Soy Sauce Ice Cream, Coffee, and Lunch
at Hau Young Seng, Bangkok's last traditional soy sauce factory
Hau Yong Seng is the last traditional homemade soy sauce factory in Bangkok, Thailand. Located alongside the Bangkok Yai Canal, once home to rice mills, soy sauce breweries, and nine commercial shipyards, Hau Yong Seng has sought out modern ways to stay relevant even as soy sauce brewing has largely shifted to be mass-produced in industrial factories.
The salty smell of soy sauce hit our nostrils as soon as we stepped up to the charming little cafe and took a seat next to the water. It was a warm but breezy afternoon, and the canal was quiet save for the occasional longtail boat zipping along the famous old waterway.
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| traditional clay pot soy sauce fermentation |
The soy sauce factory, or brewery to use the proper term, has been in operation for more than a century, and is currently run by the 3rd and 4th generations of the original family. They still use the traditional method of brewing soy sauce for up to six months using exposure to the sun in large clay jars before cooking over a wood fire.
Visitors are welcome to walk around the courtyard at the old factory and look at the jars of soy sauce slowly fermenting in the sun.
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| Hau Young Seng Soy Sauce Factory and Cafe in Bangkok, Thailand |
It was the current generation, now in their 20s, who had the idea of transforming the struggling family-run soy sauce brewery into a trendy riverside cafe.
Of course, you can buy bottles of their locally brewed soy sauce to take home with you (we did!), but what has made the cafe Instagram famous lately is their menu of soy sauce-based food and drinks.
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| a bottle of locally made soy sauce from Hau Young Seng |
We ordered a soy sauce latte, and a soy sauce chai yen (the iconic orange Thai iced tea). The soy sauce added a subtle salty note that gave the drinks a little more richness. If you didn't know what you were supposed to be tasting, you might have a hard time identifying the extra flavor. It wasn't overpoweringly salty or anything like that, just a nice little addition that added some balance to the otherwise very sweet drinks.
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| coffee and Thai tea with soy sauce at Hau Young Seng, Bangkok, Thailand |
We also ordered a scoop of soy sauce ice cream. It was delicious, especially on such a hot day. It sounds weird, but it really tasted a lot like caramel.
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| soy sauce ice cream in Bangkok, Thailand |
I love discovering hidden gems like this. It's nice to see little slivers of old Bangkok kept alive in the modern day. The factory's homebrewed soy sauce still ships out to restaurants and shops all around Thailand, but if you're in the neighborhood, why not stop in to try it directly from the source?
Location
Hau Young Seng is located at 143/126 Itsaraphap 21 Alley, Wat Arun, Bangkok Yai, Bangkok 10600. The nearest MRT station is Itsaraphap, but it's a little too far to comfortably walk. I recommend taking the MRT to Itsaraphap Station and then taking a taxi the rest of the way (just a few minutes by car).
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