Finding the Roots of the Ultimate Fusion Food

If you come to Thailand and want traditional cuisine, there's no shortage of options. But if you want to eat like the locals- you go for Moo Kratha. It's the dish of the new generation, with restaurants all across the country jam-packed every night with young people. The dish itself is basically a combination of Chinese Hot Pot and Korean Barbecue- slapped together onto the same grill pan. But the thing about those connections is they seem obvious, but nobody really knows for sure- or beyond that, how it even happened. So today we're on the trail of Moo Kratha, testing out the theories and chasing its origins and- somehow- actually finding answers.

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0:00 - Introduction
1:13 - Soft Power
4:05 - Questions
5:19 - History and Connections
8:42 - Hot Pot
11:17 - Flaws in the Theory
12:24 - The Grill
13:47 - Genghis Khan
16:01 - Zhi Zi Khao Rou
17:54 - Korean Barbecue
20:50 - Puzzle Pieces
21:55 - Bangkok, 1970
24:23 - The Birth of Moo Kratha
26:22 - Memories
27:35 - The Old Taste
29:59 - Advances
31:56 - Past and Future
35:06 - Soju

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Video Credits:

[OTRontheroad]

Here are this week's locations:

[Play_Kite_With_Right_Hand]

In Thailand, There is a phrase used when you encounter something that makes you feel bad "Moo Krata will heal everything" Because most of the time when we go to eat Moo Krata we usually go to eat with friends or family and have so much fun that it makes you forget the bad things you've experienced.

[rockung]

I'm Thai, 38 years old. The first Moo Krata restaurant I ever heard of more than 30 years ago when I was a kid was called Genghis Khan Grill.
Then 10 years later it was changed to Korean Grill. Until recently, it has been changed to Moo Krata.

[tobyneff]

How has this guy only been posting for a year and a half. Those videos have the production quality of a massive media company

[kaitunelovemonday]

When my ex-boss popped over from New York last December, I decided to take her to a Moo Kratha place as I figured it is a Thai thing that is unknown among Westerners, so it should make for an interesting experience. (She had visited Thailand on her own many times before, but that was the first time I got to take her dinning and stuff.)

My ex-boss LOVED Moo Kratha so much she went back again on her own before she left Thailand. She was so puzzled how she never learned about it before in her many previous visits to the country. She seriously considered buying the Moo Kratha griller back to the States.

[tykep]

From a Japanese point of view, at first glance, Moo Kratha obviously looks like a Jingisukan pot, so I wondered how it ended up in Thailand. It makes sense that the pot spread via the local factories of Japanese companies. Jingisukan is a well-known specialty of Hokkaido in Japan, where lamb produce is common. I had the impression that it was a dish for cold regions, so it was strange to me that it has evolved and become a popular food in Southeast Asia, but I found it very interesting.

[PimsriYotube]

"หมูกระทะจะเยียวยาทุกสิ่ง"

Moo-Krata ja yiew ya tuk-sing
"Moo krata will fix everything"

- A popular Thai proverb

[tzd]

In the 70s, my parents always brought me to Genghis Khan BBQ. In the 90s, I often went to Korean BBQ (Moo Korea) with friends . Nowadays there are Moo Krata places everywhere.

[EarthCamper]

Always brings tears of joy when I see people cook food with so much respect n love n dedication n passion in Thailand.... thank you for sharing these stories....❤

[fuyahanabi]

Doing Moo Krata video in this weather is really something. Hope you hydrate yourself well. The whole SEA is melting.

[osnisida]

my fav culinary anthropologist back at it again

[Lalalilil]

I've been eating Moo kratha for 30 Years... It's very popular since I was fairly young... We have kratha at home which I also don't know who bought it and when 😂 it's our comfort food ❤

[ChickenLucky]

It is so amazing how you keep making such great videos and research on the dishes in Thailand even as a Thai person myself never heard of. Yet, you make it so believable and enjoyable to listen to. As I am watching your videos abroad, you are making me want to just go back and have a taste of actual Thai dishes with my friends and family.
Keep up the good work.👍👍

[pantitapalittapongarnpim]

I salute you for going on a Moo Kratha tour in the middle summer! You are made of something else, sir. And thank you again for another wonderful video.

[ttzk]

When i was a kid, around early-mid nineties, this Moo Katha was called, Neua Yang Kao-Li (literally, Korean Barbecue) with thai spicy dipping sauce. It was always a popular food in winter. Then when i was going to college, with the first wave of K-pop coming to the country, the name of recipe was gradually changed to Moo Katha.

[foodtaliban]

For me, Mookata is the ultimate hangover cure that over the years, more than ones has brought me back to life after a severe hangover. 🙏🏼

And nobody did it better than a place on Phetchaburi Rd, Bangkok called "Ladyboy Mookata. Because most of the staff wore wigs and were very feminine.

[percytw]

it's amazing even how something invented less than half a century (or so) ago can have an origin so mysterious and hard to uncover
good work there team! now i'm just waiting for more barbecue and hot pot combination restaurants to open here in taiwan, my stomach demands grilled meat AND SOUP

[napatp]

One reason for the sudden popularity of moo krata is that many places offers all you can eat buffet. This is a very popular deal for young people who eat a lot. You can spend 199 baht and be stuffed until the next day.

[mno]

Beware of deadly decease Streptococcus Suis causing high fever and deaf that many Thais are suffering because of this activity nowadays and more. The bacteria can be in the fresh sliced pork meat that when using the same pair of chopsticks to pick raw pork to the pan and pick the cooked from the pan into one's mount. Though the bacteria will be easily eliminated by heat in the soup but some still remains on those same chopsticks. The Department of Health recommends using different pair of chopsticks or utensils for fresh meat only or always dip chopsticks deep in the hot soup after picking fresh meat.

[PercyNPC]

I'm waiting for this topic.
I just tell my sister yesterday, there is a foreigner making videos about Thai's food but I don't see Moo Kra Ta topic.
How can he miss this iconic menu?