Dining Guide / Seafood Restaurant

Seafood is a fabulous deal in Thailand, and Bangkok has a true seafood culture. A seafood outing is something a foreign visitor definitely should not miss when in the Thai capital. Many restaurants in Bangkok specialize in seafood, and one gets it expertly prepared in two styles: Thai/Chinese or European/American.

In Thai/Chinese cuisine, fish and seafood may be fried in oil over fierce heat, breaded and deep-fried, cooked with a sweet and sour or chilli sauce, prepared as soup, or steamed. When simply steamed, fish and seafood maintain their natural flavor best. In steaming freshness is of utmost importance.

When frying fish there may not be a difference in taste between one killed just before cooking and another killed but kept fresh for approximately a day; but when merely steamed, a fish killed just before preparation certainly has a finer taste than one just kept fresh for many hours. The difference is an underlying mysterious sweetness in taste which is unknown in European fish and seafood preparation.

As it is much easier to catch and keep lobsters, crab, prawns and shrimp alive, these are only killed before cooking both in Thai/Chinese and European-style seafood restaurants.

When it comes to lobster, large seafood restaurants have an often not thought of advantage over smaller ones. Lobsters shouldn't be kept in aquariums for too long a time not because it harms the quality but rather the quantity. A lobster loses quite a bit of weight if kept in an aquarium. This may result from the stress it suffers during transport and the keeping time in the aquarium.

The lobster, however, doesn't lose the weight of its shell and innards but only of its meat. And as the proportion between meat and other parts of the lobster declines the longer a lobster is kept in an aquarium, it's a loss to keep the lobster too long; and it's a loss the guest in a restaurant pays for as lobster is commonly priced according to weight. A lobster of 1.5 kilos (3.3 lbs) in weight yields different amounts of meat, depending on whether it was stored in the aquarium for two days or two weeks.

French cuisine (and European cuisine in general) prepares fish decisively differently from Thai or Chinese cuisine. French cuisine has a very gentle way of handling fish. It is not fried too hot, and not for too long, and then served with a sauce. One very specific French fish sauce, for example, gets its taste from almonds; but cheese based sauces are also common.

Seafood in Bangkok is perfectly fresh. Particularly Chinese seafood restaurants keep a lot of fish and seafood alive in aquariums to secure the ultimate in freshness.

A number of restaurants show the fish to the guest before preparing it. Those who want to check the freshness can apply two methods: look at the eyes of the fish - the clearer the eye the fresher the fish; or press the fish body - the more elastic the meat the fresher.

Those fish which contain fat (tuna, mackerel, grouper, sardines) have reddish colored meat while those that do not (milkfish, catfish, mudfish) have white meat.

Grouper fish is one of the most delicious Thai fish, and even it is not rare it is more expensive than the other fish commonly found; therefore it is seldom eaten in homes but mostly served in restaurants. There are three kinds of grouper, the red, the spotted, and the black. The black is the best, being softer and juicier than the others. It's also the most expensive of the three. Some grouper can grow to an amazing size, to a weight of more than 50 kilos (110 lbs). Those served in restaurants, however, are of a size that makes one fish one serving.

Blue Marlin is common in Thai waters, and it is liked not only by game anglers but gourmets as well. As the Blue Marlin is a big fish it's served cut into steaks. Of course it is milder than meat but as in the case of meat, a serving of Blue Marlin gets its taste mainly from the sauce going with it. Contrary to what is the case for pork and beef, the belly is the best part of the Blue Marlin, not the back; whereas the belly is soft, the back is slightly tough. Those who don't mind the bones may order the fin of the Blue Marlin; it's taste is somehow sweeter than that of the belly.

Large mackerel are common in Thai waters. With its high fat content it has a meaty taste. Seafood restaurants commonly serve it fried.

Various kinds of sardines are the most common fish prepared in homes but less often served in restaurants, particularly not the classy ones. They are usually fried or grilled.

European cuisine considers sole one of the best fish; sole is occasionally available in Thailand.

Squid is most often grilled or fried. Eel is more common in Chinese than Thai restaurants.

Shrimp are very affordable in Thailand and therefore also commonly eaten in homes. They may be steamed or fried, and they are an ingredient to many Thai soups.

Prawns are much more expensive and therefore only found in better restaurants where they commonly are served grilled.

The lobsters caught in Thai waters are of a Pacific species, also called rock lobster; they do not have the large claws typical of the so-called Maine lobsters caught in the Northern Atlantic.

Crabs with large pincers are commonly steamed or simmered in coconut milk. Better restaurants only serve the female animal as it always carries the spawn. The spawn is the most delicious part of the crab; it is red colored, tastes stronger than the rest of the crab, and has a slightly crisp texture. As restaurants, when purchasing crabs from dealers, often specify that they only want female animals, that sold in markets is often the male.

Crab crackers are not common in Thai homes and simple restaurants. The alternative way of cracking crabs is by banging on them with a spoon.

Coconut Crab is much rarer in restaurants than the kind mentioned above. It's meat has a higher fat content than that of other crabs; it's not surprising as it feeds mainly on coconuts. By the way, coconut crabs are interesting animals not only as a dish but also alive. They make their living climbing coconut trees where they bore holes in coconuts and scrape them out with their long pincers.

Three kinds of shellfish are common in Thai cuisine: oysters, mussels, and clams.

In Thai and Chinese cuisine, oysters are usually steamed or grilled on the half shell after being marinated in various spices. Oysters are comparatively cheap in Thailand.

Mussels are served steamed or in soups. Clams are more expensive. As anywhere in the world, they are most commonly served in soups.

The French way of preparing seafood is more elaborate than the Thai and Chinese styles; in French cuisine seafood is accompanied by fine, sometimes even mysterious sauces which often contain wine as well as cheese.

Oysters, mussels, and clams all can be prepared with a cheese and wine sauce. However, as oysters have the mildest and clams the strongest taste of the three, the sauce for oysters has to be milder, too. Clams can also be served in a combination with little bits of bacon without completely concealing the seafood taste.

The most famous French combination of seafood and cheese sauce is lobster a la Thermidor. If prepared in this style the meat is taken out of the lobster, cooked and served in a cheese sauce. The dish may or may not be served in the lobster shell; serving in the shell adds eye appeal but doesn't influence the taste.

Prawns, and even crabs, can be prepared and served Thermidor style. For crabs, however, a slight variation is more common: the preparation a la Newburg.

The meat of lobster, prawns, and crab tastes fairly similar, particularly if prepared Thermidor or Newburg style. As a rule of thumb, lobster has a stronger flavor than prawns or crabs, and crab meat is softer in texture than lobster or prawns.