Market and Community

Word count and editor's perogative determined that there was much we would have liked to include in a story about Bangkok's Nang Leong market, but couldn't. More on the area's food, more on the market's unique points.  That's often par for the course when we're working on assignment. And it's OK, because we have this blog. Even if we get busier with, um, paid work, we can't imagine not maintaining EatingAsia. There will always be stories we want to tell that would never otherwise see the light of day if we didn't tell them here.

So here's some more on Nang Leong.

Even after recent renovations that destroyed much of the market's original character, its primary architectural distinction remains: the hundred-year-old shop houses, fronted by folding wooden doors, that enclose the market on four sides. It's a style of market architecture that - according to the Bureau of Crown Property, which owns Nang Leong -  was popular during the reign of King Rama V, but few markets of this type are still standing today.

In a city that's remaking itself at warp speed it's hard not to be awed by old buildings that have survived this long, and even more so by a commercial space that is still dedicated, to some extent at least, to the purpose for which it was originally constructed.

As the BCP officer I interviewed for the story pointed out, Nang Leong is (was?) not only a market but also a community. The shop houses that surround the market's open central 'square' are live-work structures, with businesses downstairs, inside and out front of living areas, and more private accomodations up. The market community's insularity was enhanced by its location, tucked away as it is at the intersection of five shop house-lined alleys that branch off larger main streets.

                                Alley renovations, now finished

Most casual passers-by are unaware that the market even exists, which explains why many Bangkok residents have never heard of the place. In fact Nang Leong wasn't included on an exhaustive tourist map of Bangkok until this year's edition because neither the author or her daughter, who'd been hunting for the place since 2002, succeeded in locating it till last year.

The community feel of the market has certainly diminished in recent years, and to tell the truth it's a shadow of what it was when we first fell in love with the place in 2002. Many of the market's current vendors (a good proportion of which are recent, post-renovation arrivals) live outside the neighborhood, and not a few of the old shop houses around the market no longer have full-time residents.

The fabric of the entire Nang Leong neighborhood, in fact, is changing. We spent an enjoyable couple of days with a resident who lives in the house that his grandfather, an immigrant from China, occupied when it was first built more than a hundred years ago. When he was growing up almost everyone in Nang Leong could trace their roots in the neighborhood back that far but nowadays, he estimates, only 35 or 40% of residents were born there.

The market itself is anchored by a large, elevated Chinese temple cum Thai spirit house dedicated to the founder of the Thai Navy. It was refurbished as part of the renovations - new paint job, new stairs - and is maintained day-to-day by a neighborhood association that collects donations from vendors and residents.

The neighborhood's other notable architectural fixture, located just a block from the center of the market, is Chalerm Thani, a gorgeous, hulking wooden building that used to house a cinema. Inside, the old stage remains, along with a balcony for a projection booth and first-class seating that no longer exists. This lovely structure presents so many possibilities, but the latest word is that it will give way to a parking facility which, granted, Nang Leong needs. But here? If I had a couple million bucks I'd rent Chalerm Thani from the BCP and transform it into combination neighborhood center-gallery-performance space. They just don't make wooden buildings like this anymore.

During weekday lunch hours the market's new food court is packed with customers. Much of what's sold from the newer stalls could be found just about anywhere in Bangkok.

But it's worth heading to Nang Leong - about mid-morning, before the chaotic lunch crush - for a walk around the neighborhood and a sampling of some of the specialties offered by long-time vendors.

In one of the alleys spoking off the market, for instance, you might find this vendor, selling sublime curry noodles from the back of his bicycle cart.

Down another you might chance upon this woman,

dipping glutinous rice flour 'donuts', called kanom tong, into palm sugar syrup in front of her house.

These were seriously delicious, a good balance of sweet from the sugar, savory from the rice (palm sugar isn't as sweet as white sugar), and a lucky find to boot. The vendor usually sells deep-fried fish or oysters instead, she told us. She only makes this old-fashioned sweet when the mood strikes.

Back in the heart of the market, at an old shop called Baa Saeeng, a vendor named Ongart makes sweet-savory peanut and pork-filled rice flour pancakes called khao giap bak maw, which are eaten wrapped in lettuce with a sprig of cilantro and a fresh chili. I am crazy about this snack, as much for its sensory overload (crispy lettuce and smooth, slippery pancake; sweet-savory filling up against the sharp, sudden heat of chili and the foreward astringency of cilantro; cool veggies and steaming noodle) as for its flavor. Ongart makes an excellent version.

Ongart runs the business, which is over sixty years old, together with his three sisters. In addition to khao giap bak maw the siblings sell steamed bao (pork are highly recommended); bags of naa tang, an extravagantly rich dip made with coconut milk, chopped pork, and shrimp to eat with crispy rice crackers; and small brown orbs that look a lot like olives but are a smoother, more savory variation on the theme of the khao giap bak maw filling, to sandwich between rice crackers. The latter two items regularly sell out before lunch time. The siblings don't speak a huge amount of English but they're very friendly and quite pleased when visitors take an interest in their offerings.

Nearby, a somewhat gruff vendor sells saikrawk bplaa naem, which combines two types of grilled pork sausage with flaked preserved snakehead fish, pickled garlic and shallots, fresh chilies, and peanuts. 

This dish epitomizes that cliche (but often true) characterization of much Thai food: hot-sour-salty-sweet. It's also, like khao giap bak maw, a wonderful combination of textures: powdery fish, chewy sausage, crunchy (and sharply piquant) shallots/garlic and peanuts.

And the vendor claims a famous regular customer: Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

Tomorrow, more wanderings down Nang Leong's lanes..

 

Comments

[Kitt]

What a great report! So many fascinating details. I'd love to visit.

Love the pictures! That cat photo in particular is stellar.

[noes]

I love thai food.
The pictures remind me back home (Philippines). I'm full after reading your blog.

[Thaigirl]

Khao giap bak maw is my favorite childhood snack when I lived in Thailand. I also like Sa ku sai moo which is often sold at the same vendor's stand. Thank you Robin for reminding me of the good memories.

[ELE]

Another great post. The photograph of the cat is simply terrific.

Thank you.

[a]

Wow. What a great post. Beautiful and even a little sad at the same time. Thank you.

[mary shaposhnik]

That is a rather wistful post, and for good reason. Thanks for being the chroniclers of these very important communities.

And I am completely thrilled to see your khao giap bak maw photos and description (which led me to discover you did make reference to this in 2006, but I missed it)--I nearly shrieked, "there it is! there it is!". I had this one morning in the market in Nan, and remembered that I wasn't sure I was accessorizing it correctly -- this was before I realized just how sweet everyone there was and how they'd be happy to help -- and I remember being wowed by this mix of savory and sweet, but knowing how to describe it. Never saw it again, but apparently just wasn't looking hard enough.

So thank you for giving names, histories, faces to things that seem like apparations....

[MichaelG]

Great looking market! I love these places. Reminds me of the Ben Thanh market in Saigon.

[quinn]

it's too bad that chalerm thani would be buldozed to the ground for a parking lot. i hope there's still hope for it. i think it's one of a kind and it should be preserved for generations to come.

[mareza]

we are going to bangkok for a day then two days in krabe
but i will try and eat lots of thai food....you are making me hungry.
best pad thai i ever had was a family restaurant in front of
chiang mai hote in chiang mai

[Robyn]

Thanks Kitt and ELE and a. Everyone seems to like that cat picture.

noes - thanks. That's quite a compliment.

Thaigirl-you're welcome. Thanks for reminding me that they also sell sakoo sai muu. Seems most vendors of the one also sell the other. I love those as well.

mary - you're welcome. I just love that snack, as much for the textural play as for the flavors.

michael - I think it's even better than Ben Thanh, primarily bec. none of the vendors grab you buy the arm as you walk by, trying to drag you to their stalls. :-)

quinn - agreed.

mareza - the small, seemingly insignificant places have the best food, I think. Enjoy your trip!

[Stephanie]

Dear Robyn, I've been so busy that it has been a while since I've stopped by and now you've given me a major dose of Asia-sickness: feel another trip coming on soon.... as ever, your photographs are stunning, words evocative and you capture the life and colour and movement of Asia like nothing else online that I know of. And now you've reminded me of my favourite Thai snacks... khao giap bak maw... I haven't had one for years and had forgotten what they were called. I'll be checking out airfares to Bangkok...and maybe to KL too!
love
Stephanie