Pathongko is a very popular breakfast/snack item in Thailand. It’s of Chinese origin, but here lies the Thai naming oddity, as the food item in question is actually Chinese eu char koay (Hokkien: 油炸鬼) or yu tiao (Mandarin: 油條), a deep-fried cruller, similar to Spanish churros, but chewier.
The Thai word pathongko (Thai: ปาท่องโก๋) actually came from the Teochew-Chinese word for another type of sweet: a steamed cake called pak thong ko (白糖糕). Traditionally, in Southern China, Singapore and Penang, both eu char koay (油炸鬼) and pak thong ko (白糖糕) are sold by the same itinerant Teochew (Thai: Taechiu) street-food vendors.
The Teochews come from Swatow (Mandarin: Shantou) district in Guangdong Province, and constitutes the largest Chinese dialect group in Thailand and Indo-China (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos). In Singapore and Penang, the Teochews are the 2nd-largest Chinese dialect group after the Hokkiens, and Teochew influences are evident in local street foods in Singapore and Penang (char koay teow, kway chap, p’ng kway, oh-chien, etc.).
In Thailand, the real pak thong ko (白糖糕/steamed cakes) proved to be unpopular amongst the local Thais, and the hawkers stopped making those, but continued selling eu char koay (油炸鬼). However, by then, the local Thais had mis-took the name pak thong ko (白糖糕) as referring to the deep-fried crullers – perhaps because the itinerant street-vendors in the old days would cry out “PAK THONG KO! EU CHAR KOAY!” when they walked the streets selling their wares, and the Thai customers only remembered the first item name. That was how eu char koay (Chinese: 油炸鬼) came to be known in Thai as pathongko (Thai: ปาท่องโก๋).
We got some crisp-fried pathongko from 𝗣𝗮 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗲𝘆 in Yaowarat this evening.
Owner, Khun Thanakorn Charoenpimolkul, is the third-generation of his family running this business, started by his grandfather back in 1968.
Freshly-kneaded on the spot, before being deep-fried in a huge vat of oil.
I opted for the 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘦𝘺 (egg-coconut sauce with pandan) dip, though many Thais will go for sweetened, condensed milk instead. The stall also offers soy milk to go with the pathongko.
Pa Tong Go Savoey is located on the quieter end of Thanon Yaowarat (Yaowarat Road), the main drag of Bangkok Chinatown - closer to the famous Wat Traimit.
Address
Pa Tong Go Savoey
56 Yaowarat Road, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100, Thailand
Tel: +66 95 591 5651
Opening hours: 5:30pm to 11:30pm Tue to Sun. Closed on Mondays.
