Prawns in Thailand

[Kenny202]

Hi all. I am up in Isaan and we have fresh prawns available at the markets but usually tasteless. No doubt farm prawns. Usually have your standard looking prawn (Bannana prawn?) in a few sizes and a larger different looking prawn, bluish in colour usually with nippers. Anyone know about these blue prawns? Are the river prawns or farm prawns too. My son had some when he was here and he was raving about them. I seem to remember buying them once and they were also tasteless and looked really big but after taking the shell and the head off the meat left was small.

[worgeordie]

The big blue prawns with long nippers are freshwater prawns,

bred in ponds,never tried them ,prefer Seawater prawns*,nothing

seems to have taste now,maybe getting old and taste buds have

deteriorated ....like everything else.   *not farmed if possible

regards worgeordie

[Oxx]

The prawns are probably tasteless because they're not particularly fresh.  There's no prawn farming in Isaan AFAIK, so the prawns will have been imported from central Thailand.

[KhunBENQ]

18 minutes ago, Oxx said:

There's no prawn farming in Isaan AFAIK

Live freshwater prawns everywhere with an unforeseeable content of mercury, antibiotics whatever. One of the (step) grand children is allergic.

There is a restaurant chain all over that has live prawns.

 

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Seawater prawns

Easy to find by price.

Last purchase was at the fish market in Naklua (Pattaya).

If I remember right it was 800 Baht/kilo(!).

 

I would even prefer frozen stuff at Makro where it is usually clearly labeled.

 

 

[Kenny202]

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

The prawns are probably tasteless because they're not particularly fresh.  There's no prawn farming in Isaan AFAIK, so the prawns will have been imported from central Thailand.

There are prawn farms here, not a lot but they are around and yes some people keep them in live tanks, but they are still farm prawns and tasteless. The only good thing about these is maybe it gives the prawns a chance to clean their guts out in the clean water. The ones we get at the markets are definitely fresh. Some people sell them cheaper, I'm guessing the ones that sat out all day yesterday. I think they actually put them in some sort of bleach solution. They are always a whitish colour, eyes opaque. 

[Kenny202]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

Live freshwater prawns everywhere with an unforeseeable content of mercury, antibiotics whatever. One of the (step) grand children is allergic.

There is a restaurant chain all over that has live prawns.

 

Easy to find by price.

Last purchase was at the fish market in Naklua (Pattaya).

If I remember right it was 800 Baht/kilo(!).

 

I would even prefer frozen stuff at Makro where it is usually clearly labeled.

 

 

You would have a better chance of getting ocean prawns in Pattaya or Phuket or any seaside area. I believe they have a lot of boats come in Rayong. 

[tutsiwarrior]

we got a restaurant not far away that keeps the prawns in tanks out front and you buy by the kilo...farmed fresh water prawns and tasteless if cooked and served by themselves, fortunately they also have a good kitchen and can prepare the fresh prawns anyway you like, BBQ, tom yum, etc, they also have whole catfish and red fish in tanks that they can cook anyway ye like, usually get the red fish steamed whole in a wok with veg and spices...we go there about once per month for a tasty meal...

 

cute teenaged waitresses with tasty buns in tight jeans, 'tutsi! the food is up here on the table...'

 

 

[Oxx]

16 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

cute teenaged waitresses with tasty buns

 

Must be an Isaan thing.  Never had prawns served in buns personally.

[Gandtee]

I'm of the opinion that seafood here is less tasty than that back in the UK. I've put it down to the fact that sea water here is less salty than that surrounding Britain. I'm sure someone out there will disagree with me.

[Cricky]

On 9/21/2019 at 2:25 PM, Oxx said:

The prawns are probably tasteless because they're not particularly fresh.

Nope, every prawn I have eaten here (since 2002) have been tasteless.

 

Can't beat an Aussie prawn - miss them way too much, them and XXXX bitter.

[Lacessit]

A few fresh prawn farms around Chiang Rai. The one I go to has a restaurant, 500 baht/kilo for large ones, 300 baht/kilo for small. I usually have garlic prawns, which takes care of any taste issues.

[Nyezhov]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

A few fresh prawn farms around Chiang Rai. The one I go to has a restaurant, 500 baht/kilo for large ones, 300 baht/kilo for small. I usually have garlic prawns, which takes care of any taste issues.

Quite right. Garlic butter is the Chefs haven from tasteless seafood.

 

That being said, the smaller the "prawn" the better the flavour. Just like a tiny crawdad even from a muddy tastes better than blue pincer from a clean tank

[seajae]

 thai prawns have no taste(especially the white as well as the blue fresh water ones) because they clean/keep/cook then in fresh water(no salt)even ocean prawns, which is why they use spicy sauces to flavour them. We buy fresh ocean prawns(usually tigers or banana prawns@ around 250 to 300 baht a kg) and I cook them at home in my home made salt water then cool them off in a salt water brine(ice, salt & water), they taste very similar to fresh cooked prawns in Australia, just a dipping sauce(tomato sauce, salad cream, sweet chilli sauce and lemon juice, you can add cream to taste if you want it), brilliant. 

[Nyezhov]

3 minutes ago, seajae said:

thai prawns have no taste(especially the white as well as the blue fresh water ones) because they clean/keep/cook then in fresh water(no salt)even ocean prawns, which is why they use spicy sauces to flavour them.

Yeah but you can tell a good shrimp/prawn even with a spicy sauce. I have been going to this seafood place in Samut Prakan where they pull em off the dock, ice them and cook them. Killer. The fresher the better.

[Gandtee]

47 minutes ago, seajae said:

 thai prawns have no taste(especially the white as well as the blue fresh water ones) because they clean/keep/cook then in fresh water(no salt)even ocean prawns, which is why they use spicy sauces to flavour them. We buy fresh ocean prawns(usually tigers or banana prawns@ around 250 to 300 baht a kg) and I cook them at home in my home made salt water then cool them off in a salt water brine(ice, salt & water), they taste very similar to fresh cooked prawns in Australia, just a dipping sauce(tomato sauce, salad cream, sweet chilli sauce and lemon juice, you can add cream to taste if you want it), brilliant. 

I cook mine in salt water but never thought of cooling them off in brine. Next time.????

[thrilled]

I understand many shrimp come from the Mekong River.I watched on video.

It doesn’t look very clean.

[Tomahawk21]

16 hours ago, Lacessit said:

A few fresh prawn farms around Chiang Rai. The one I go to has a restaurant, 500 baht/kilo for large ones, 300 baht/kilo for small. I usually have garlic prawns, which takes care of the taste issue.

 

and the cholesterol 555

[Jip99]

5 minutes ago, Tomahawk21 said:

 

and the cholesterol 555

 

 

You are concerned about dietary cholesterol ?

[thaiboss]

17 hours ago, Lacessit said:

A few fresh prawn farms around Chiang Rai. The one I go to has a restaurant, 500 baht/kilo for large ones, 300 baht/kilo for small. I usually have garlic prawns, which takes care of any taste issues.

done once in chiang rai test of them all fool of antibiotics and population are by now aware  not eat them on regular basis = you get sick eating to much in chiang rai

[Isaanbiker]

On 9/21/2019 at 2:25 PM, Oxx said:

The prawns are probably tasteless because they're not particularly fresh.  There's no prawn farming in Isaan AFAIK, so the prawns will have been imported from central Thailand.

There are farms all over Isaan. 

[youreavinalaff]

On 9/21/2019 at 8:25 AM, Oxx said:

The prawns are probably tasteless because they're not particularly fresh.  There's no prawn farming in Isaan AFAIK, so the prawns will have been imported from central Thailand.

There is a massive prawn farming industry in Kalasin. That is in Issan, or was last time I looked.

 

Does anyone remember that salt is a taste enhancer? If you are eating fresh water fish or "seafood" and find it bland, there is a simple solution. Simply place the items in a brine for a couple of hours before cooking. A bowl/dish with just enough water to cover the ingredients. A teaspoon of salt and a pinch of sugar. Done.

[seajae]

18 hours ago, Gandtee said:

I cook mine in salt water but never thought of cooling them off in brine. Next time.????

its the brine that really imparts a salty taste in them plus it cools them down quick and stops them over cooking

 

[Gabor]

The colder the water they live in, the better taste. Thai prawns lives in warm water. 

[spidermike007]

Alot of the seafood here comes from the Gulf. It is a relatively shallow body of water without great circulation, and a tremendous amount of polluted runoff from the industrial estates upstream. Not high quality seafood for sure. My guess is that the fresh seafood on the Phuket side might be better, if it is caught in the Andaman. Also, alot of the monster prawns you see in the tourist towns, are flown in from Vietnam and the South China Sea. Same with the lobster, if you are a millionaire. I have my wife ask at the local market, which of the seafood is wild caught. Sometimes, we find vendors who are quite honest about it, and seem to know. 

 

Virtually all of the salmon is farmed here. It is quite toxic. The industry controls are either non existent, or marginal, with this grossly incompetent administration, that cares not one iota for the common man. 98% of the prawns are farmed, and there are some river prawns, but do you trust the water quality? Alot of shrimp is also coming from Chinese fish farms too. I tend to avoid shrimp here. I hear alot of the snapper is farmed also now, but some comes from the Gulf. Also some other smaller fish from the Gulf. Some tuna, some African pompano, which is decent. Also, all of the squid is wild caught. Alot comes from the Gulf, but I eat it often. It is delicious, plentiful, inexpensive, and wild. And it has to be less toxic than farmed fish or shrimp.

[Tropposurfer]

22 hours ago, VYCM said:

Nope, every prawn I have eaten here (since 2002) have been tasteless.

 

Can't beat an Aussie prawn - miss them way too much, them and XXXX bitter.

Aussie ocean tiger prawns rock ???? Had a big bunch on a recent visit to Cairns

[Don Mega]

2 hours ago, seajae said:

its the brine that really imparts a salty taste in them plus it cools them down quick and stops them over cooking

 

I buy local prawn and immerse them in a salt slurry when cooked, they taste pretty good.

[Kenny202]

So looks like the general concensus is theyre tasteless. I wasnt imagining it 1[emoji16] I find it helps if you season them lightly, let them sit in some garlic for a while. Bit like the beef here which Ive already given up on. Thanks for all the replies

Sent from my SM-J730GM using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Lacessit]

7 hours ago, Gabor said:

The colder the water they live in, the better taste. Thai prawns lives in warm water. 

Quite true. Tasmanian lobster/crayfish is among the sweetest crustacean flesh in the world. I'll include a shrimp cocktail I bought at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

[pennine]

I miss the Portuguese peri-peri prawns of South Africa.