Category Archives: Thailand

by | 04/17/2010 · 2:38 pm

On summertime rice

The past few weeks have been the height of summer, and it has been too hot for most people to even think about eating (that excludes me, of course).  In the olden days (but not so olden days, because we didn’t have refrigeration until the past century), people cooled off by putting ice in their bowls of rice. This gave birth to khao chae–variously described as “summertime rice” or “cool summer rice”, but never “a bowl of rice with a giant ice cube in the middle”, which is a shame, because that is what it actually is.

The dish, which has its roots in the rice-rich Central plains, has evolved over the years into something that has become quite elaborate, with side dishes that are considered necessary to the enjoyment of this iced bowl of rice. Balls of kapi, or shrimp paste, are deep-fried; sweetened beef is deep-fried and shredded; preserved cabbage is stir-fried and mixed with egg; salted eggs are also fried; Thai shallots are stuffed with minced fish and, uh, deep-fried; a banana pepper gets similar treatment with minced pork, plus a tempura-like batter coating. Khao chae connoisseurs (yes, they do exist) judge the proficiency of the cook by the intricacy of the tempura batter netting over the pepper, and the uniformity of the fried shrimp paste balls. It is a time-consuming dish, and only served during the hot season for lunch, which is why it is easy to be disappointed.

Done well, it’s a lovely dish all the same, all about harmony and the different parts working together, unusual in these politically troubled times: the rice water is perfumed with the scent of jasmine, and the accompanying vegetables–painstakingly carved to look like leaves–not only cool you down but freshen your breath, too. That is why I was slightly shocked to learn recently that some Thais have never tried this clever, and very central Thai, dish. A shame: the first rains fell today, which means summertime rice won’ t be on the menu for another year. 

Summertime rice with the accompaniments

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Filed under Asia, Bangkok, food, restaurant, rice, rice porridge, Thailand

by | 04/07/2010 · 4:55 pm

Iron Chef hits Bangkok

Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

Chef Hiroyuki Sakai of “Iron Chef” fame (the one who cooked French food, as opposed to the “Chinese” and “Japanese” Iron Chefs) came to Bangkok to bring his love of delicate flavors and vegetable flans to food-loving Thais. Last night, he held the second of three dinners at Maduzi Hotel (full disclosure: my husband’s family owns this hotel, but that didn’t save me from having to shell out the 7,500++ baht like everybody else.) Needless to say, I was excited; this is the closest I will probably ever get to Iron Chef without donning a poufy wig and cape.

"Seriously, guys--is there something in my teeth?"

And Chef Sakai totally delivered. His persnickety attention to detail, illustrated by his high hygienic standards (the kitchen was cleaned after every single course), was reflected in a series of perfectly turned-out dishes despite his having to cook for 60 covers. This somehow didn’t affect the pacing of the dishes, which reached perfection at around the end of the meal.

It kicked off with a completely smooth crab flan, reminiscent in texture of Japanese chawanmushi (egg custard), paired with a deep-fried crispy scallop and wasabi sauce to cut the fattiness.

crab flan with leek and courgette soup, deep-fried scallop and wasabi sauce

A parcel of foie gras came encased in a mashed potato shell and deep-fried into a golf ball, served atop a pool of truffle sauce and topped with a parmesan tuile.

foie gras croquette with truffle sauce

Sakai’s “signature” dish turned out to be a Thai freshwater prawn tail (the Brittany langoustines shipped to the hotel for the event were unfortunately not up to snuff) wrapped in threads of blanched zucchini, braided Bottega Veneta-style over the lightly poached flesh. 

Langoustine wrapped in courgette

After that, grade 9++ Wagyu beef (apparently the highest grade there is, although I don’t understand why you can’t just suck it up and say “grade 10”) was smoked in the hotel kitchen and arrived to the table wrapped in bamboo skin like a Christmas present. 

Lightly smoked Wagyu beef baked in bamboo skin

Finally, a mango custard came layered with a green tea foam and accompanied by a salty chocolate crepe, garnished with a pinch of candied orange peel.

Mango blanc manger and green tea espuma with chocolate crepe

But the best part of the meal, for me at least, was a cold hors d’oeuvre initially described in a preliminary menu as a dreary-sounding “turnip mousse”. What came out of the kitchen was a beautiful mixed custard of Kabu turnip and sea urchin, topped with Alaskan king crab, abalone, fan lobster and scallop chunks, ringed by turnip rounds and topped with a dollop of caviar. It was among the best dishes I’ve had in a while.

This dish is the bomb.

Final verdict? Totally worth it, even if I have to snack on streetside noodles for the rest of the month. I mean, that’s what I’m supposed to be here for, isn’t it?

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Filed under Asia, Bangkok, beef, celebrity chefs, food, French food, Iron Chef, Japanese, restaurant, seafood, Thailand, TV chefs

by | 04/05/2010 · 4:43 pm

Duckfest, or How Not to be China Rude

Maybe it’s the sweltering heat. I actually had to hail a cab for the 100-or-so meters from the grocery store to my house, and I consider it the best 35 baht I have ever spent. Maybe it’s the hordes of diners who, in an attempt to avoid the Red Shirts protesting downtown, have been swarming my neighborhood and turning it into a literal feeding frenzy for parking lots, restaurant tables, and ice cream. Or maybe it was the disappointing lunch I had today (how can your restaurant symbol be the picture of a mussel, and then have no mussels available for lunch? How does that happen?) A dozen Kumamoto oysters failed to salvage the  meal.

In any case, I’m feeling a bit down. When life gets this way, I do what a lot of other people do in the same situation, and eat my feelings. And if you are a fan of tender, moist, smoky flesh, something like this will likely do the trick: 

Roasted duck and crispy pork at Jibgi Ped Yang

Located across from the old Nanglerng wet market on Nakhon Sawan Road, Jibgi has what I think may be the juiciest, least-bony roasted Chinese duck around (you know those shards of bone that stick to the fatty parts of the skin? I hate those too). The skin may not be as crispy as at Mandarin, and the open-air dining room is not as swanky as, say, the Mandarin Oriental’s Noble House, but the duck here is definitely worth a gander (get it? I crack myself up). Don’t forget to order the accompanying stewed duck soup for an extra 20 baht.

While we were there, the duck on rice (30-40 baht) was certainly a popular dish, eaten with gusto by the octagenarians who occupied the neighboring table. It was here that we learned how to express our appreciation of Chinese food: with much clacking of chopsticks and a cacophony of slurping (the art of slurping is similarly practiced in Japan, but I have never learned how to do it without getting broth in my eye). So in our way, we were being China Rude, something we hope to rectify the next time we wander over to that part of town.

stewed duck soup

Thank you, @Specialkrb, for this final set of pictures. Looking forward to your return to this neck of the woods in July!

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Filed under Asia, Bangkok, Chinese, duck, food, food stalls, restaurant, rice, Thailand