Category Archives: food

by | 10/04/2010 · 5:19 pm

The Taste of Envy, II

Bitter melon stewed with grilled pork and squid at nahm

Many Thais might be accused of feeling envious of famous Australian chef David Thompson, and for good reason. His restaurant nahm (lowercase “n”, somehow) at The Halkin in London was the first Thai place to earn a Michelin star — an indicator of big-time international acclaim, if you are a chef — and he is the author of one of the most well-regarded cookbooks of all time, Thai Food. Calling him an “expert” on Thai cuisine is no big stretch.

Unless, of course, you are Thai. If you are Thai you are supposed to exclaim at the arrogance of a Westerner who has the temerity to come to the motherland with an outpost of the well-regarded Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in London (at The Metropolitan, 02-625-3388). Because cooking Thai food for ignorant foreigners is one thing, but cooking it for Thais is another.

Or that’s what the media would have you believe. A “New York Times” story purporting to chronicle Thais’ feelings about Thompson and his characterization of modern Thai food as “decaying” and less complex than before caused a big splash a few weeks ago and, to me at least, seemed like a load of BS. Who cares? Another restaurateur comes to Thailand. Oh, he cooks Thai food? OMG! More manufactured controversy.

But a few days later, it seemed I was proven wrong. It seemed like people really did care. Or maybe I should just quote the Nation opinion piece, penned by ML Saksiri Kridakorn: “…it makes me hotter than biting into a hot chili hidden in a larb dish. It was a slap in the face to all Thai chefs in Thailand: don’t they know how to cook their own cuisine? It was also a slap in the face to all those who go to Thai restaurants. That makes all of us. What have we been eating?”

I wasn’t sure I understood what ML Saksiri was saying (do you say “khun”? Do you say “mom”? I don’t know!) Was he saying foreigners can’t cook Thai food? Because that makes absolutely no sense to a person who went to cooking school in France and somehow got a CAP in French cuisine (an achievement which really is a slap in the face to the French people). Or is he saying Westerners can’t criticize Thai food? Because I criticize Western food all the time, and if I couldn’t, what would be my reason for living?

I think — and this took a little digging — that he was saying David Thompson couldn’t possibly come to Thailand and purport to save “decaying” Thai cuisine, when it is not decaying, and doesn’t need his help. Well, all that stuff is arguable (the “decaying” part). But it did drum up some pretty publicity for nahm! Naturally, I went there to try it out.

Grilled mussels, satay-style

An amuse-bouche of “candied” pork on a sliver of pineapple (called ma hor) started the meal; then, a succession of canapes including a lovely mieng featuring pomelo, tiny bite-sized mee krob rolls (what is this thing with mee krob? Argh) and skewers of grilled mussels, slathered in peanut sauce and accompanied by cucumber slivers.

Local chicken given the "massaman curry" treatment

After that, a quick succession of dishes (so wise, keeping it family-style!): stir-fried pak waan (sweet greens), fiery nuea kem (sun-dried beef), a bright, buoyant cucumber yum, a pounded tamarind chili dip, a lohn-like pla rah song krueang, and a lovely-looking massaman chicken curry that I got nowhere near to even tasting (one thing that bugged me: it says it’s “bresse” chicken on the menu? Does this mean that “poulet de bresse” is being raised locally? How do I get some? Stop telling me I’m misreading “bresse” for “breast” on the menu!)

However … and I hate saying this, because this means I am a xenophobic, foreigner-hating Thai: there were some misfires. Like a vegetable yum that wasn’t as yum-like as I’d want it to be: my American palate only tasted sweet. The bitter melon, while still delicious, was a little more along the “bitter” end of the taste spectrum than I’d like my maraa to be (read: stewed to oblivion). In general, the food seemed to play more along the upper end of the registers, and I’m a girl who loves the deep, dark bass notes represented by gapi (shrimp paste). In that way, it reminded me a bit of Chote Chitr (where the chef, incidentally, is Thai).

Yummy custard apple with tapioca, coconut cream and mini-"doughnuts" -- genius

And, strangely, I was disappointed to not get to see Chef Thompson himself, although we did get to meet his partner, Tanongsak Yordwai. I think meeting the chef himself would be the one thing that would tip unsure and/or conflicted locals still mentally processing their meal at nahm into “I’m a David Thompson fan” territory.

Or maybe I’m just disappointed I didn’t get to take a picture with the man himself, slapping mah face.

4 Comments

Filed under Asia, Bangkok, celebrity chefs, chicken, curries, dessert, food, restaurant, Thailand

by | 10/04/2010 · 3:56 pm

The Taste of Envy

Have you ever had an “envy crush”? Someone who, irritatingly and without fail, always managed to hold up a mirror to your own inadequacies and failures? Someone whose inevitable and apparently easily-won success you always applaud, but with a little seed of dread in your heart?

What is an “envy crush”? It’s a sneaking, reluctant admiration mixed with a dose of self-loathing. Which is how I feel about the proprietor of Soul Food Mahanakorn (56/10 Thonglor, (085) 904-2691), an unassuming restaurant close to home that is generating some healthy buzz.

The owner of the restaurant (OK, OK, it’s Jarrett Wrisley) is a completely inoffensive person who does not deserve crazed people like myself writing about him. Yet here we are. Him: “a long-time food journalist for beloved American magazine The Atlantic and elsewhere” (BK Magazine). Me: not able to get paid unless I write something about GDP or which investment bank is underwriting the latest corporate bond issue from Blah Blah Co. Also, I sometimes read The Atlantic. Him: “…quietly earning a fanbase with cuisine inspired simply by what’s fresh in the market” (CNNGo.com). Me: hoping, someday, to open a restaurant, northern Thai, named after my grandmother. Or, you know. Hoping someday to get paid to write about it. Either one.

Actually, I did correspond with Mr. Wrisley once before. On this site, in fact. I wrote something negative about — not ashamed to say it anymore — Krua Aroy Aroy, especially in regards to their kanom jeen nam ngiew, which is a dish of particular importance to me. Jarrett said I painted the restaurant as a tourist trap, which it isn’t exactly … not in terms of food or execution, at least (in spirit, maybe. I still think they are the Thai street food equivalent of Pierre Cardin). He was sort of right … but never mind. We have agreed to (sort of) disagree.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t wish bad things to happen to this person. I wish him all the success in the world — showcasing the soulful stylings of Thai home cooking and sometimes adding a few American twists is genius, and his food has more “soul” than, say, Krua Aroy Aroy (no, can’t let it go). But I’m happy with that success only to a certain point. Because if his column for The Atlantic gets optioned for a Hollywood movie (pitched as “Under the Tuscan Sun for hipsters”)** and he is played by James Franco and the movie becomes the worldwide success “Eat, Pray, Love” was supposed to be, then I will just have to go shoot myself.

So imagine my dismay when I actually go, and try the northern Thai “nam prik two ways”: roasted banana pepper dip, thick with tiny slivers of garlic, and tomato-and-ground-pork nam prik ong, garnished with tiny pork rinds, quail eggs and fresh vegetables. Or the “one-bite chicken wings”, dusted with ginger, garnished liberally with torn kaffir lime leaves. Or (and I love/hate this most of all), the fried chicken, heavily peppered and fried to a deep, crackling amber, eye-tearingly delicious and accompanied with a sweet chili sauce and clever little chunks of pickled watermelon rind.

A few things: it’s a tourist trap. No, just kidding! Ha ha. I’m so funny. What I meant to say is, it’s early days for this restaurant, so not everything is ironed out yet (but it will be, success is infuriatingly inevitable). The bathroom has to deal with some kinks. Also, our krapao ped order fell through the cracks. Not sure if Jarrett should appoint a maitre’d or an executive chef? Because supervising the dining room AND the pass are hard jobs, particularly when they are on separate floors.

Also, it’s so dark that I couldn’t take any pictures. But it’s also so dark that no one could see what I really look like so … never mind! If you want to see what the food looks like, go to http://www.soulfoodmahanakorn.com (no, I do not know how to link to other places. I am old. Also, I went to Bryn Mawr. Just kidding again, @SpecialKRB!).

**Carey Mulligan shows up as a young British backpacker who tries to run out on her check. My character (played by George Takei) also makes a brief cameo, before I meet a grisly end when my hairspray catches on fire. I am full of these ideas. Call me, Hollywood!

9 Comments

Filed under Asia, Bangkok, chicken, food, restaurant, Thailand

by | 09/27/2010 · 3:50 pm

It’s not you, it’s me

Thai catfish with green mango salad at Chote Chitr

My husband bought me a painting for my birthday. On some days, it looks to me like the tumultuous juncture where the four elements meet, clash and learn to coexist (earth, fire, water, air). On other days, it looks like a chicken on fire. What I see varies from day to day, depending on what mood I’m in.

Similarly, there are some Thai restaurants that I simply do not “get”. Foodie darlings that get a pass for whatever they serve, thanks to the strength of a couple of specials, or the exclusivity of the surroundings, or the remarkable history. But the onus of “getting” them lies on me, rather than the other way around: I am feeling ill that day, or am in a bad mood, or whatever.

So it is with trepidation that I admit, I have never been able to bring myself to enjoy a meal at Thai institution Chote Chitr, which is nearly a century old. It’s not for lack of trying, on either my part or theirs. Unlike some other places that seem to coast on their reputations, Chote Chitr is sincere in its intentions (sincerity is a big thing for me): the food is made with care, the service is prompt and welcoming, there are no shortcuts. It is genuine home cooking. And it always shows, like in its well-crafted nam prik platu (shrimp paste chili dip with fried Thai mackerel and all the fixings) or well-thought-out specials (on our recent visit, a smashingly good tamarind-laced sour gaeng with mushrooms and deep-fried salted smelts).

Thom kong pla salid

But sometimes, and no offense to the lovely, lovely Tim Krachochouli and formidable Lucky and Nam Waan (her two dogs) — the food is too sweet. Even the nam prik, which I enjoyed, is too sweet. I know they don’t resort to using granulated sugar (the horror). I know everything is made from scratch. And I have as much respect for R.W. Apple as anyone. But it’s just too damn sweet. I can’t go to town on the food, because I know I’ll feel nauseated halfway through. That’s just the way it is. It’s my problem.

And yes, I know extreme sweetness is a necessary feature of the somehow-this-became-what-they-are-known-for mee krob (yeah yeah, flavored with a rare citrus fruit blah blah blah, I have tons of respect for Bob too). It’s my belief mee krob should be balanced by a spicy curry because each cancels the other out — it doesn’t work any other way. To eat it without thinking about this is sort of an example of what I mean when I say Thai food — as a whole — is getting too sweet in this city. It’s becoming an (admittedly superior) version of the sweetened Thai you find abroad. I blame the gradually Westernized palate in Bangkok (although mine is as Westernized as they come and … oh, never mind. Meatloaf, anyone?)

Chote Chitr's famous mee krob

I want to point out that it’s not that I don’t like Chote Chitr, because I do. It’s just that I like some other Thai restaurants better, and I don’t think they get as much attention. My favorites: lunchtime-only old-school joint Sanguansri (59/1 Wireless Rd., 02-252-7637), especially their kanom jeen (fermented rice noodle) dishes, or Sukhumvit standby Ruea Thong (351/2 Thonglor 17, 02-185-2610), which serves an awesome gaeng kua with marble-sized “exploding” mushrooms and a great nam prik made of ground peppercorns — a reminder of the pre-chili days before the Portuguese when the main spice in Thailand was pepper, or prik Thai. Also promising: the only week-old Soul Food Mahanakorn (56/10 Thonglor, 085-904-2691), which is built on a great idea (street food with air-conditioning and superb cocktails) but more on that some other time. I am zonked out on Dayquil (obviously) and can only ramble incoherently for so long.

1 Comment

Filed under Asia, Bangkok, curries, fish, food, noodles, restaurant, seafood, Thailand