Makerel at the mouth of the Mae Klong River are well-known to have superior taste. If you want to taste the best mackerels in Thailand, you’d better hurry as the area’s annual mackerel festival ends this Sunday.
Samut Songkhram, 75 km southwest of Bangkok, is famous for its Mae Klong mackerel. The rich mineral brackish water of the Mae Klong estuary is the origin of the great taste of Mae Klong mackerel. A traditional fishing method used by locals also helps preserve a better taste.
The 11th mackerel festival is this year’s edition of the annual event, held from late November to December when mackerel are abundant . The province’s chamber of commerce stages the festival to help locals sell their fish on the market.
Fresh mackerel costs 70 baht per kilogramme, while six bamboo baskets of steamed ones costs 100 baht. Seven restaurants are chosen to cook more than 50 special mackerel based menus at the fair.
"We hold the annual mackerel festival to add value to simple fresh mackerel. As you can see here, this delicious fish can be the main ingredient of so many Thai menusm" said Samut Songkhram Chamber of Commerce Chairman Rachane Chaiwat.
"I created 29 mackerel menus to be sold here. My menus are such as steamed mackerel in spicy sauce and spicy mince mackerel salad. At the fair, I earn about 70,000 baht per day on weekdays and 100,000 baht per day on the weekend," chef Sanguan Kaewwisitkul said.
The freshness of the fish attracts people, as mackerel sold at supermarkets can lost up to 60 per cent of its freshness. It’s expected about 400,000 vistors will visit the fair this year, with about 80 million baht to be circulated.
