Thai Sausage Feast (ไส้กรอกอีสาน) in Amphoe Phon (อำเภอพล)

Amphoe Phon (อำเภอพล) is a little town in Khon Kaen, where they are well known for their Thai Isaan style sausage called sai krok Isaan (ไส้กรอกอีสาน). Read all about it here:
Located along the highway in Amphoe Phon (อำเภอพล), you’ll start to see numerous stall set up selling sausage, all dangling from the side of the road. I had actually been past quite a few times, but usually in a bus, so I wasn’t able to stop. But seeing the strands of Thai sausage, I always knew I needed to come back. So we finally had the transportation to get there, and we went to a restaurants called Mam Yai Goong (ร้านหม่ำยายกุ้ง).
Mam Yai Goong (ร้านหม่ำยายกุ้ง), like many of the other sellers in the area, specializes in two main types of Thai sausage: mam (หม่ำ) and sai krok Isaan (ไส้กรอกอีสาน). Sai krok Isaan (ไส้กรอกอีสาน) is the most widely consumed sausage in Thailand, mostly just a pork based sausage, that’s seasoned with salt and left to dry in the sun. The sausage is an extremely common snack that you’ll find in Bangkok, being sold from mobile carts throughout the city. Many people love to grab a stick for an afternoon snack. Mam (หม่ำ) sausage on the other hand is not available very often in Bangkok (I’m actually not sure why, I think it should be available), and I actually might like it better than the sai krok Isaan.
The majority of people that eat at Mam Yai Goong (ร้านหม่ำยายกุ้ง), often stop by in their cars and get some sausage to takeaway. If you go this route, you just basically choose your strands of sausage and they will vacuum seal them in a bag for you, and you can happily go on your way and eat your delicious Thai sausage whenever you please back at home. But at Mam Yai Goong (ร้านหม่ำยายกุ้ง) there are also a few tables, so if you can also sit down and enjoy a full meal, with plenty of sausage, and a variety of other Isaan dishes to eat as well. We decided to eat there, and I’m happy we did.
When I saw ka prao mam (กะเพราหม่ำเนื้อ) on the menu, a dish of Thai mam sausage, sliced into bite sized pieces, and then fried with holy basil leaves, I could not resist ordering it… I’m not sure if anything could get better than that. It was sensational. The sausage was crispy and salty, and the flavor of the chilies, onions, and holy basil was incredibly delicious. For the sausage, I also ordered mam neua (หม่ำเนื้อ), the Thai mam sausage made with beef (but there was also a pork version which was very good as well). One of the things I love about mam neua (หม่ำเนื้อ) is that it’s very lean. The recipe really is mostly meat, and there’s a little liver in the mixture to give it its dark signature color and also to add a little bit of richness to the meat - but I couldn’t really taste the liver in the sausage once it’s prepared and cooked. The sausage was sliced and then deep fried, though I’m sure it would have also been incredible grilled over charcoal. The sai krok Isaan (ไส้กรอกอีสาน) Thai sausage was also cut into bite sized pieces and then deep fried to a crispy. Unlike the mam, which is very lean, sai krok Isaan is very fatty, and therefore more moist, and this was probably some of the tastiest Thai sausage that I’ve ever had. Because we were on such a meat mission, I also ordered neua dad deaw (เนื้อแดดเดียว), strips of beef that were cured and then dried in the sun. It’s sort of like Thai beef jerky, but just not quite as dry or as tough. It was excellent.
I had a wonderful time eating at Mam Yai Goong (ร้านหม่ำยายกุ้ง). The food and her service were all incredible good, and that was definitely some of the best Isaan sausage I’ve ever had in Thailand.
Mam Yai Goong (ร้านหม่ำยายกุ้ง)
Address: 10 Thanon Mittraphap, Amphoe Phon, Khon Kaen
Phone: 043-414-885
Open hours: 6 am – 9 pm daily
ที่อยู่ 10 ถ.มิตรภาพ อำเภอพล จังหวัด ขอนแก่น
โทร. 043-414-885
เปิดบริการทุกวัน 6.00 – 21.00 น.
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