A Matter of Taste
With recipes from around the country, vendors are clamouring to satisfy the capital's appetite for grilled chicken
By Vannya Sriangura
It might not be an exaggeration to say that the number of gai yang, or grilled chicken, vendors on Bangkok's streets reflects the state of Thailand's economy.
It seems that wherever there's a construction site there's at least one gai yang stall, and as the city is currently enjoying significant economic growth we look unlikely to ever be short of tasty chicken treats.
Not that gai yang is restricted to construction sites. Thai people love grilled chicken so much that you can find it anywhere from fine Thai restaurants and modern fast food joints to ramshackle street stalls, on every street corner, deep inside obscure sois, alongside highways and at practically any bus station.
In a nutshell gai yang is traditional Thai rotisserie chicken marinated in a subtle blend of spices and seasoning and cooked over a woodfire grill. Original recipes may differ, but the most common ingredients for the marinades are pepper, garlic and coriander root.
Most people have a favourite style. Older generations seem to prefer a traditional, classic bird yielding firm, lean meat, while younger folk are more likely to go for softer, juicier, milder and often fattier varieties like the "yellow chicken" from Bang Saen beach.
One of the city's oldest and most famous grilled chicken restaurants is Likhit Gai Yang, aka Gai Yang Sanam Muay. This restaurant, next to the Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium, has been offering traditional grilled chicken for more than 50 years.
Other notable venues for excellent, old-fashioned grilled chicken include Vises Kai Yang in Bang Pho district and Chan Pen restaurant on Rama IV Road, both of which have been serving up classic lean and chewy chicken, with a strong hint of spice, for more than half a century.
But while traditional chicken restaurants have retained their popularity, the past few years have seen the city inundated with regional variations.
Bangkok's dusty streets have become a home away from home for gai yang from Wichian Buri in Phetchabun province, Bang Tan in Ratchaburi, Khao Suan Kwang in Khon Kaen, Huai Thap Than in Si Sa Ket and Tha Chang in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Opened four months ago at the corner of Soi Soonvijai and Pradit-Manutham Road, Om-Ohn's Gai Yang Wichian Buri is one of Bangkok's 30 or so shops that sell the Phetchabun-style chicken.
Today, among other offerings such as grilled fish, deep-fried chicken organs, som tam and others Isan delicacies, the rickety stall sells approximately 70-80 chicken per day. Boonkhem Silathulee, the shop's owner, said that he got the recipe and know-how from a famous grilled chicken restaurant in Wichian Buri.
"We paid 10,000 baht for it," he answered. "But the investment is more than worth it."
His wife Ladda explained that over the past few years the couple had tried selling other kinds of food - such as chicken rice, chicken noodles and khao gaeng (rice with curry topping) - which only earned them 20-25 baht per order. Now, with gai yang, they are making as much as 100 baht per head, with an average of 70 baht. On top of this they can, and already have, sell the recipe on to other parties.
"Gai yang is everyone's favourite and people don't seem to get tired of it," said Ladda. "Our customers range from office workers and doctors to construction workers and massage girls."
The couple are from Yasothon, a province in the country's northeastern Isan region which known as a grilled chicken hotbed - but they still prefer that of Wichian Buri.
"We've tried Yasothon's own gai yang Ban Kaen but we didn't like it," Boonkhem said.
Pa Nuek's gai yang Khao Suan Kwang is another out-of-town recipe that enjoys huge popularity in the country's capital. The nine-year-old shop out in dusty Bang Na sells anything from 300 to 400 birds a day.
According to owner Sura Sanphrom there are as many as 30 gai yang Khao Suan Kwang vendors in Bangkok, more than half of them Pa Nuek franchises.
Sura's franchise business has been going strong for almost four years now. "We teach them how to make som tam, larb and so on, and also how to grill the chicken. We teach them pretty much everything except how to prepare the chicken and the marinade. They must buy the pre-marinated chicken from us."
Pa Nuek's chickens come from Khon Kaen, where Sura has a farm and a slaughterhouse. His franchising fee starts at 5,000 baht for a logo sign and a lesson. For 15,000 baht you also get all the cooking equipment.
As to whether he has tasted the product from his 20 or so franchises, he says: "Not yet. Business here is so good that I don't have time for anything else."
The chicken doesn't only migrate from the country's Northeast. Gai yang Bang Tan, which has recently gained in popularity among Bangkok's consumers, is from a small village in Ban Pong district, Ratchaburi, in the western region.
According to Theerachai Theera-anantchai, one of the first gai yang Bang Tan vendors in Bangkok, each of the 10 gai yang Bang Tan shops in Bangkok come from the village itself.
"We never do franchising. All of us are like family and we strictly follow the same recipe that has been passed on for generations."
Theerachai started his business in the city many years ago, from the back of a pickup truck. Today, his flourishing two-unit restaurant in Prachachuen sells up to 200 chickens a day.
The popularity of provincial-style grilled chicken in Bangkok - as well as in other cities - may keep growing, but it has also created some concern among those who promote authentic, original recipes.
According to Pongsak Kandern, owner of Phetchabun's Bua Tong restaurant and chairman of the Wichian Buri Grilled Chicken Group, the name gai yang Wichian Buri was first introduced in 1961, when a local hawker started to sell free-range chicken to truckers at a highway junction. Back then a chicken cost only three baht.
He said that his hometown received plenty of attention from the media in 2003, when it gave away free grilled chicken to the public to promote safe chicken during an outbreak of avian flu. After some of the district's 30 gai yang restaurants were featured on national television and in publications, the whole country seemed to develop a craze for Wichian Buri's famous dish.
"I've tried Wichian Buri-style chicken in Phuket, Pattaya, Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Khon Kaen and Ang Thong - just to name a few - but they weren't up to our standard," Pongsak noted, explaining that the genuine article must be crisp and dry, preferably free-range and never frozen. And if it's farm chicken, it must be small - a 1.1-1.3 kilogramme bird is perfect. The dipping sauce should be made with sweet tamarind puree, a speciality of Phetchabun. However, the chicken is so tasty and pungent that it doesn't really need extra sauce.
"The more famous it has become, the more negative responses we've had," said Pongsak. "When people try bad gai yang Wichian Buri, from somewhere else, it definitely affects the reputation of the original. So we try to focus on maintaining good quality, not revelling in the fame."
The Wichian Buri Grilled Chicken Group has been established for more than 10 years. Today it has 27 members, all of whom are local shopowners and vendors, and the Wichian Buri Grilled Chicken Festival, a nighttime food fair organised by the group and the municipality, now in its eighth year, is held around September/October every year.
Huai Thap Than district in northeastern Si Sa Ket province is the home of the famous gai yang Huai Thap Than aka gai yang mai madan. The chicken, which was first served some 80 years ago at Huai Thap Than railway station, has recently gained favour in Bangkok.
"In the past, because we liked to promote our product, we gave our recipe to anyone who asked," said Pheepakorn Hengrattanakulseth, chairman of the Huai Thap Than Gai Yang Mai Madan Group. "But then we realised that our recipe was somehow being altered and the chicken was of a lower quality, so we stopped. Right now we are thinking of a new way of franchising. In the future we'll offer pre-grilled chicken that is vacuum packed right here [in Huai Thap Than] so at least we can control the quality."
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Chicken guide
- BANG TAN
The origin: Bang Tan village, Nong Kob sub-district, Ban Pong district, Ratchaburi.
The chicken: Large with aromatic, peppery, succulent meat.
The sauce: Sour, spicy and sweet.
- HUAI THAP THAN
The origin: Huai Thap Than district, Si Sa Ket
The chicken: Grilled on madan (green garcenia) wood so the chicken absorbs the citrus flavour and fragrance of the herbal plant. The meat is pleasantly dry and aromatic due to marination with Si Sa Ket's famously strong garlic.
The sauce: Sour, spicy and garlicky.
- KHAO SUAN KWANG
The origin: Khao Suan Kwang district, Khon Kaen.
The chicken: Small and skinny chicken with lean and firm meat.
The sauce: Sour, salty and spicy jaew sauce.
- THA CHANG
The origin: Tha Chang district, Nakhon Ratchasima.
The chicken: Large chicken with dried and very flavourful meat.
The sauce: The chicken is best enjoyed without sauce.
- WICHIAN BURI
The origin: Wichian Buri district, Phetchabun.
The chicken: Dried and piquant with crispy skin.
The sauce: Sour and spicy, made with tamarind paste.
Bangkok Post - Friday November 2, 2007
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