Thailand's Eastern coast is dotted with vacation spots that everyone knows - for example, Pattaya, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Koh Chang in Trat province. When you decide to head to one of them for some time at the beach, the usual practice is to stick to the main roads and waste no time so you can get there in a hurry.
SHELL GAME: A vendor sells fresh crabs at Nong Mon market, clockwise from above, local ‘seekoon’ fish, ‘khao tom pla’, and fresh shrimp pickled in ‘nam pla’, or fish sauce.
But if it is food rather than beach time you are interested in, there is no need to go so far, and you can take your time.
A leisurely drive to Chon Buri followed by some exploring along the smaller back roads and inside Ang Sila will turn up plenty of interesting delicacies.
Today, I would like to focus just on fresh and dried foods and other edibles that are available not far from Bang Saen. Let's start with the route leading into Bang Saen.
Before you arrive at Chon Buri city, you will come to a major intersection with traffic lights, the Bang Sai three-way intersection. Take a right turn there onto the road that leads to Bang Saen, a narrow and windy one. After driving for about one kilometre, you will come to a marketplace, with ample parking space available, on the left. It is an old market, but renovation is now underway, although goods are still being sold on the sidewalks in front of and along the perimeter of it.
The first interesting sight you will encounter there is a stand selling jaeng lawn, a local speciality sold in seaside provinces (it can also be found not only in Chon Buri but also in towns on the western coast like Hua Hin and Cha-am). It is made of finely chopped fish meat, mixed with fresh curry paste and ground coconut, and seasoned to make it salty and slightly sweet with a chilli bite. Shredded kaffir lime leaf is scattered on the mixture, which is then shaped into pieces that are put on skewers for grilling. Vendors cook them on a grill in the early morning and keep selling them until they run out around noon. This snack is not all that easy to find, so when you do find it, buy.
Nearby is a stand that sells semi-dried rays. The type sold there are called pla krabane nok, ("bird ray"), and are rather small, about 30.5-cm in diameter. The reason behind its name is that it likes to leap above the surface of the seawater and glide along for short distances. The meat of the "wings" (the pectoral fins) of the fish is tender although rather dark in colour, and people who live near the sea like it very much. They cut it into pieces, then dry it in the sun for a day. It is delicious when fried and eaten with rice, and it is inexpensive. Half a kilogramme costs only 100 baht and is enough for several days' consumption.
On the soi next to the market, fresh and dried fish as well as fresh shrimp and prawns are sold. One particularly interesting item is fresh shrimp pickled in nam pla (fish sauce). The old woman who sells it is an expert at pickling shrimp this way, and makes them specially for sale. In the old days, Thais liked to eat them with steaming-hot khao tom, or rice soup.
About 300 metres away from the market, across from the nearby pier, is a small store where a grandmotherly-looking woman sells nam pla from Rayong. The brand name is Erawan, and the product comes from a small factory that still makes the condiment the old-fashioned way, a process that takes eight months. It smells delicious, and costs only 30 baht a bottle.
This is only the briefest sampling of what is available in the area of this Chon Buri market.
A market that is best to visit in the late afternoon or evening is Nong Mon market, on the main road to Pattaya. The fresh produce area is deep inside the market, far from the road. Late in the day, in front of the fresh market area, meaty crabs of the type called poo ma (horse crab) are sold. They are kept in big basins, the water in which is oxygenated by means of pumps working continuously to keep the crabs alive.
These ubiquitous crabs are available in many sizes and price ranges, with the cheapest ones going for 280 baht a kilogramme. Customers can eat them right away, because there is a steaming service that cooks the crabs on the premises and serves them with a spicy dipping sauce. They are certainly fresh, but sometimes the meat isn't too firm, because after being kept for even a day it becomes a little soft, unlike meat from crabs fresh from the sea.
Around the sides of Nong Mon market are interesting stalls selling different kinds of fish just brought in from the sea by fishermen. Buyers can never be sure that the kind of fish they want is there, because not all types are caught every day, but they will probably not be disappointed if they are looking for pla seekoon, a mackerel species similar to the popular pla thoo, but bigger. Its tasty, firm meat is perfect for frying and topping with nam pla or chilli sauce.
On their lucky days, buyers may find pla chome ngahm and/or pla nuan jan, both of which are scaleless types of fish with succulent meat that makes good kaeng som or kaeng pa, or which can be fried and served with chilli sauce poured over it. When people are fortunate enough to find these fish, they don't haggle over the price but buy a plastic box and some ice from a vendor, pack the fish inside, and rush it home.
Around the sidelines of the market are vendors selling sweets and special local dishes. The khao tom with fried shellfish is definitely worth a try.
Early in the morning, beginning at about half past seven, in a different part of Nong Mon market's wet market section is an area where dried seafood is sold along with breakfast foods that include curry and rice, kui tio pla (noodles with fish), khao tom, coffee and sweet snacks and desserts.
The prepared foods, which include curries and stir-fries, are really good, as can be seen from the large numbers of people who come to buy them and the lengths of time they are willing to wait to be served (there are tables and chairs set out for diners). Right nearby is a vendor whose pork noodles are tasty enough to be a true must, and in the middle of the market is a shop that sells khao tom pla (literally, fish in rice soup) made in the style typical of eateries in seaside areas. The rice grains are still firm rather than soft and mushy, and customers can choose between fresh fish, shrimp or squid.
Mae Nit has been selling her hor moke (fish meat steamed in a spicy, curried coconut sauce together with herbs and takes the form of a custard packed in a smallish banana-leaf cup) in this market for more than 30 years. Seaside-style hor moke tends to be sweeter and softer than the versions sold in Bangkok and other places in the Central Region.
Coffee, brewed the old-fashioned way with a long cloth bag, is available for those who want to start the day off with a glass or two. These two markets are only two among the many that inhabit Chon Buri, each with its own, individual selection of good stuff to eat that includes local dishes not found elsewhere.
If you decide to do some exploring, you won't have to drive far, and a choice culinary adventure is guaranteed.
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