Thailand Seafood - GIANT RIVER PRAWNS!! 🦐 Best Thai Food in Ayutthaya!

we're about to eat these huge Tha River prawns it is definitely the size of my face what a delicacy what a prized ingredient but before we eat them we're going to warm our stomachs up with a legendary Thai restaurant that serves some really special hard to find Thai Dishes oh man that flavor it's so nutty so rich from that coconut milk and then after we eat the jumbo River prons we're going to meet up with a hilarious Tha Chef dude that's my D who specializes in Wild River [Music] food hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day it's markw and welcome to auta Thailand which was the former capital of the kingdom of sayam it's about an hour drive north of Bangkok and to this day aaya is known for its history religion culture and food because there's so many freshwater rivers in this area there's a lot of freshwater food and so today we're going to go to three legendary restaurants especially known for River fish and seafood and giant River prawns and we made it to the first place this restaurant is called Bai awesome Place love the open air dining room you can smell the aroma all of the flavors in the air I think these are all the dishes that we got I had to resist because uh there's so many good things on the menu but we have a lot more food coming up especially the jumbo River prawns which we're going to eat coming up soon so I just got some of their signature dishes everything looks fantastic let's start with their sang and this is it's kind of a rare T find thae dish that you won't find everywhere it's a classic it's a traditional it's a royal actually thae dish and made with shrimp and I think the shrimp head juices butter is all mixed in there the tamale there's shallots it looks like there's Ginger there's chili IES uh and you can eat this with rice or you could dip vegetables in it kind of like a relish kind of a dip but then also a main dish at the same time oh the flavor of the ginger immediately plus the taste of the shallots oh man that's amazing it's like perfectly salty you taste the richness of the shrimp you've got chilies in there you have herbs in there there's green onions there's some kind of citrus maybe lime juice in there oh yeah that's so much flavor all condensed into that bowl with those shrimp okay let's try again with big huge chunks of chopped up shrimp in there I love all those shallots especially the ginger though that is incredible typically when I've had Sanga this dish it's quite a bit different actually it's more of like this refreshing salad using somsa which is a a type of traditional Thai Citrus it's almost like a shrimp salad this this one is more like a rich shrimp relish so it's a totally different style really heavy on the ginger that's what really stands out to me it's a dish that you won't find everywhere it's rare to find and their version is totally different from any other version that I've had this dish before let's move into the next dish which is chuchi BL chuchi is the type of Curry which is from Central Thailand very popular in auta and we got Blan Nan is a type of sheep fish I believe man this looks so good look at how thick that coconut cream is so rich I love all that basil on top this needs to be with rice because that that Curry is so thick and so rich oh man that coconut milk is just curdled pieces of fish in here be careful of the bones freshwater fish often times have has quite a lot of Bones a little bit bony but that's all right so flavorful even the aroma of this is incredible but oh man that flavor it's so nutty so rich from that coconut milk like literally like heavy cream like buttery almost Choi Curry is usually a little bit sweet but what I like is it's really herbal at the same time you really taste the the freshness of the the Sweet Basil the lime leaves in there man and that fish you can tell it's a really fatty fish just totally kind of dissolves melts the fat melts in your mouth along with the fat of the coconut milk you need to have another piece of this fish immediately look at that thickness literally that fish is also so tender and so melt in your mouth that it just kind of blends with the coconut milk oh we got some of the belly section that's going to melt in your mouth you do need to be careful of the bones wow that's good one of the better plates of chuch Chi Curry that I've ever had the fattiness of the fish just melts into the coconut cream is unbelievable the next dish is not freshwater fish but it is a signature dish so I thought we had to try it which is Guk an and gduk an are the Young pork ribs with cartilage ribs and so they stir fry this up you can see basil in here you can see chilies in in here probably some red chili paste and then you eat it along with uh Baya which are tree basil or clove basil leaves as well as pickled shallots and you make a little wrap grab a pickled shallot it's actually pickled garlic not pickled shallots and then wrap it up oh man all that flavor together in your mouth the licoricey flavor of the the clove Basil Leaf the pork it has a little bit of a texture to it cuz you can feel that cartilage so it has a little texture to it and basically it tastes like a pad gapow which is stir-fried holy basil uh because you there's a lot of holy basil in there the curry paste the garlic in there and then you've got the the pickled garlic which is a little bit acidic soury vinegar but then also sweet at the same time so that all comes together in your mouth all those flavors together that's a wonderful combination that is really tasty also I couldn't resist ordering GP which is this is a jungle Curry one of my absolute favorite dishes of Thailand this one made with fish but fish meatballs from the clown featherback fish in order to make these fish meatballs what they would do is they would take the fish and debone it and then usually pound it often by hands in a mortar and pestle and then you'd get this you'd break down the fibers of the muscle of the fish until it becomes a paste and then you make these little meatballs so it's pure fish uh but just in a totally different texture and gives it a totally different profile and then made into jungle Curry red curry paste lots of finger root in here lots of Basil in here lots of chilies green pepper jungle Curry always one of my favorite dishes I just love the the natural flavors of it the bitterness herbs that go into it all of that finger root the red chili and the meatballs the fish meatballs are delicious too pure fish but it has a really spongy you bouncy texture to it uh the first restaurant that we ate at is Right within aaya town but then the other two are a little bit outside of town about 30 minute drive outside of town along the cha praya River still within auta because auta is not just a city but it's an entire province of [Music] Thailand oh we have made it to the main event this place is called ranahan rnam and it's right up against the cha praya River this is the main event this is where we came to eat the jumbo the huge freshwater river prawn straight from the chaaya river and the the estuaries the canals the streams and the rivers around this area and I love this restaurant it's so laid back the wooden tables uh the deck over the water oh okay so this is another dish that we're getting which is called Choi okay there's garlic lemongrass oh the fish goes in I like it's one of their special dishes as well the I I'll fix it for the oh that Aroma is incredible smells so good okay so some sweet basil and some lime leaves go in finely shaved lime leaves okay so here oh these are huge and they're about 350 G each because we got three of them for one kilo so three of these is a kilo it is definitely the size the length of my face so he's gonna slice them look at that yellow head butter okay so he said he's going to grill them for about six or seven minutes okay come lid goes over so they're going to kind of B bake and Steam while grilling at the same time and he said cook for about 6 to 7 minutes so he's opened the lid you can see that they're turning orange already and that tomal is starting to melt I mean living in Thailand I've had River prawns quite a few times but it's something that is always exciting it's a real treat it's a delicacy it's something that never gets old that you never get tired of they're so so good and so I can tell you without a doubt that I'm just as excited to try them now after many many years as I was the first time to try them W okay so these are the the claws of the shrimp freshwater shrimp garlic goes in and these are the Lotus stems spe okay let's go in while they're still hot and fresh look at the size of this and look at that it's just rattling around the Tomy literally that's shrimp hudding oh it's slashing it's like panacotta okay look it takes up an entire plate oh this is a beautiful prawn I think I'm just going to go in with my fingers just pull it out it is the size of a lobster pull this out then oh oh man you can feel how perfect that flesh is so tender oh oh and that's the best bite right there where the head butter juices meet the meat oh oh wow oh it's one of the greatest single bites you could have the combination the sweetness of the body of the freshwater prom with the PED butter which has a little hint of a bitterness but also an incredible sweetness almost a nuttiness as well and that combination together all in your mouth at once it's unbelievable what a delicacy what a prized ingredient from the the rivers of central Thailand oh it's so good and he cooked it absolutely perfect he could tell from the way the the meat's firming up it's not dried out at all remains sweet juicy moist succulent for my next bite I'll dip it into the num Chim Seafood this is the Classic Thai Seafood dipping sauce uh with Chili's garlic fish sauce there can be sugar or lime juice in here as well want to scoop some of this up and then oh man I'm going to need to scoop some on with the the spoon yeah I mean okay there we go and then I'm going to go the extra mile and do a swipe a head swipe oh wow and I think I've mentioned this before the freshwat shrimp they're so good I mean you could eat them on their own and be very happy with nothing else but a little extra chilies and garlic never hurt and I mean taies know what they're doing when it comes to sauces balancing the flavors adding that saltiness that sourness that garlic and chilies remember what I was saying in the kitchen that I've eaten plenty of river prawns during my time in Thailand but just something that never gets old something that is truly an unbelievable natural ingredient they are truly spectacular I think they're sweeter than most lobsters and the texture is just silky in your mouth for my next one we'll do a different technique oh look at that Tomy in there the look at that swirl of colors it's like mustard yellow mixed with orange and red so I'll put this onto my my plate now the technique here is to go in with rice this time go into the head mix that okay oh oh that's beautiful then you take the the chili sauce chili garlic sauce then num Jim SE food pour this in and then scoop out as much as possible into a single spoon bite and what we're going to do is we're going to prepare the tail prepare the body so that we could Chase with the body oh yes oh man that's insane the rice bite the rice absorbs the head butter the nuttiness the sweetness the complexity then with the seafood sauce the sourness the acidity the chilies the garlic the fish sauce to bring a give it some saltiness oh man without a doubt that's one of the greatest single bites that you can eat when you're in that head butter shrimp pudding I mean it's straight up shrimp pudding with rice with the seafood sauce it's something truly magical in your mouth okay let's move into some of their other signature dishes and we got lucky today because they said we're getting the original Taste of every dish I mean I'm sure it will taste pretty much the same but we got lucky because antie who is the original who made the recipes these are her recipes she cooked the dishes for us especially the chuchi Curry which I'm about to try right now I'm going to grab a piece of fish oh that's so fragrant put it onto my rice and what type of fish did she say this was I think she said it's a [Music] BL all right the red chili in there really heavy with the lemongrass it has a sweetness as well and then has a nuttiness to it and what I really love are all those herbs that she added especially the L shaved lime leaves which just gives it this amazing citrusy flavor plus the uh the flavor of the sweet beigel also that just gives it that hint of a licoricey sweetness as well but a real freshness and this is one of the real classic dishes of central Thailand especially made with river fish is delicious let's add some more of that curry paste that is spicy um and then it has a yeah the balance of sweet salty and spicy the next dish that's another one of their Specialties that they said we can't miss here is called uh Lon bu Lan is a classic thae dish kind of a relish or a dip made with coconut milk there's minced pork in here I'm sure there's lots of shallots and garlic and then this is with crab which I think are freshwater crabs or from the Patty Fields you can eat it with rice but typically you can also eat it with vegetables so you grab your choice of vegetables I'll start with cabbage and then go in get a little bit of those a few of those chilies M oh man that's good the sweetness of the coconut cream and it almost has a because of the way it's prepared it almost has a little bit of a foamy texture to it the fresh coconut milk like buttery yeah like really thick cream it has a sweetness to it it has a real har of saltiness from the crabs from the minc pork you taste the shallots the sweetness of the shallots in there as well when you bite down on one of those little green chilies that just pops and just releases those chili fumes into your mouth all of that together at one time oh man then with the crunch of the vegetables really really good next up for the shrimp claws stir fried with saua which is lotus stems let me put this onto my rice let me add a huge piece of garlic delicious and it's one of the classic dishes that's made with the the the claws of the freshwat shrimp because they're so long they're like arms circular straw-like pieces of meat that come out of them it's another thing that comes directly from the river the Lotus stems I love the texture really silky with a little bit of a fresh Crunch at the same time it has just a little bit of sliminess to it but the texture is delicious if you want to bump up the chili saltiness and garlic you can add a little PN which is the Chili's fish sauce okay and next up another one of their Specialties is high Thum yum soup but with Bama which is in TI it's a horse fish it's another freshwater fish from the river oh I love the you can see already that there's fresh chilies dried chilies pantro there's lemongrass well loaded with chilies oh man I'm excited it looks spicy yeah look at all those herbs too oh that's that's on a Next Level right there oh yeah that's spicy oh yeah oh man and I love it when they add the combination of different varieties of chilies from fresh chilies to Dred chilies cuz that just that brings out the flavor you've got the smokiness the condensed flavor almost the Tomato of the dry chilies oh and that Thum yum is amazing it's perfectly sour salty spicy with the aromatics the galangal the lemongrass in there okay and then for that fish oh you can see that's really meaty man that fish is just so pure tasting really huge meaty pieces it's not bony at all man it's almost like a chicken breast so flaky so hearty okay oh yeah everything is outstanding here food is so good oh man we've come to the end of the plate final bite final shrimp oh yes so normally I rarely order desserts but they talked us into dessert because they say they homemake it and it's called Lan uh Lan is the the fruits of the Pala palm and then it's also the sugar Palm so that's what they make sugar from palm sugar from but then you can see where are the fruit are they are they like are they ground up into the ice maybe or are there oh there's pieces of it okay here I think that's a piece there we go that's a piece with a really fine Shave Ice oh don't take a giant bite of ice oh man the brain freeze goes into your teeth M oh that is really good oh man I love the texture of that ice it's really fine it is sweet but icy and refreshing and then you got the pieces of the palir palm fruit which kind of have the texture of coconut like a young coconut at this stage M that is fantastic though I'm glad they they said we had to try this oh man that was so good what a place what a restaurant along the river and for the bill well actually we got the biggest size that they have which is three per kilo and so we got a kilo of freshwater shrimp which was 1,500 bot which is approximately $50 just for the shrimp and then with the whole meal it was about probably $65 or so and so it's not cheap but it is so worth it it's such a good value for your money something truly magical and delicious and thrilling and just a delicacy something that you can eat on occasion to celebrate and just yeah totally totally worth it outstanding what a meal highly recommended and we are moving on to the next restaurant okay here we are we made it to the next place this is a jungle Curry Restaurant one of the signatures about this restaurant is is all self-service you have to actually go to the kitchen and tell the chef what you want he there's no menu you just tell him what you want you get all of your own utensils and you chat with the chef as you order your food so let's go first step walk to the kitchen oh I love this place oh what a place I mean it's just at his house like a I mean feels like you're in a patio in a garage on the side of the road step into the kitchen so cup [Laughter] Chef oh yeah the small fish you got to get the oh oh it's immediate oh yes wild boar with chili Todman toddman and these are the fried fried fish cakes with catfish type of catfish [Laughter] my this place is so hilarious and Chef is so funny he just sings and dances as he cooks and it's it really is self self-service yes you serve yourself help yourself he's walking into uncle's [Laughter] [Music] kitchen yeah he's just constantly constantly joking and cracking up okay okay so we got the Frog as well that is definitely a freshwater Seafood animal creature okay so he just quickly blanches it oh he's going to make it extra spicy the [Laughter] Frog okay he's making it extra spicy oh [Music] yes finger root goes in lime leaves go [Music] in [Music] that my D the frog is ready he made it super spicy yes my pet my pet my made it extra spicy um and man yeah it's fiery red in color but he said he's been 36 years he's had this restaurant and he's been cooking oh he's so happy he's so incredibly happy what a Manan yeah everything he says is a joke [Music] what BL you this is a river fish that he's frying here one of his Specialties as [Music] well oh and for the fish he fries it extra crispy so that you can eat all the bones and everything get Myra oh [Music] wow that fresh fried fish so crispy all the way through the bones y That's for us and another one of his Specialties is tum KLA which is tum yam made with fish eggs made from the river fish a type of catfish um and that's his specialty you look at how thick and creamy it is it looks so good and I think you made everything I think we've got our full order now we need to serve ourselves bring it to the table oh bring it time to eat but [Laughter] also I said he said he was putting a joke on my shirt but um not spicy not eating in a a very local Thai home style way okay so from here look you get your own plates okay we got we got to get our silverware get our Forks oh okay get a couple of plates oh and the the cups are over on this side okay crab okay and then there's even Self Serve Yourself with the water okay oh it smells so good hot and fresh and extremely spicy okay okay we got it all who we got a lot of food oh man I am so excited for this meal this is like you literally like you're coming over to Uncle's house and you get whatever he's cooking you don't you don't get to say anything he just jokes and you take whatever whatever is available that being said the food looks outstanding he's been cooking for 36 years and man we have some fiery fiery dishes let's go for the toddman Bak these are are the fried fish cakes and the they homemade these fried fish like I mean the the pounded fish mixture made into little hand meatballs with herbs with spices oh man that's good a little bit elasticy from the the fibers of the fish it's spongy you taste the flavor of the basil in there the the chili paste not spicy a little bit spicy but really fragrant I love the texture you taste the the quality of it I mean just the pure fish the pure fish of it I can't wait to try his specialty the Thum yum kipla with the fish eggs and he has it all prepared in a big pot I love how chunky and herbal it is just look at that just huge chunks of galangal there's basil in here lime leaves there's uh lemongrass chunks of lemongrass and if you could see that broth it's so so murky I think from the the fish eggs and the dry chili in there oh man that has this incredible toasted Smokey flavor I think from the chilies and maybe the the eggs and then the all those herbal aromatics come in with the Gango the earthiness of the Gango the freshness of the Basils it's a little bit spicy it's salty oh it's such a well-rounded flavor it's so so sour and Smoky and totally different from other places totally a different style Thum yum some of those eggs taste like that the eggs have almost been smoked or burned to be added to the to the tumbum to give it that flavor has a nice spicy undertone and yeah those eggs just kind of crumble in your mouth cuz they're fully cooked so these little beads of of fish eggs just crumble it kind of crumbles yeah crumbles in your mouth that is that's delicious what a flavor and it is spicy oh I love that smokiness okay let's go in for some rice this one he called cookling but it's more like a it's kind of like a pad pet which is a stir-fried chili tons and tons of red chili paste in here his own red chili paste minced pork he added in some Baya which is tree basil or clove basil and then lime leaves as well oh man that looks so spicy looks so good [Music] oh I in a bunch of fish sauce too that gives it an immediate punch of saltiness plus the flavor of those chilies that chili paste it's spicy I love tree basil it has this incredible licoricey peppery taste oh and the black pepper in there too that is good okay going to try the fish next fried until completely crispy so you can eat the head you can eat the body you can eat all the bones [Music] oh oh man that is tasty straight up like a french fry that's a French fry fish right there and I think you did marinate it maybe with a little bit of soy sauce or oyster sauce has a nice saltiness to it the texture is incredible the flavor is delicious oh that's those are so good oh that's the type of thing you could sit sit around all afternoon and snack on they're like fish Cheetos the Frog chopped up hacked up again loaded with a red curry paste plus basil plus lime leaves oh man his red curry paste is so good and again heavy on the herbs oily but so fragrant spicy M what you can really taste in there is the finger root as well which you chucked in as he was cooking it that has a gingery flavor to it as well and you can't go wrong with the frog frog is meaty muscular just good pieces of meat actually not that bony so good okay next up for the mupa this is the wild boar wild boar again little huge pieces of wild boar stir-fried with a curry paste similar I think it's almost the same recipe as the the Frog just wild boar oh man it's tender too the wild Bo but something I love about wild Bo is all the different textures you have the meat you have the fat you have the skin the skin is a little rubbery a little chewy the fat goes down usually and the meat is actually very tender and again it's that same exact flavor as the Frog and then the final dish I think this might be the final dish that we got to be honest I'm not even sure what this dish is I think he just scooped it to us I don't even know if we ordered it he just scooped it out for us oh oh it's immediate and we took it but I think it looks like chicken in a a Gravy Sauce yeah it's definitely chicken a much milder flavor than the the chili stews the chili stir fries a little bit sweet and a little bit sour and there's some chili in there too kind of has a smokey flavor as well those fish are so addictive and then those fish and then you chase it with some of the the tan broth oh what a combination those are my two favorite things along with the Frog the name of this restaurant is called po and it literally means for it's kind of a slang joking way to say eat yourself and so like it literally translates to help yourself get whatever do whatever you want here come to eat and do whatever you want I'd highly recommend the the fish dishes are really really the Highlight here three incredible restaurants Focus using and specializing in freshwater fish and jumbo auta River prons I'll have all the information of the restaurants in the description box below that you can check out and also make sure you watch I'm also doing a top street food tour of some of the must eat Street Foods in aaya town that you're not going to want to miss as well so make sure you watch that video and I want to say a big thank you for watching this video please give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it leave a comment below I'd love to hear from you and also make sure you subscribe for lots more food and travel videos goodbye from my UT see you on the next video

Channel: Mark Wiens

Views: 1,350,849

Keywords: Thailand, Thai food, Thai street food, Mark Wiens Thailand, shrimp, prawns, huge shrimp, huge prawns, freshwater shrimp, freshwater river prawns, best Thai food, best Thai street food, บ้านตะโกราย, ร้านหาแดกเองโภชนา, ร้านริมน้ำบางไทรอยุธยา, Michelin Guide, Michelin Guide Thailand, best food, food videos

Id: gPNkOTYmD0E

Length: 37min 30sec (2250 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 09 2024