Night Market

On a Chinese Gate and a Traditional Drum

The Night Market of Phrae is located on the southern side of the Old City, next to the moat and practically at the center of the east-west axis, on the intersection of the Charoen Muang and Rop Muang roads.

Charoen Muang – a name that can be translated as "City of Culture" - is the avenue dissecting the Old City at its center and connecting it to the bridge over the River Yom at its north. Rop Muang is a street within the moats, delimiting the Old City to the south and running roughly on the east-west axis.

This location means the market can be reached by foot from everywhere in downtown; the market runs all the way westwards to the west end of the town, where a huge Chinese temple adds a heavy touch of color to the area. The temple is beautifully illuminated at night (see picture). A traditional drum used in Thai and Lao temples for calling to prayers is located nearby in the middle of an open space. These create a wonderful setup for a Northern Thai dinner.

Practicalities

As its name implies, the market opens at dusk and is open until the last customer leaves. The prices of single dishes seldom cross the one dollar line.

Night markets are not an orderly affair. Many shops are literally on wheels. Not all the shops open every day. The weather can dramatically change the experience. Thai night markets resemble traditional Asian food markets, where each shop specializes in very few dishes. Buying a whole meal at one stall is not possible; the idea is wandering around while creating your ultimate meal, dish by dish. Thus providing exact directions for a specific shop is useless. The best is describing which dishes to look for and then let serendipity play its role.

Phrae’s cuisine belongs to the Northern Thai style. That means the following snacks are the main attractions.

Spiced and Fermented Pork Sausages

Several variations of pork sausages are available. Usually they are served sliced and with any combination of chilies, vegetables and sticky rice. The main variations are:

Sai Ooua is the name of a Chiang Mai style sausage made from pork and spices and grilled in front of the customer.

Naam is a fermented pork sausage containing pieces of green chilies pepper. These can be rather spicy, tasting them with care is recommended. Technically it is possible to take the chili bits out of them, but the meat had already absorbed much of the heat.

Did SeenThat just said fermented meat? Yes. Naam is prepared from ground pork and pork rinds mixed with rice, chilies and garlic; these are allowed to ferment for up to five days. Usually it is eaten uncooked within a week of its production, but it can be also grilled. The taste is a bit surprising at first, but attractive enough.

In what became a pattern across several continents, I tasted them for the first time without knowing what they were. When the time to be shocked arrived, I already liked the taste.

Moo Yor

This is a mix of steamed ground pork, flour and spices which is served wrapped in banana leaves; in this form it is very similar to the laap salad of Isaan and Laos. However, a variant named Yaam Moo Yor – a salad - exists. It includes cucumber slices, chilies, garlic, lime, coriander leaves, onion, and lettuce as a base; the ground pork meat can be replaced by Northern-style pork sausages.

Kaeb Moo

Crispy Pork Rind (strips of fried pork skin; researchers all over the world are furiously working on the creation of a light version) can be found in several fashions all over Thailand. The peculiarity of the northern method of serving is the use of dips; in its full version is served with sticky rice, sliced cucumbers, cabbage chunks and one of the following dips:

Naam Prik Ong is made by cooking a mixture of ground pork, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, shrimps and garlic.

Naam Prik Noom is a chili paste prepared with green chilies, shallots, garlic, tomatoes and other vegetables and served hot. "Naam Prik" means "water chili" and is a term used for hot sauces in general.

Curries

Curries are an important part of the Thai cuisine. I have described in the past their central and southern variations, but a separate comment must be added for the northern type.

Here it is prepared without using coconuts, the result resembling more a rich stew than a typical curry. Unripe small eggplants (makhua sohm) are often added, giving a peculiar sour taste to the dish. The main variations are:

Gaeng Kare is a rich curry based on fermented fish, shrimps, lemon grass, shallots, bamboo shots, chilies and other vegetables. To this a meat – usually pork, beef or chicken – is added.

Gaeng Khanoon is a curry based on unripe jackfruit as the main vegetable ingredient and on a chili/tamarind paste that gives it its distinctive orange color.

OK, That Was Nice, But What About My Coffee?

Coffee is foreign to the Thai culture. It arrived from Laos, where it was introduced by the French colonizers and became a popular drink, after having been adapted to the Thai taste. That means it is prepared from a mix of coffee beans and ground tamarind and served with a mixture of condensed milk and palm oil. The preparation method uses a sock-filter. Stalls abound, but – alas! – operate only in the mornings.

However, nothing can stop a strong-minded Marco Polo. South of the Old City, along Charoen Muang, the new city’s main avenue, are a few restaurants and bars catering for the few travelers crossing Phrae. Roughly two blocks south of the market, they are an excellent spot for ending the evening.

From journal One Sunset over the Old Bridge