There’s not much that can’t be improved with a spoonful of chillie…

I’ve just spent the afternoon photographing maeng da edible giant water beetles, a popular ingredient in northeast Thai and Lao food.

You can learn more about maeng da on an earlier post here

I’ve been paying a few visits to a fish market close to where I live in Bangkok.

At night the place sorts and sells sea fish trucked up from southern Thailand but in the day the catch is all river and farmed freshwater fish.

There are lots of small mackerel, one the most popular fish in Thailand.

The market acts as a distribution centre, sending the sorted fish to other markets around Bangkok and up country.

The most plentiful fish are farmed Nile perch or pla nin.

All  sections in the market are owned and run by Chinese-Thai traders but the hardworking labour is from Myanmar.

It’s hungry work and pla tu, fried mackerel, are always a firm favourite.

You can see more of my market shots from Bangkok and elsewhere in the region at www.stockfood.co.uk Follow @mickshippen and @stockfood_UK

Every now and again it’s good to return to the classics of Thai food.

I love a good ‘one dish wonder’ and phad Thai, when done well, really hits the spot. When I’ve not had it for a while, it’s hard to resist a second helping but oddly enough, it never seems as good as the first. A little restraint is required I think.

I love my neighbourhood. I have a choice of half a dozen fresh markets in the immediate area and many more if I care to travel just a little further.

Every day around 5:30 I take a stroll down to one of them and make the difficult decision of what to buy for my evening meal. It’s usually a curry of some sort, a fish and a vegetable dish, bagged up to take home and enjoy with rice I cook at home.

I’m lucky in that on a Tuesday and Friday the local temple holds a market which includes a vendor selling some of my favourite hard to find northern Thai dishes plus some tasty southern food.

There’s people frying pla tu, grilling shallots and garlic for nam prik, and much more. The variety is astonishing and my dinner for three dishes seldom costs more than 100 baht.

On Sunday, there’s an abundance of Lao and Issan ingredients and plenty of fresh vegetables.

It’s interesting to see the current trend on Bangkok’s restaurant scene emphasizing local produce and ‘authentic’ dishes….and charging a premium for it.

On the streets of Bangkok it has always been so, and it will continue as long as the authorities don’t interfere with market and street vendors, or force them off land to build another bloody mall. I don’t think this fantastic food scene should be taken for granted. It needs protecting.

Want to eat local in Bangkok? Make it part of your daily life. Get down your neighbourhood market.

A fully loaded tuk-tuk in a Bangkok market.

A quick shot of another seemingly chaotic kitchen knocking out fantastic food. The cook at her woks is preparing dishes for a very popular take-away street stall in Klong Toey, Bangkok.

Pad Thai is a classic, albeit relatively modern, street food dish.

It’s also one that can vary greatly from vendor to vendor, from underwhelming to superb, so it’s worth trying a few out. I also think a little restraint is called for when eating it. Somehow that second plate never quite tastes as good as the first. Some of the best I’ve eaten has been in Sukhothai and Chiang Mai. I’m sure you have your favourite.

Here’s a few more shots from Saturday’s walk to Bangkok’s Chinatown.

The network of alleys make it a endlessly fascinating place to explore.

I usually start at a random point on Charoen Krung Road and wander along in the general direction of Yaowarat, ducking down any side street that takes my fancy.

Seafood is central to the Chinatown dining experience and there’s great produce on display.

Daybreak is a good time to start your stroll, with most markets and street vendors already at work.

In Europe, roast chestnuts are a snack associated cold winter days but in steamy Bangkok they are also popular and are imported from China.

There are plenty of mobile vendors walking the streets with baskets of delights such as green mango.

 Saturday’s breakfast was khao man gai, a dish I’ve not had for a long time, despite it being a Bangkok street food staple. I couldn’t resist the aroma coming from this street stall.

The Hainanese dish is popular across Southeast Asia. In Thailand, the flavourful rice is steamed with chicken fat and served with succulent boiled chicken, blood cake, an accompanying spicy soy bean paste sauce, soup and cucumber.

I was up with the sparrow’s fart on Saturday and took a three hour wander around Bangkok backstreets, eventually finding myself in deepest Chinatown. It’s always a good place to go poking around dimly lit alleys looking for scenes from daily life. I had a nice chat with this lovely lass as she boiled and bagged up rice noodles in her atmospheric kitchen.

More from my wanderings later in the week.