Local food map Phuket (Thailand)
Phuket guides
Recipes 25
Pick a recipe
All Phuket recipes
🌱
Snack Vegan

Food Flavour DNA

Nutritional Values

🔥190kcal
💪3gProtein
🌾30gCarbs
🥑6gFat
🌿4gFibre
⚖️200 gServing

* Per serving · 200 g. May vary.

Baba Chien Muay

How to order / say it
Say it บาบ๋าเจี้ยนหมวย — [bah-bah chyan moo-ay]
Order I'd like the Baba Chien Muay, please.
Locally ขอบาบ๋าเจี้ยนหมวยครับ
Say locally

Fried taro cakes seasoned with white pepper and soy sauce.

Why try it?

This dish is an example of Phuket's Peranakan culture, embodying a rich blend of Chinese and Malay culinary techniques. Sampling it offers insight into the mixed heritage flavors of the region.

How it tastes

The cakes are crispy on the outside and tender inside, seasoned with a mild spice from the pepper and umami notes from the soy sauce. Their aroma is invitingly fragrant, perfect as a light snack.

Origin & History — first documented: 1600

Baba Chien Muay came into being through the convergence of Chinese and Malay ingredients brought to Phuket centuries ago by spice-trading communities. It is a legacy of the culturally rich Baba Nyonya cuisine, celebrated annually during local festivals.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 🥕 300 g taro
  • 🧂 1 tsp white pepper
  • 🥣 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 🌾 50 g corn flour
  • 🫒 200 ml vegetable oil

Method

  1. 1 Grate taro and mix with pepper, soy sauce, and flour.
  2. 2 Form mixture into small cakes.
  3. 3 Heat oil in a pan and fry cakes until golden brown.
  4. 4 Drain excess oil and serve.

More from Phuket

🥩
Main course Meat

Moo Hong

หมูฮ้อง

Braised pork belly in soy and black pepper sauce.
🥩
Street food Meat

Mee Hun Bai Khao

หมี่หุ้นบะโข้ว
Mee Hoon Bah Khow

Rice vermicelli noodles with a savory sauce
🐟
Main course Fish & Seafood

Phuket Noodle Soup

ข้าวหมี่เบา
Khao mee bao

A flavorful soup with rice noodles, seafood, and fragrant herbs.
Khanom Jeen Nam Ya Pu
Main course Fish & Seafood

Khanom Jeen Nam Ya Pu

ขนมจีนน้ำยาปู
Kah-NOM Jeen Nahm YAH Poo

Fresh rice noodles with rich crab curry.
🥩
Snack Meat

Loba

หล่อบ้า
Law-baa

Deep-fried pork offal with a sweet-spicy dipping sauce.
Prawn in Tamarind Sauce
Main course Fish & Seafood

Prawn in Tamarind Sauce

กุ้งราดซอสมะขาม
goong raad saawt ma-kham

Prawn dish with sweet and sour tamarind sauce.
Khanom Jeen Nam Ya © Wikimedia Commons
Main course Fish & Seafood

Khanom Jeen Nam Ya

ขนมจีนน้ำยา
Ka-nom Jeen Nam Ya

A rice noodle dish with a spicy fish-based curry sauce.
🐟
Soup Fish & Seafood

Tom Prai Pla

ต้มไพรปลา
tome prai plah

A spicy and sour fish soup that is aromatic with Thai herbs.
Som Tum Phuket © Wikimedia Commons
Starter Fish & Seafood

Som Tum Phuket

ส้มตำภูเก็ต
som tum poo-get

Spicy green papaya salad that is a staple in Phuket's local cuisine.
Gaeng Tai Pla © Wikimedia Commons
Main course Fish & Seafood

Gaeng Tai Pla

แกงไตปลา
gang tai pla

Spicy Southern Thai curry with fish entrails.
All Asia recipes — Thailand — Phuket — Baba Chien Muay
keyboard_arrow_up