Food fun at Wang Nam Khieo (วังน้ำเขียว)

วังน้ำเขียว จังหวัดนครราชสีมา

Wow, am I ever happy about the cool weather Thailand has been getting this time of year. It probably had been one of the coolest "winter" in a long while as far as I could remember. As mentioned in my last post, I took a trip with my family down to Wan Nam Khieo for the first time. I've never even heard of the place until recently. The modern town has been hailed as "Switzerland of Northeastern Thailand" (for real), and gaining popularity for its picturesque mountain terrain, fresh air, and farming and agriculture. I did some research on the web before hopping on the tour bus for a 4 day escapade, but I still wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I was told to bring a jacket and long trousers as it may get cold. To be honest, I was being cocky when I just shrugged, "I'm from Canada...and when I left it was -20 degrees. I'm sure I can handle a little tropical breeze." It's a shame to admit that once I got there, I ended up leaving my scarf on for the rest of the trip.

On the way to Wang Nam Khieo, which was about a 5 hour drive, we stopped by a gas station for a washroom break. I was thoroughly disinterested when my mom asked if I wanted to go check out any pastries at the local vendors at the gas station. One of them being ตั้ง-เซ่ง-จั้ว (Tang Seng Chua), a famous chinese bakery infamous for its delicious chinese cakes. Although the bakery has been around for almost 80 years ago (!!), I've never heard of its reputation until that faithful day. Once my mom came back with a box of kanom pia, or chinese cakes with sweet paste filling, it was a different story. It was a box of durian flavour pastry, which initially turned me off since I cannot stand the smell of durian (you either love it or hate it). But since I really like the texture of the pastry, I held my breath and took a bite of only the pastry while trying to avoid tasty the filling.

........

I jumped off the bus and booked it back to the store immediately to find other flavours that I could handle. It was that good. Might I mention that the packaging was absolutely adorable. The 3rd generation owner once stated that they place much importance into packaging to match the value and quality of their products inside. Brilliant strategy, and he's absolutely right on the money. The brand image had been upgraded since and led to a rise in popularity. I ran into the store, browsed around the snow skin chinese cakes section and picked up another 4 boxes of different flavours without hesitation. I've had chinese cakes elsewhere before and have always been in different. However, that was most different and delicious chinese cake I've ever had. Normally, kanom pia or chinese cake has a flakey pastry texture. However, Tang Seng Chua chinese cake exterior is soft and delicate resembling Japanese mochi rice cake texture.

For history of Tang Seng Chua, click here (in Thai).

Old school chinese souvenir shop

My new favourite! Black sesame!!

I can't get over how hilarious the packaging is for black sesame flavour! How did the get the black sesame filling inside the cake? Buddy makes his friend stand there quivering with a sesame seed in his mouth while he high kicks him in the mouth, shoving in it way inside his cake head. Genius!! I feel bad for eating them now lol.

Black bean flavour

Mixed medley

Chocolate flavour

They also have peanut brittles!

So that was only our first stop and I was already going berserk on the chinese cakes. Then once we arrived Wang Nam Khieo, we were off to visit Mister Mushroom farm where I to write an entirely post dedicated to it. For lunch, we stopped at Krua Sai Yok, a famous local restaurant. I noticed that Wang Nam Khieo cusine is heavy on vegetables and funghi, which is what the town heavily relies on. They were fresh and delicious. I've never ate so much mushroom in one day.

After a pre lunch and a huge lunch, I was ready to call it a day and pass out. We were soon taken to a local vegetable farm called "Suan Loong Krai" or Uncle Krai's farm. The owner, uncle Krai, is a local farmer famous for his musical talent. He not only plays music to entertain his visitors, but he also uses it as a method to help aid with plant growth. I have heard of this theory of musical impact on plants before in Canada and it's interesting to see it actually being experimented. We were fortunate enough to have him put on a mini concert for us, crooning Eric Clapton's classic, "Tears in Heaven".

Not your regular sun-dried tomatoes

Who could resist fresh coconut sorbet!

It's no doubt Wang Nam Khieo is a veggie town. Everywhere we turned, they were always there in some ways. I found the air to be more crisp, and quite cool at night. Because it is so quiet and serene, no doubt Bangkokians now prefer to have this place as a destination to escape from the chaos in the city. Oh, and we can actually see blue sky and the sun here. Exhausted from a full day of adventure, we arrived our resort to relax and have dinner. Yay, more food!

Could my flash be any brighter?

Next destination was Flora Fantasia, a smaller version of Butchart Garden in Victoria, BC. There was a great vine tunnel of chili peppers, mini gourds and squashes growing all over, covering the frame. I really wanted to pick some up but I don't think the staff there would really appreciate it.

Decorative cauliflower

As I mentioned earlier, Wang Nam Khieo has been described as "Switzerland of Northeastern Thailand". From what I've seen, it's actually more than one region of the world that Wang Nam Khieo resembles. Certain areas are quite dry, almost drought looking, which reminded me of the desert and Africa. Then, there is Palio, a small Italian village located in Khao Yai. Located an hour and a half away from Wang Nam Khieo, Primo Palio is a major tourist attraction in the area for its traditional Tuscan architecture and beautiful Renaissance gardens. My first thought stepping in was...Ermmm.. Am I still in Thailand?? Although the village houses many small shops and boutiques, the price point is rather high and tourists seem to be more interested in the taking pictures around the village instead. As a result, Palio started charging admission fees starting this February. I guess they were not making any profit to maintain such a place.

I stumbled across a shop that sells fruit beer, 100% fruit, 0% alcohol....hmmm it sounded intriguing, especially when it came in a whole variety of fruits. Unfortunately the shop was closed, and my curiosity was left unsatisfied.

It was mid afternoon and the sun was blaring. From what I heard, Palio has good shops for ice cream and gelato and I was ready to check it out. I headed to Over the Rainbow where people were coming in and out. A modest little shop with daily ice cream and gelato varieties.

Since I was super dehydrated, I wasted no time choosing guava sorbet with salted plum. It was my first time having it and I quite thoroughly enjoy it. Tangy refreshing guava flavour topped with salty plum powder.

Palio Khao Yai is located at:

Thanarat Road

Mu Si, Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima 30130, Thailand

See map here

On the way back to Bangkok, we stopped by the corn field to pick up some fresh, sweet, and giant corn. They also sold "corn milk" which pretty much is corn juice. It had a milky golden hue with no sugar or preservative added. It tasted sweet, but strange because it tasted of corn but without kernels. So it felt like I was drinking corn that had already been chewed up and regurgitated, not a yummy thought. But it tasted good! I'm just not sure if I'm used to the concept.

It was a splendid 2 day trip, filled with beautiful scenery, refreshing air, and nutritious fares. I know my mother can't wait to go back. For more information on visiting Nakhonrachasima province, click here!