Last time I wrote about how Thais eat lunch and how we do not necessarily eat rice and curries or Kao Gang all the time. I don’t know if I am doing the right thing but I am now going to take you to eating places that “Farang” don’t normally go to. It is not that all the readers of my column are “Farangs” but I assumed that Western educated readers do not necessary go to shop houses that are not air-conditioned to eat.

            I understand that it is not a question of comfort but rather hygiene. I do feel that if that was the case I should try to find local shophouse restaurants that serve wonderful food, where hygiene is acceptable to some of my readers. If you only went to big restaurants, where the waiters and waitresses speak English, you will be missing out on a lot great eating places.

            These places where locals eat, are dotted all over Bangkok and they represent a wonderful culinary adventure. I am going to start writing more and more about these places so, for those of you who are up for adventure and have a fairy strong stomach can embark on your own culinary journey where food is not only delicious but fairly cheap as well. I will write the Thai name in English for the dishes I recommend so that you could communicate with the staff of these places.

            Today we are going to eat at Kao Mun Gai, Mongkol Wattana. I took the BTS to Sapan Kwai station and get off on the same side as Paulo Hospital. Once you are on the street, walk toward Paulo Hospital and before you get there about 10 meters from the stairs which exit the BTS you will find a Soi on your left, which opens to a parking lot of an old movie theatre, called Mongkol Rama. Walk into the Soi and cross the parking area to your right and you will find a shop house restaurant. You can’t miss it, because infront of the shop there is a glass booth with large white chickens hanging it is.

            Filling the whole space in the booth. It is here that you can savor a wonderful Thai Chinese food called Kao Mun Gai. This dish came with the Chinese who settled in Thailand hundreds of years ago, from the Island of Hainan. It is a very simple dish and one of the favorite lunch items for most Thais. The word Kao Mun Gao literally means rice cooked in chicken fat. Chicken, which are usually capons, are gently simmered in chicken broth to cook. They do not boil the chicken to retain all the sweetness and flavor of the meat. Once the chickens are done, they are hung to cool. They will be boned and sliced and eaten with the rice later. The rice is made by adding chicken fat or saute the rice with chicken fat. Chicken stock is added with garlic clove smashed and coriander roots. It is cooked in a rice cooker and the finished product smells wonderful. Each kernel of rice has a shine on it. It comes from cooking the rice with chicken fat.

            Thais usually order a plate of Kao Mun Gai topped with slices of the chicken. The plate is garnished with cucumber slice and coriander leaves. Eating this dish by itself would be an extremely greasy affair but thanks to the sauces that you have to eat with each spoonful of this dish. The sauce consists of many ingredients; fermented soy bean sauce, vinegar, sugar, dark sweet soy sauce, garlic and ginger.

            It tasted salty, sour and very fragrant because of the ginger and garlic. These are reasons for serving the dish with this sauce, it is because garlic and ginger cuts the greasiness and helps your digestive system. Garlic and ginger dissolves fat.

            People who know how to eat this dish usually order a plate of chicken slices and rice in a bowl. They would take a piece of the chicken and dip it in the sauce and let it drip over the rice, put it in their mouths and followed by the rice. I eat it this way too and it is indeed more fun and more delicious. Of course, this would cost a lot more than eating just a plate of chicken over rice, which costs about 30 Bahts. The broth that they used for boiling the chicken is not thrown away but made into a clear soup served as an accompaniment to the rice and chicken.

            There is a variation to this dish, where the chicken is fried and sliced and served over rice with a sweet and sour sauce. I personally don’t like it. Well I hope you have a rough idea of how and where to eat this wonderful dish. The owner’s name is Somnuek. His address is 670/6,next to Mongkol Rama theatre, Phaholyothin Road, telephone 02-270-1170.