4 Jay dishes you should try in Bangkok’s Chinatown in 2023

From the legendary 80-year-old peanut toffee shop to decadent deep-fried dishes, these are the Jay dishes you can try in Yaowarat, Talat Noi, and Charoenkrung until 23 October.

To all the Jay-food-uninitiated out there, you might feel an urge to join Thailand’s largest vegetarian food festival after noticing those yellow flags dominating the food scene recently. 

As a person who grew up in a Thai-Chinese family and occasionally ate Jay dishes, here are some of my personal favourite Jay dishes you can try this year.  

4 Jay dishes you should try in Bangkok’s Chinatown in 2023

Toobtab Laopae

You only get to try the famous peanut toffee once a year as this legendary 80-year-old food stall exclusively opens in front of Chow Sue Kong Shrine during the Jay Food Festival. Named after the smacking sounds in its making, toobtab (THB250/5 pieces) involves freshly roasting peanuts on the charcoal stoves and coating them with caramel. The queues are long and packed even when the stall starts selling. My advice is either you need to wait there around 9.30am or pre-order it one day in advance. Otherwise you might end up spending around 1.30hr in the queue. Is it worth it? To be fair, it had a nice aroma and the right amount of chewiness but an hour or two in waiting was too much. 

Eiw Guay

Stuffed with taro paste or shredded cabbage, eiw guay (THB20/piece) is another must-try Jay food you can easily find during this time of the year in Yaowarat and Talat Noi. I’d recommend you go for the stall in front of Chow Sue Kong Shrine as you can sample the other dishes without making a trek in Bangkok’s heat.    

Chwee Kueh 

These Teochew water rice cakes may sport the same look with Thai khanom tuay (the little bowl of coconut custard) but taste-wise, they are completely the opposite. The steamed rice cakes have a pudding-like texture and are later topped with chai pow (preserved radish), which lends them tangy flavours. You can find these chwee kuehs on Yaowarat streets–there are shuttle buses provided at MRT Hua Lamphong for you to get there. 

Galorji 

The sticky rice flour, deep-fried until its skin is all crispy, and smeared with loads of sugar and sesame, may sound like a sugar nightmare for those without a sweet tooth. One bite might give you an extra sugary kick, enough for you to have a productivity boost for a whole day–or possibly a week. Still, galorji deserves more spotlight; at least these are better than mooncakes.