Joanna James
For a complete Hua Hun experience, you must try the food the place offers. The town has a range of mouthwatering dishes, and sampling as many dishes as you can is something you must do as a tourist.
This mixture of fresh blue crab and zesty som tam is a must-try dish in Hua Hin. It tastes every bit as good as tom sum, but better because of the chunks of raw blue crab thrown in there: a sight that'll make your mouth water.
Cracking the crab on the dining table is a delightful yet a messy affair, that's why Hua Hin restaurants have introduced steamed crab wing which comes in bite-sized pieces. It is as meaty and sumptuous as it can be, and you don't have to go into the trouble of cracking it up. The dish is accompanied by a spicy seafood sauce which enhances the flavour.
This is as delightful as it sounds. The blend of chillies, lemongrass, shallots, lime leaves, galangal and fish sauce defines everything you want to see on your dinner menu. This is a versatile dish, and you can pair it with a bowl of rice if you wish.
Babylon snails are considered delicacies in Hua Hin, and you don't find it on every menu. The snails are mixed with wild ginger, garlic, chilli, fresh peppercorns, chilli oil and sweet basil. All the ingredients are stirred together in a wok before it's ready to go on the dining table. The dish can be frightfully spicy though, so, before you dig in, prepare yourself for an extremely spicy, strong gastronomical experience.
This is a known dish in Bangkok as well, but Hua Hin version is so much better. Oyster is the key ingredient of this Thai delight – oysters and raw eggs are stirred in a wok, and they are mixed with diluted tapioca starch solution and oyster sauce. Deep-fried oyster pancakes are served on a hot plate.
This is a popular dish in the central region and a must-have in Hua Hin too. It is usually made with freshwater fish, but in Hua Hin, freshwater fish is substituted by a number of seafood variants; the dish can come with shrimp, mussels and squid. Steamed seafood custard is served with coconut cream and a red curry base, and it usually comes in a coconut shell.
A common option on menus at restaurants, garlic fried sand whiting, can be consumed with steamed rice; it is also eaten as an appetiser. The small fish used in this dish are abundant in the Gulf of Thailand, and so they make their way to the dining room often. The fish is marinated in a batter made with peppercorn and fried until it turns golden brown.
This is a dish you find anywhere in Thailand, including the restaurants franchised by Avani+ Hua Hin Resort. It doesn't require a special mention as everybody already knows of the dish, but it should be on the list of Thai food. To make this dish, Thai noodles are fried along with eggs, bean sprouts and onions.
The main ingredient of the dish comes from a leafy plant with hollow stems; its leaves are found in many Thai dishes. To make pak boong fai daeng, the leaves are stirred in a wok with chilli, garlic, fish sauce, oyster sauce and beans. It takes only a few stirs to make this delicious Thai side dish.
Served with a bowl of steamy rice, green chicken curry is another Thai favourite. Chunks of chicken, eggplants, coriander, sweet basil and bamboo shoots make up this yummy Thai dish.
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
