Not Your Typical Tourist

A Life Between Two Countries, And All In Between

Thailand

Making a beeline for Jackson Wang’s beloved American Fried Rice …

I know nothing about Jackson Wang, nor American Fried Rice (ข้าวผัดอเมริกัน).

So Jackson Wang was recently in town. He went to Foodland’s Took Lae Dee (the Nana branch), and he ordered the American Fried Rice and also corn soup. “It’s so good, it’s the best!,” he was quoted saying here. Boom! Just like that, we all want the same, and that “P’Jack set” (99 baht special promotion, 20-24 July 2022) order uttered by almost every table, mine included, twice in the week.

American Fried Rice. Thai fried rice. Malaysian fried rice. Chinese fried rice. As with any other country-named fried rice, it always baffles the origin country. As a Malaysian Chinese myself, I have no inkling what Malaysian fried rice is all about – is it nasi goreng kampung, or is it sambal fried rice?. And after living in Thailand for so long, what the #$% is Thai fried rice – is it tomyum fried rice, or basil fried rice?

Rice fried with ketchup, raisins, green pea and tomato + fried chicken drumette, ham, hot dog and sunny side egg at the side

Well, American fried rice has nothing to do with the United States of America .. but it has all the “western” ingredients. The one I had at Took Lae Dee is rice fried with ketchup and raisins, and has hot dog, ham, sunny side up egg (not, yolk not runny) at the side.

The hot dogs …..

So I heard from bf, that there are unverified stories behind this American fried rice. It’s a dish that he used to have when he was younger … kinda fancy back then with ‘western’ ingredients. My colleagues also said that it is one of their regular dish, and Took Lae Dee’s fried hot dog is very delicious, they added. Well, here you go, the hot dog to meet the insane demand!

Bf’s “Pad Kee Mao” is more my kind of dish

Took Lae Dee is one of my regular’s food joint in Bangkok, and will continue to be. But for sure, no more American fried rice for me .. unless if you’re into ketchup-ish fried rice. Give me Malaysian fried rice, Thai fried rice, or Chinese fried rice, but no American fried rice please. I love my soy sauce/fish sauce way too much …

Not Your Typical Tourist

Travel opens up a whole new world, which is cliche but true. I am a strong advocate for independent and solo travel. I was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia but now live in Bangkok, Thailand, resulted from a chance encounter in 2009 with my why-are-you-Thai bf. I am now split between two countries. One country for my bf, another for the family, for the occasional weekend together.

2 thoughts on “Making a beeline for Jackson Wang’s beloved American Fried Rice …

  • The looks of the American fried rice er… I still prefer Asian-style fried rice 🙂

    I tried it once in Panama the local style of fried rice is quite good.

    • Ketchup-ish fried rice is definitely not for me!

Comments are closed.