River Kwai fish and the dishes to try
The fresh freshwater fish of the River Kwai, and the ways the riverside kitchens cook them that have become a Kanchanaburi signature.
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If you're starting on River Kwai fish, order yi-sok first. It's the scaled river fish locals reach for: firm flesh, a touch of richness, naturally sweet. Kitchens like to fry it whole so the skin crisps while the flesh stays juicy, served with seafood dip or fish-sauce-and-chilli; or, for something gentler, steamed with soy or with lime, all the fresh fish flavour intact. A good yi-sok stays firm rather than mushy, with big bones that come away easily — an easy, low-risk first river fish.
This is the river-fish dish people order most at the riverside places — a whole snakehead fried until crisp all over, then piled high with a fresh, finely chopped herb salad: lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, ginger, shallot, chilli, peanuts, seasoned sweet-sour-salty. The name "luy suan" ("wading through the garden") comes from the mound of herbs heaped over the fish like a vegetable patch. The joy of it is the contrast — hot, crisp fish against a cool, fragrant raw-herb salad: crunch, sour, heat and aroma in one bite. Eaten with hot steamed rice, it's homey riverside comfort.
Giant gourami is a big freshwater fish — thick, sweet, soft flesh — and a favourite across central Thailand and the riverside places here. Kitchens fry it whole until crisp and scatter over fragrant fried garlic, or fry it and finish with a sweet-sour-spicy three-flavour chilli sauce. Being large, it gives you plenty of flesh to pick at. A well-fried gourami is crisp outside, soft inside, with no muddy taste — the main meat plate of the meal, ordered to share among several people, filling and good value. If a place has fresh, big gourami in, don't skip it.
A whole fish stuffed with lemongrass and pandan, packed in a crust of salt all over, then grilled over charcoal until cooked through. The method seals in the fish's moisture and sweetness, the salt shell keeping the flesh from drying. Crack off the crust and the flesh underneath is soft and juicy, with a light charcoal-smoke aroma; eat it with a sharp seafood dip. It's the dish to order if you're a group, since you get a whole fish for the money, and it's a classic riverside-meal sight — see the fish lined up grilling at the front of a place and you want one.
Every river-fish meal wants one soup, and tom yum with fish is the natural fit — a hot-sour broth of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, chilli and mushrooms, with fresh river fish (often snakehead or soft-finned fish) dropped in and cooked just to done so the flesh stays soft, not falling apart. The sour, spicy kick cuts the richness of the fried plates; a hot spoonful mid-meal is refreshing. Riverside kitchens do it well because the fish is fresh — ask for a clear broth or a creamy one, whichever you prefer.
If you want something richer, a kaeng khua or choo chee with river fish is the answer — pieces of river fish simmered in a red curry paste with coconut milk and shredded kaffir lime leaf until the sauce is thick and fragrant, rounded between spicy and rich. Choo chee comes drier, draped over the fish; kaeng khua has a little more sauce. Both eat beautifully with hot steamed rice, and you get the full hit of Thai curry paste. Plenty of riverside places put a river-fish kaeng khua front and centre, since fresh paste and fresh fish belong together.
A River Kwai meal rarely stops at fish, because grilled river prawns are the order-alongside everyone reaches for. Big prawns grilled over charcoal until the shells turn red, the flesh sweet and bouncy, and inside the head you find the orange prawn fat oozing out — dip it in a punchy seafood sauce. Price tracks the size of the prawn, so the big ones cost more, but you get a mouthful of that prawn fat for it. If you're a group and the budget allows, order a plate of grilled prawns alongside the fried fish for a riverside meal that has it all — and ask the price and size before ordering so the bill doesn't surprise you.
The standout might not be the fish at all, but the setting — a River Kwai raft restaurant is a wooden raft tied to the bank, the floor swaying gently as boats pass, and you eat with the Bridge over the River Kwai and the green hills off in the distance. At dusk the sunset turns the water gold; come nightfall the bridge lights up. Some places have a "leg-dangle" section — bar seating at the water's edge where you let your legs hang over the river. The breeze keeps coming, the meal runs slow and easy, no rush. If you're coming to Kanchanaburi at all, a fish dinner on a raft at dusk is the one to set aside time for.