(All photos by Lauren Lulu Taylor)
I should probably be embarrassed to write this, but I had no idea that there was a travel advisory on the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have all experienced some sort of unrest since 1948, incidents which have grown more numerous since 2001. I even went down to the border to report on it, back when my then-employer was trying to make me feel better for having such a mind-numbingly boring job. But, 20 years later, I thought that things had simply “gotten better” somehow, because I was too ignorant and lazy to hear about anything bad happening since then. So this is what it feels like to be an undecided US voter, I think as I type this. They really do exist and aren’t lying just to get on CNN.
Blithely unaware, I recently dragged Lauren to Pattani during our research trip for our next cookbook, even though our government website urges us to “reconsider travel” there. OTOH, it’s only an hour and a half drive from Hat Yai, and it has great food. Hmm, I ponder. Great food, or possible danger?
After a mammoth road trip in which we are kept from eating for a full 90 minutes, we break our fast at Moksu Soup Chormalee (138 ถนนยะรัง Chabangtiko, Mueang Pattani District, Pattani 94000), a friendly open-air place that is filled with locals, all of whom look surprised to see us. We are with our Thai friends Frank and Oui, and I am frequently mistaken for a real Thai, but there is something about us that signals our outsider status (or maybe it’s just Lauren). In any case, we are treated warmly and order two large steaming bowls of tart and spicy oxtail soup, accompanied by a nice plate of kai yat sai, an omelette stuffed with minced chicken.
But wait, there’s still lunch to be had. Only a couple of hours later, we descend on the charming outdoor Roti de Forest (V6HX+F2W, Rusamilae, Mueang Pattani District, Pattani 94000), where all of the cooks and servers look to be my daughter’s age at most and the large video screen is playing a movie in which giant frogs are threatening to eat a small town.
The savory roti is delicious, tissue paper-thin and accompanied by a light-on-the-meat red curry that is still toothsome in spite of that.
But there’s also a HUGE selection of sweet roti — chocolate sauce, bananas, caramel, a mountain of whipped cream, sweet egg yolk floss, or just old-fashioned butter and sugar and a dash of condensed milk — whatever you can think of. This is our real cultural heritage; although many countries throughout Asia eat roti with curry, only Thailand douses it in whatever is sugary and calls it a day!
At the end, the meal comes to 400 baht total, including our Southern Thai-style “cha chak”s, poured for us by yet another amiable teenager.
All the same, dinner is what I’m most excited about, and rightly so — we had to actually make reservations! Kama Khao Yum Racha (ถนนนาเกลือ ซอย 3 Anoru, Mueang Pattani District, Pattani 94000) has actually received its fair share of national attention, thanks to its delicious grilled local fish, brushed with coconut milk and tamarind to a golden sheen; its lasae, thick fermented rice noodles accompanied by coconut milk, yeera blossoms, green beans and bean sprouts; its stir-fried pad mee noodles with shrimp; and of course, its namesake dish, khao yum, accompanied by a handy little basket of ingredients you can mix into it, like green peppercorn, boiled eggs and chilies.
The price after we’ve stuffed our bellies full of local goodies? 267 baht.
The evening ends as we imagine most evenings to end in Pattani, with more cha chak.
At the crack of dawn the next morning, we make one last stop before we swing north for a 4-hour drive to Khanom. Open at 6am, Nasi Dakae di Fathoni (073-312-646) specializes in, well, nasi dakae, rice seasoned with dried shrimp and coconut, paired with a thick slice of mackerel, boiled egg, banana pepper, and a side of red curry. This is a breakfast that can only be found in southernmost Thailand (although I’m told Usman on Sukhumvit 22 in Bangkok also serves it) and, if you’re in Pattani, it can only be bought before 8:30am, when they usually run out.
I’m not saying ignore your government’s travel advisories to run down south for this dish (don’t sue me!), but I would say, if you were ever to, like, find yourself in the vicinity of Hat Yai, a quick jaunt down south at the crack of dawn probably wouldn’t be the worst thing you could do. And if you were to, say, get a flat tire, necessitating a stay there for around 24 hours, there could be worse uses of your time.
Just saying, I type before calling my lawyer.
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