Pa Lo, or five spice stew, is one of my favorite Thai-Chinese dishes. Typically it's made from very soft slow-cooked stewed pork, or occasionally from duck.
Last weekend, my fiancée and I were down in Chinatown, hungry for delicious Bangkok food as usual. We stopped in at a crowded pa lo restaurant for breakfast. This wasn't a typical pa lo shop, though. Instead of pork belly, their pa lo is made from roasted goose!
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| a local restaurant in Bangkok's Chinatown |
When we arrived, the shopkeeper asked if we had a reservation. We didn't but they sat us anyway. As it turned out, we were so lucky! We got the very last goose of the day, and after we were served, the restaurant closed! They are usually open until 11, or until the goose runs out. Generally, you need to make a reservation in advance.
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| preparing the goose |
When you order, you have to get a whole goose. The dish cost us 400 baht (about $12), and was a huge portion, but a perfect breakfast for two hungry adventurers. The goose was served with bowls of rice, a sour dipping sauce, a light soup, and a huge pile of cilantro.
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| goose breakfast for two |
To be honest, I'm not sure I had ever had goose before! Since goose is bigger than duck, it's fattier, which made the meat incredibly soft and tender.
We dipped the goose into a sauce made from vinegar, citrus, garlic, and herbs, and ate it over rice. All of the flavors complimented one another perfectly. The restaurant owner told us that they make the pa lo slightly differently each day. We had happened to arrive on a day when they made a very traditional goose pa lo!
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| dipping sauce |
Bangkok is the perfect city to live in if you love good food. Delicious meals cost just a few dollars, and you can eat fine food like a king on a tight budget. This has got to be one of the greatest - if not THE greatest - city in the world for amazing street food.
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