.
But first, I’d like to give little background on food that combines Thai and Chinese features. The qualities that separate the culinary traditions are clear-cut enough for most people to be able to understand which a given dish belongs to. Pet phalo (duck stewed in a broth flavoured with aromatic Chinese seasonings) and pet yang (grilled duck) are easily identifiable as Chinese, while phalaa kung (a sour-hat shrimp salad) and kaeng khee lek (a curry made with the leaves of a mimosa-like tree) are pure-bred Thai recipes.
There are many dishes, however, where the two styles of cooking are combined. The intermixing took place because in Thailand, Thais and ethnic Chinese have been in close contact for more than 300 years. Customs and traditions, including those involving food, have come to influence and complement each other.
For example, about 60 years ago there was a little curry and rice shop set among a row of wooden shophouses next to Hua Lamphong Bridge. Today the place is a showroom for European cars. The curry shop sold kaeng khio waan pla chon kap fak (a spicy coconut cream-based curry made with snakehead fish and pumpkin squash), kaeng karee enn nuea (a mild curry with beef tendon) and kaeng karee muu (the same curry made with pork).
The elderly Chinese man who ran the shop dressed Chinese-style in a white cotton shirt and the loose black pants called kangkeng phrae, but he also chewed betel, so his mouth was always stained red. He spoke Thai clearly, punctuating his speech with the “ja” and “jaa” particles people used more frequently in the past. It was a curry shop in which Thai and Chinese culture were thoroughly blended.
Food of that kind was very popular in those days. Later there was a vendor who set up a stand in front of the Thien Kua Thien Yaowaraj Chinese opera house. He started selling his food in the evening and stayed open until late. His cooking drew a lot of customers, who called the place Raan Nai Yoang — Nai Yoang’s Shop.
Today there is a similar shop in Soi Mangkon off Charoen Krung Road. Customers pick up plates from a stack to serve themselves. They sit on plastic chairs without tables. People from all over Bangkok show up there regularly. Thai food is prepared by a Chinese cook and everyone accepts and enjoys it.
Restaurants that sell khao tom, or rice soup — a dish everyone knows is Chinese — usually offer a range of side dishes. Customers can order phat thua ngawk kap tao huu (bean sprouts stir-fried with tofu), kiemchai phat kap kraphoh muu (salty pickled cabbage stir-fried with pork tripe) or mara phat khai (bitter melon fried with egg). They will also want a clear soup or a dish that comes with broth. Of course, most people will ask for tom yam kung, a thoroughly Thai dish, making for a meal that is culturally mixed.
Shops that blend the two traditions are often extremely successful. One example is Pae Phochanaa, located beside Khlong Rahaeng in the Lat Lum Kaeo district of Pathum Thani. The menu is Thai-Chinese, with the food prepared in an area in the front part of the shop. Some items everyone orders are the tom yam kha muu (a sour-spicy soup made with pork leg), muu song khrueang thawt (minced pork with seasonings wrapped in tofu paper and deep-fried that somewhat resembles the Chinese dish hae kuen), kraphoh muu phat kiem chai (pork tripe stir-fried with salty pickled cabbage), pla chon daed dio thawt (deep-fried semi-dried snakehead fish), luk chin pla krai phat khrueang kaeng (balls of pounded fish meat stir-fried with spicy seasonings) and luk chin pla krai phat khee mao (the same fish meat balls stir-fried with hot seasoning, herbs and chillies).
Then there are Eeya Huad Yueang and Amphoe Saam Khoke, two old Chinese restaurants in Pathum Thani. The original owners were experts at making pet phalo. Today their daughters do the cooking. The dishes include the pet phalo, tom yam pla khang (tom yam made with a local fish that is a carp relative), luk chin pla krai phat phrik lueang sai bai makrood soi (balls of pounded fish meat stir-fried with hot yellow chillies and seasonings and sprinkled with slivered kaffir lime leaves), kung phat kraphrao sai krathiem thone (shrimp stir-fried with fresh basil and garlic), phak khanaa phat pla insee khem (Chinese broccoli stir-fried with salted fish) and phet phalo phat phrik Thai dam (duck that has been stewed in aromatic Chinese seasonings, then stir-fried with black pepper).
Both restaurants clearly show a blending of Chinese and Thai cooking techniques and concepts. Some of the ingredients they use, like kiem chai and pork tripe, are associated with Chinese cuisine, but they are cooked with potently spicy seasonings that please Thais who eat them.
Now a restaurant I am especially eager to recommend. Jay Seng was originally located in the soi next to the Pathumwan Princess Hotel behind the National Stadium, but when the land owner decided to demolish the buildings to put up a new one, Jay Seng moved to Lat Ya Road in Thon Buri.
To get there, cross the Sathon Road Bridge and turn left onto Charoen Nakhon Road. Continue on past the Khlong San pier until you get to Taksin Maharaj Hospital, then turn left onto Lat Ya Road. Drive until you’ve passed the second pedestrian crossover and you will come to the restaurant in a shophouse on the right side of the road. You will have to make a U-turn to park in front of it. The shop is only open from 4.30 to 10.30pm.
Again, the kitchen is in the front part of the shop, and the cooking is done by Jay Seng herself. One of the reasons why her food is so good is that the shop is located close to the Duang Wian Yai Market, which offers very fresh seafood from Samut Sakhon.
The extensive menu is made up entirely of Sino-Thai seafood dishes. Some no visitor should miss are the tom yam kung nam sai (shrimp tom yam with clear broth), pu rue kung phat phong karee (crab or shrimp stir-fried with curry powder), pla phat phrik Thai dam (fish stir-fried with black pepper and other seasonings), kung phat phrik kluea (shrimp stir-fried with salt and chillies), kung phat nam pla (shrimp fried with fish sauce), yam thalay (a sour-hot seafood salad), kung ope woon sen (prawns baked with mildly-seasoned glass noodles) and khao phat phak krachate (fried rice with the shoots of a water-loving herb). This is just a selection; there are many more recommendable dishes, priced on average between 150 and 300 baht. The most expensive is the sea crab.
Just about everything on the menu is beautifully prepared and delicious, but that does not mean that each offering will appeal equally to everyone. One of the pleasures of a restaurant like Jay Seng is exploring dishes that blend Thai and Chinese cooking traditions so beautifully, and finding the ones that will become personal favourites.
For more information, contact Jay Seng restaurant by calling 08-1404-4286 or 08-1400-4272.