Joanna James
Your visit to Hua Hin is going to be incomplete without savouring mouth-watering local fare. Here are the top picks for Hua Hin dishes.
Your list of things to do in Hua Hin Thailand should include tucking into some spicy blue crab papaya salad. 'The dish combines papaya from Isan and fresh blue crab from Hua Hin. There is green papaya and cool cucumber in the dish not to mention cherry tomatoes and fragrant fresh herbs. Crab meat adds a flaky texture to complement the freshness of the herbs and fruit. Fish sauce and tamarind juice lends a tangy zest along with spicy chilies. Castor sugar cuts down the spiciness. Let the spicy and sour flavours entice your taste buds and take you on a journey of pleasure. Bite into tasty morsels of blue crab. Som Tam Pu Ma is an addictive dish full of pleasant surprises. You can find Som Tam Pu Ma anywhere in Hua Hin from street stalls to resorts such as Anantara Hua Hin.
Tom Yam Goong is a bold and invigorating dish or rather a bowl of goodness. It is rather versatile and pairs well with any dish. Taste the sublime lemongrass, spicy chili, galangal and lime juice mixed with fish sauce as you munch on shrimp. The signature style of the dish is its spicy sourness. Chefs use pork or chicken stock to start the dish before adding in all the ingredients. Expect to fish out shallots, mushroom, carrot and yellow onions from your bowl of Tom Yam Goong. Fresh herbs too are a vital part of the dish. With every mouthful, you'll discover bursts of flavour.
Escargot may very well be a quintessentially French favourite, but Hoi Wan Pad Cha offers an entirely different experience. Babylon snails are a delicacy. Snails go into a hot wok and garlic, wild ginger, hot and flavourful bird's eye chili, fresh peppercorns and sweet basil follow suit. The result is an invigorating, extremely spicy concoction. Hoi Wan Pad Cha is not a dish that faint hearted should try.
Admittedly, this dish is popular in Bangkok too. But the Hua Hin version is so much better. Huge oysters and eggs go into a wok. Chefs stir the oysters and eggs fiercely and then add tapioca starch (diluted). Then goes in a dash of oyster sauce to enhance the taste. You'll get your serving of oyster pancake on a hotplate.
Thick, creamy green chicken curry taste splendid next to a bowl of fragrant, nutty rice. Thai green curry paste, and fresh coconut cream make the base for Gaeng Keow Wan Kai. Chefs add tasty morsels of chicken, eggplants, generous handfuls of fresh herbs, bamboo shoots and spices into the dish. Bite off chunks of chicken and let the spice and herb infused creamy curry usher you into ecstasy.
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A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
