Where people eat 9 times / day

Trang is a famous city in Thailand with a breakfast culture unlike any other.
In the city of Trang, southern Thailand, it is already midnight. An oven the size of a tuk-tuk was still in operation. Fire and smoke shot out from the tip. The men are carefully putting the two pigs slaughtered into the oven.

An hour later, they are drawn with a crimson outer layer, crispy and fragrant skin. When the meat is less hot, it will be chopped and sold at the central market in Trang at 4:00. That is when the people of this city wake up to find breakfast to start the day. Obsess with breakfast “Even in a country known for its food as Thailand, the way its people obsess over breakfast is like an illness,” writes Austin Bush of BBC to speak. Khanaporn Janjirdsak, a restaurant owner and amateur culinary historian at Trang explains: “Restaurants serve all kinds of workers. The rubber shaves wake up at 2:00. The restaurant builders go to buy.” Ingredients at 5 am. People here eat continuously “. People in Trang eat breakfast very early. According to Khanaporn, rubber is a crop grown mainly in the countryside around Trang. Rubber resin must be picked up again in the morning. This leads to a great demand for eating, developing a strong early breakfast culture. Ms. Khanaporn revealed that latex shaver workers can eat up to 2 breakfasts before the sun comes. Breakfast culture at Trang Another factor that makes up this city’s breakfast culture is immigration. Since the 15th century, Trang’s job prospects attracted many Chinese immigrants. This makes Trang become the hometown of giants of Chinese descent, especially the people of Guangdong. Yaowanee Thirakleela (Cantonese), is the owner of the fourth generation Jip Khao restaurant. This is one of the restaurants serving the most popular dim sum dish in Trang. Just 7am, the shop was full of people, from students, retirees to office workers. The dimsum here is not like the traditional Chinese style. It has no seafood fillings or an outer shell that looks like a fine gem. The Trang-style Dimsum that Jip Khao restaurant is selling is quite simple. Pork filling and add garlic, white pepper. This dish is served with traditional Chinese tea. “In my father’s day, they drank a lot of tea,” says Yaowanee. “They can eat fatty food and still live a long life!”. Chinese cuisine is very popular in Trang’s breakfast. Standing behind dimsum in the list of the most popular breakfast dishes in Trang is fried spring rolls. This is also a favorite breakfast dish of Chinese people. Somyot Athakijmongkol is the second generation owner of Kun Chiang Bang Rak, a small restaurant that only serves breakfast. He said he usually gets up at 3 o’clock to prepare the dough. At around 6 o’clock, he brought them out to fry and the goods were all gone when the clock was not yet 9 o’clock. However, Chinese cuisine is not unique to Trang. Like most of the southern provinces of Thailand, this city has a large Muslim population. They often start their day with halal (a term for food with ingredients allowed by Islamic law), or roti – crispy flat bread. The typical Indian curry and spices are also the people’s choice. Breakfast dishes in Trang are often used by people in other places as lunch. Ironically, the quintessence of Thai cuisine doesn’t have much influence on Trang’s breakfast culture. Some Thai people also have their own breakfast shops with trays of curry, stir-fries, and ready-made soups. In other regions, they are lunch foods. However, at Trang, this is breakfast again. Thanatip Boonyarat, which runs a Thai curry shop, says it usually sells out from 9am. “People in Trang are notorious for eating great. People in other regions can only eat 3-4 times a day. Here, people eat 9 times a day,” she said.