- Hey everyone, hope you'rehaving an amazing day.
It's Mark Weins.
I'm in Thailand,
and today we're driving to Ayutthaya
because there's this onerestaurant that serves...
Okay, I'll tell you the full story later,
but anyway, we went tothis restaurant years ago
when we were filmingfor a different program
and he is this amazing uncle who serves
what I remember is the best Tom Yum Goong,
Tom Yum soup with shrimp,that I've ever had in my life
and I've been waiting,
it's been years since I've had a chance,
I haven't had a chance to go back,
finally today is thatday so we're gonna go,
we're gonna drive.
It's in the province of Ayuttaya
and we're gonna go seek it out.
We actually called himahead, so he is open.
We confirmed, we're going there.
But, yeah, his Tom Yum Goongis just unbelievably delicious.
Maybe the best I've ever had.
And we're gonna go eat it right now.
Along with some other big shrimp as well.
(upbeat music)
All right, we made it.
Welcome to Amphoe Sena,the town is called,
actually it's not that big of a town,
but it's called Sena, which isin the province of Ayutthaya.
Not too far away from Ayutthayatown in central Thailand.
It is blazing hot, the sun is so strong.
We parked at the bus station
because there's noparking at the restaurant
because the restaurantis located down an alley
in the old, historical partof town in the marketplace.
So you have to park.
I think the closest parkingis the bus station, at least.
And then walk into the smallalleys to the marketplace
to get to the restaurant.
Okay, so come down this kinda alley area.
Oh, oh yeah, okay.
This is just kind of a shortcutthrough to the riverside.
You pop out here, you'renext to the river.
Okay, yeah, this is the place.
I remember now.
Oh, it's been so long butthe memory's still fresh.
That's the restaurant right here!
(foreign language)
So excited to be here, this is exactly,
I don't think anything has changed
in the last four or five years
since I've been here last time.
But I don't think anythin`g'schanged in the last
like thirty, maybe forty, years.
I'm not even totally sure how old it is,
but it's just this style,
the turquoise paint, the wood panels.
It's such a beautiful restaurant.
I mean, the entire restaurantis a museum in and of itself.
And I love how it's downa no-driving street,
just motorbikes so it'squiet, it's peaceful,
right next to the river.
Oh, man, this is a historical,
this is a legendary restaurant.
(plates and cutlery clinking)
We're just looking at the menu,
trying to decide what to order.
Ying is ordering,
the one thing we have toorder is the Tom Yum Goong.
He only uses the big, pretty good size,
four to the kilo, fourfreshwater shrimp to the kilo.
But we're also gonna get Goong Pow,
which are just roasted shrimp.
And then, Ying orderedjust some other dishes
that..
(foreign language)
(ice scraping)
(chopping sound)
(background murmuring)
He just grabbed some of the shrimp.
I mean, they're common in Thailand,
especially central Thailand.
I mean, not that, thatcommon, they're special,
but they just never get old.
They are always incredible.
But he is, he grabbed some,he's now just trimming them up.
(murmuring in foreign language)
(chopping noises)
(scraping noises)
(oil sizzling in pan)
(hip hop beat)
Oh, man, I'm just sweating in the kitchen
but they're working so fast
after slicing the shrimp in half.
We got Goong Pow, so thoseare just roasted shrimp.
You put them onto the charcoal,just about five minutes
and they only grillthem on the shell side,
leaving that head side up.
And then you could see justas that (foreign language),
that just like, it startsto melt with the heat,
they put the cover on.
And then, uncle is also fryingup some Tod Mun Pla Krai,
which are fishcakes, deep-fried.
(sizzling)
It smells incredible
and I think the last, the finalthing that he's gonna make
is the Tom Yum Goong becauseyou want that hot and fresh
and served in a mo fai,which is a fire pot.
(splashing)
(foreign language)
(sizzling)
(chopping noises)
(foreign language)
(murmuring in background)
(upbeat music)
Man, I am just, my shirt is just drenched
in the back of this kitchen.
Like, the air is just kinda like,
it's like a steam room backhere with all the cooking.
But let me just do mybest to try to explain.
They did it so fast thatas they were preparing it,
like I could just, I was just watching.
I could barely evencontemplate what was going on.
But he first starts with a wok
and starts with some of thestock, some of the soup,
that uncle said is a combinationof pork and chicken bones
which sizzles, which boils over charcoal
so it has that smokey flavor already.
He adds that soup, some of that to the wok
and then boils that alongwith all of the herbs,
the lemongrass, there'slemongrass in there,
a bunch of galangal.
He puts in quite a bitof kaffir lime leaves
and then next I think it's justone whole freshwater shrimp
but he de-shelled it,he cut it into pieces
and he really took care toprotect that (foreign language),
the head and liver,butter, juices, richness.
And then by far the greatest part
is where he takes another head,
I don't even know wherethat head came from,
he just grabbed anotherhead, another shrimp head,
and he literally squeezedout all of that fat,
all of that wonderful flavor.
He squeezed it out liketoothpaste into the soup,
let that boil, let thatjust like simmer around
and immediately as he squeezed that in,
you could see it kindacurdle up and thicken
and richen the entire soup.
Oh, and I forgot to say,also, he uses his own recipe
which is sai bua, whichare the stems of lotus
to put into his Tom Yum as well.
So then he simmered that down.
On the other side of thekitchen, in the fire pot,
she prepared, it was justsome herbs, I think coriander,
as well as saw tooth coriander.
And then lime juiceand dried chili flakes,
put that into the fire pot.
So that's the part thatdoesn't get cooked,
that only gets cooked from the hot soup.
You don't wanna boil that
because if you burn, for instance,
the lime juice or the herbs,
if you boil it for too longit will loose its flavor.
So, after that, he combines the two,
adds all the souptogether to the fire pot.
And then they added a bit more fish sauce,
a bit more lime juice to taste
and a little more corianderon top for flavor.
That, I mean, it's simple yet methodical,
everything is in a step, perfect.
Uncle has been makingit for many, many years
and just perfected his own recipe.
Oh, I'm always excitedto eat Tom Yum Goong
but this is like another level.
Another level of excitement.
Thai Tom Yum soup, it'ssuch an interesting dish
because it's such an ancient dish
but there's modern variations
and it's been adaptedto different locations,
to different places, to different,like, entire generations.
But there's so many different recipes
and this is not onlypossibly uncle's own recipe,
but the one he's developedfor this region, this area.
He was already mentioningthat this area used to be,
the freshwater shrimpused to be so plentiful
that it was an everyday occurrence.
Now they are a specialty,they are a delicacy,
they are expensive.
But, he said, like yearsago, it was extremely common.
(foreign language)
We also got some mixed vegetables.
But, anyways, Tom Yum Goong,it has a lot of history,
so many variations and somany amazing variations.
This one, though, oh man, it's amazing.
I love that he uses the lotus stems,
which is not very common to see.
And then you can just seethe (foreign language),
head butter fat just floatingaround on the top of it.
Okay, we gotta try it.
Let's just navigate this Tom Yum
just so we can see the ingredients first.
You got the shrimp, you gotthe heads, he de-shelled it,
these are the sai bua, the lotus stems.
There's a lot of coriander in here.
I think there's saw toothherb, there's shallots.
Oh, he added shallots too.
The lemongrass, the chilis,
and then all of those littlefloating little nuggets
is all that goodness.
Okay, from the head of the shrimp.
I'm gonna just try that broth first.
Look at that broth.
That is precious.
Normally I wouldn't eatdirectly out of the fire pot,
but it's just Ying and I, we're family,
we're eating together.
I'm just going right for the pot.
Ah, wow.
That's, yes.
This still is my favoriteTom Yung Goong in the world,
I think, in the world, inThailand, in the world.
It's so perfect, look.
Ah.
It's salty, it's sour, it'srich but not overly rich.
Not like crazy rich, butrich from the shrimp.
You taste the lemongrass,the kaffir lime leaves.
And then it has that herbaceousness
from the saw toothcoriander and the coriander.
It is so good.
Okay, next bite has to bethe sai bua, the lotus stems.
I'm gonna get down there tosome of that dry chili, too.
(plates clinking in background)
That is a heavenly broth.
Like, there's no other way to describe it.
It is so good.
Those lotus stems, they're amazing
because they absorb up the broth.
They're crisp, they'relike sponges of Tom Yum.
And then the next bite has tobe shrimp, just shell-less.
Shell-less nuggets of shrimp.
I think one of the keys
is not only balancing all theingredients and the herbs,
but also the different stages of cooking
and the amount of cooking.
Because the shrimp goin at a certain time.
Even, for instance, the limejuice doesn't even get cooked.
It's just added to the pot
and gets cooked enough withthe addition of the hot broth.
Same goes for the coriander.
So it's really knowing the steps.
I mean, starting withgood quality ingredients
but knowing the steps.
Okay, I'm gonna try oneof the Tod Mun Pla Krai.
Pla Krai is the, I thinkit's knife fish in English.
But they take the, they de-bone the fish,
mix it sometimes withcurry paste and with spices
and then pound it upuntil it turns spongy.
It's just pure fish but with spices in it.
And then it becomes spongy.
You can also smell, you cansee the kaffir lime leaves
as well as a little bit ofshaved long beans in here.
And, which sauce do you eat with this?
Oh, the sweet one, right?
Oh, yeah, it's usuallyserved with the sweet sauce.
But I often prefer itwith the seafood sauce.
But I'll try it with theoriginal sauce first.
(upbeat music)
Mm, it's really good, yeah?
Mm, oh wow, it's so good.
The sauce, yeah, I'mnot huge on the sauce.
I don't really like the sauce
because actually it's kinda like a sweet,
like barely chili sauce.
But the Tod Mun Pla Krai, it's so spongy.
You taste the red chili,like the dry chili in there.
You taste the kaffir lime leaves.
And you have that just slight crunch
which breaks up thetexture from the sponginess
from the long beans.
No sauce on my next bite.
Yeah, I just prefer the (mumbles).
Oh, and that's incredible.
(laughs)
You can just tell whenit's just pure fish,
when it's fresh, when it's, mm,when it's the right texture.
And now it is time for the Goong Pow,
which are just the roasted shrimp.
Um, I'll take this one right here.
Tip this onto my plate.
Oh, man, look at that.
That butter, oh.
And, what I like to do istake a little bit of the meat,
kinda scoop that out,
and then mix it with,
oh, you can see how it's not overcooked,
it looks so juicy, so, so succulent.
And then mix it with a portion
of that (foreign language) butter.
Oh, that is as good asa single bite can get.
And first bite, no sauce.
Just the pure, there'snothing added to it.
Oh, whoa.
Like, you have that slight bitterness
from the (foreign language).
But then the shrimp is so fresh,
it's muscular, it's so sweet.
I'll add some of thechili sauce to this next.
And just kinda, like,hold it into that trough.
Maybe a little more chilis on there.
And then, just fully de-shell it.
With all of that head butter.
I think this is a onebiter with what remains.
Put all of that on top.
Oh, yes.
Oh, look at that bite.
(foreign language in background)
Unbelievable, the richness.
You don't wanna eat them too often
because they're so special,they're such a delicacy.
They're so rich.
But every now and then,they're a real treat.
They're incredible.
And then chase that withsome of the Tom Yum.
Oh, you know what?
I think what really impresses me
about the Tom Yung Goong here
is you can really tastethe herbal factor of it.
He adds in a lot oflemongrass, a lot of galangal.
You can really taste the galangal in there
that's been simmered down.
All the flavors are pronounced.
This is like one of the mostpure tasting Tom Yum Goongs
that I've ever had anywhere.
It's like really a roots,like it tastes ancient,
and yet all the flavors are there,
all the flavors are distinct.
And it's so herbal.
And I think that's whatI love about it so much.
And the richness only relies,
I mean, he relies onthe freshwater shrimp.
Locally sourced for therichness, for the thickening,
for the flavor of this Tom Yung Goong.
Now that I've tasted everything pure,
I'm gonna try some rice.
I've got the pure flavor of everything,
I'm gonna try some rice.
And I think, what I'm gonna do,
because there's so much chunks in there,
so many chunks of shrimp,
I'm gonna add that over my rice.
Dried chilis down there.
(upbeat music)
Another piece of shrimp on there.
Then maybe add a little prik nam pla,
add a little bit of chilisand fish sauce on there.
This is just for that extra punch of spice
and flavor from the fish sauce.
Follow that, chase that with more soup.
Whoa, that is,
that is an icon, that islegendary Tom Yung Goong
in Thailand, wow.
I don't think I can get over it.
It's too good.
He has perfected Tom Yum Goong,
like there's nothing thatcould be better about it.
We also got some mixed vegetables.
He added in some snowpeas, some baby corn,
and some cauliflower in here.
Mm, that's good too, just simple.
Just stir-fried vegetables.
Oh yeah, one more ingredient
as I'm digging throughthe bottom of the Tom Yum.
I forgot to mention to you thathe also added rak pak chee,
which are the stems, roots,the root stems, of coriander.
Which you don't always seethat in Tom Yum either, so.
That's another, whoa, I'm justlike, the broth is flowing.
Oh, my mouth juices are flowing.
But that's another reason whyit's so herbal, so herbaceous.
I have an idea for a bite.
It's gonna be a one biter.
But, like, just anout-of-control one biter.
So take the body of the shrimp,
and you can kinda getthis all out in one piece.
They're not gigantic shrimp
so this is definitely gonnabe possible as a one biter.
Necessary as a one biter.
Okay, next what we're gonnado is scoop in for the head.
All of that.
You don't want any of itto go, you want it all.
Okay, and then what I'm gonna do
is stick this right on top of the body.
Oh, it's like butter!
It's like melted butter!
Oh, no, I lost some.
Oh, I made a foul.
Okay, that will be for next bite, anyways.
Okay, I'll take a little bit of him then.
Oh man, my balancing skills,it just slid right off.
Okay, there we go.
A little bit of shellon there, take that off.
Then take some of the chili sauce
and on top of, on top of that.
Okay, to the mouth fast.
(hip hop beat)
That's just, it's justa life-changing moment.
It's so good.
Mm, and then follow that.
And that completes, like,some of the greatest flavors
and ingredients of central Thailand,
of central Thai cuisine.
Oh man, this place is amazing.
I love this restaurant.
I love uncle!
(laughing)
(background music drownsout ambient noise)
Oh man, just again, justblown away by the food,
by the Tom Yum Goong.
I just cannot evenbelieve it, it's so good.
And, I'm not even sure if Imentioned it earlier before,
but the restaurant is called Joon Borikan.
And uncle, he is a legend.
He is truly a Thai culinary treasure.
He's an amazing man and his Tom Yum Goong,
it's a life-changing Tom Yum Goong.
It's just absolutely sensational.
And his style, his method, his pureness,
his use of the ingredients.
It's unbelievable.
Historical gem, it's atreasure of Thai food.
I can't remember exactly,
but it had to be at leastfour or five years ago
when we came to Joon Borikan,
when we ate that Tom YumGoong for the first time
filming that program.
But that has stuck in my head.
It's been in my brainever since as the best.
I remember it as the best TomYum Goong that I've ever had.
And up until this day, I hadalways wanted to come back
but it's really not in a very convenient,
it's kinda inconvenient to get here
because you have to get to Ayutthaya
and then another step toget to this small town.
And so we never made it back until now.
And now I've proven to myself that is,
there's no doubt, there'sno question in my mind,
that that is the best TomYum Goong that I've ever had.
So that's it for this video,
I wanna say a big thank you for watching.
Please remember to givethis video a thumbs up
if you enjoyed it.
Leave a comment below,I'd love to hear from you.
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Thanks again for watching.
Goodbye from the smalltown, Sena, in Ayuttahya
and I will see you on the next video.
Thanks again for watching!
🎥Thai Food - 1.5 Years Waiting List: https://youtu.be/mYAICakUek4 👕T-shirts and caps: https://migrationology.com/store/ 🍌Mark Wiens Banana Chips - Worldwide Shipping Available Now: https://m.me/BananaJoe?ref=MarkWiens The Best Tom Yum in Thailand - I know it’s a bold statement, but for me, after eating dozens and dozens and possibly hundreds of versions of tom yum in Thailand, this is the best of the best that I’ve ever had. It wins hands down for its pureness of taste, quality of ingredients, epic harmony of flavors. Sena, Ayutthaya, Thailand (อำเภอเสนา จังหวัด อยุธยา) - Located in Ayutthaya province of Thailand, but in a small and sleep town called Sena, is the Joong Borikan (ร้านจุ้ง บริการ https://goo.gl/maps/4MkZ8BucHz9vttBg9). The restaurant looks like it’s been completely stopped in time in the last 30 or 40 years, and I’d imagine few things have changed since then. You can order a variety of different dishes, most having to do with freshwater fish and freshwater prawns, but the ultimate of all dishes is Uncles’ tom yum goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง). He starts with soup stock, adds in all the herbs and aromatics, the entire big river shrimp, and the move I like the most is that he actually squeezes in, almost like a tube of toothpaste, another shrimp head - all the fatty flavor of the tomalley. That is the pro move that gives so much taste an flavor to this Thai tom yum soup. #tomyum #ThaiFood In addition to the Tom yum goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง), we also got, tod man pla krai (ทอดมันปลากราย fried fish cakes), and goong pao (กุ้งเผา roasted shrimp). He is an amazing man, and his tom yum goong will always be legendary for me. The best I’ve ever had so far in my life. Total price - 1,280 THB ($41.42) 🎵MUSIC: “Back in the Day” https://goo.gl/HwVjdo —————————————————— 🍌Banana Chips are available now worldwide!! https://m.me/BananaJoe?ref=MarkWiens 👕Get t-shirts and caps: https://migrationology.com/store/ 📷Camera gear I use: https://kit.com/markwiens/camera-video-gear —————————————————— 📱FOLLOW: Instagram: https://instagram.com/migrationology Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/migrationology