Suki Haeng: The best Thai dish you've never heard of
Most people in Bangkok are familiar with Thai-style sukiyaki (generally referred to as suki), a do-it-yourself hotpot associated with mall-bound family-friendly franchises such as MK or Coca.
But a less common and arguably more delicious version of the dish is suki haeng, “dry” suki.
Suki haeng saves you the trouble of all that dipping and cooking, and unites the essential elements of the dish -- wun sen (bean thread noodles), egg, vegetables (typically Napa cabbage, green onions and morning glory) and some sort of protein -- in a hot wok.
Suki has obvious Japanese origins, and Bangkok’s oldest suki restaurants date back to post Japanese-occupation Thailand. But some suspect that the dish was introduced by Chinese immigrants.
Regardless, subsequent Thai influences have made Thai-style sukiyaki largely unrecognizable to a modern Japanese diner, and the suki haeng of today is an entirely Thai dish.
Here are some of the top restaurants serving it.
Suki Haeng Saphan Leuang
The suki haeng here includes a minimum of noodles, but a maximum of vegetables and tender, marinated meat (pork, chicken or both) or seafood.
The vendor’s frying technique results in a dish with a slightly smokey flavor with lots of charred bits, and his addition of oyster sauce provides the dish with a round, meaty flavor.
To top it off, the dipping sauce here is one of the best out there, with a strong salty/rich flavor and lots of garlic.
Thanon Rama IV (near Saphan Leuang intersection). Open daily, 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Price: From 40 baht/plate
Sor Na Wang
This restaurant’s excellent mixed suki haeng combines seafood with marinated pork and chicken. Fried in a wok over a high flame, the dish has both a satisfying smokey flavour and a pleasantly singed texture.
The restaurant also serves the heartiest and spiciest dipping sauce we've tried.
Sor Na Wang does other tasty fried noodle dishes including mee phat krachet -- thin rice noodles fried with water mimosa.
156/2 Thanon Din Sor. +66 (0)2 622 1525. Open daily, 10a.m.-11:30 p.m. Price: From 70 baht/plate.
Elvis Suki
A dish of suki haeng here is not entirely as dry as the name suggests, and comes served in a tiny pool of broth. The messy tangle of bean thread contains a generous amount of crunchy cabbage and green onions, and the seafood version comes with huge portions of fresh and preserved squid, and shrimp.
The restaurant sells a variety of pan-fried noodle dishes and grilled seafood, including a popular dish of scallops grilled in the shell with butter and ground pork.
When asked about the restaurant’s unusual name, we were told, “Elvis was the King of Rock, we are the King of Suki.”
200/37 Soi Yotse, off Thanon Phlapphlachai. +66 (0)2 223 4979. Open daily, 4 p.m.-midnight. Price: From 50 baht/bowl. www.elvissuki.com
Suki House
Allegedly at the same location for more than 70 years, Suki House does a variety of the more common hotpot-style suki, but also puts together a decent suki haeng.
Suki haeng muu, in addition to generous slices of marinated pork, includes a scattering of cabbage, morning glory and green onions. The version is among the driest we tried, and generous seasoning provides it with a dark color.
Seafood and the less standard beef versions are also available.
A downside here is the dipping sauce, which is thick and overly salty -- a strong contrast with the thinner spicy/sour dip served at most places.
570-572 Thanon Luang. +66 (0)2 225 4498. Open daily, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Price: From 50 baht/plate
This is the eighth part in an ongoing series that highlights some of Thailand's finest but underrated dishes. Click to read part one, on the delicious khao khluk kapi. In part two, we explore the adventurous kuaytiaw luy suan. In part 3, we head north for a taste of khao soi’s underrated partner, khanom jeen nam ngiaw. Part 4 rounds up the best kaeng karii Bangkok has to offer and part 5 introduces kuaytiaw khua kai. Part 6 covers Kuay jap nam sai and part 7 features Bangkok's best Kuaytiaw Sukhothai.
