I headed up to Lampang this week to check in with Bo-That the elephant. As you’ll see, he’s had his tusks clipped! There’s a full elephant update to come — I’m on the road at the moment — but in the interim, here’s the mighty boy himself with Tam, his kwan, Tam’s daughter Look Gop (who wants to be a kwan herself when she grows up (and, by the way, what a brilliant place to spend your school holidays — playing with elephants!!)) and me.
Chaiyo!
K xx
I’ve been coming to Soi Polo Chicken for a good ten years now, and it is my fail-safe go-to for a great meal at almost any time of day. It’s the first place I head for when I come back to Bangkok, the one place I always badger for its recipe even though I know they’ll never give it to me, and the take-away I dream of when I’m far from home. Quite simply, Soi Polo serves the best fried chicken — gai tod — I’ve ever tasted. The best that anyone’s ever tasted.
It comes smothered in deep fried crispy garlic, hot, moist and glorious from a vast wok of bubbling oil. It is my death row meal. (Well, one of them.) Have it with sticky rice and a soop nor mai, an Isaan bamboo shoot salad. Or a som tum if you prefer — my late friend Pui used to say it was the best som tum in Bangkok. Make sure you spoon yourself a bowl of the tamarind and roasted chilli dipping sauce. Drink a beer or a coke or a cold cold water. And you’re good to go.
One time, I swung by in a cab to pick up some of their chicken for a picnic for the sleeper train to Ubon. Khun Jai Khee thought this was hilarious — taking fried chicken and soop nor mai to Ubon is the Thai food version of taking coals to Newcastle. But I knew that their’s would not be beat. It wasn’t. As we swayed along on higgledy tracks, a sangsom soda in one hand and a juicy drumstick in the other, feet dangling from the top bunk, life couldn’t get much better.
I should say, too, that they make other things. They do a lovely laarp pla dook and a delicious laarp woon sen, as well as a hot, sour, mouth-puckeringly good tom saep.
Khun Jai Khee runs a really tight ship. The consistency is extraordinary, the welcome is warm, and — boy-oh-boy — that garlic! Don’t forget to order some extra on the side. I always do.
K xx
There are many reasons to visit Sukhothai, the site of Thailand’s ancient capital. The ruined city is a marvel, as is its lesser visited companion Si Satchanalai, a short drive to the north. And whether you see the ruins on foot or from the back of an elephant (which I heartily recommend), you’re sure to work up a hunger. In which case, you simply have to visit the astounding Laan Chula on Thanon Jarodvithi Thong (Highway 12, heading out of town towards the Historical Park).
Chefs Khun Tee and Khun Bangkom specialise in the classic cooking of the central plains, including dishes such as nam prik makarm made from the plentiful local tamarinds, local venison, and pad krapow gop, with tender fresh frogs’ legs and tons of garlic and holy basil. You’ll also find pla tubtim nung manao or ruby fish steamed with lemon, garlic and chilli, a very spicy pad normai or stir-fried baby bamboo with look chin pla — tiny fish balls, and a profoundly good gaeng ped hoi kom or bitter snail curry, with acacia leaf, betel leaf, coconut and bamboo shoots.
It’s a massive menu and, on four visits, I’ve hardly scratched the surface. But, as with so many great places to eat, the food is only a part of the story. Khun Tee and Khun Bangkom are local celebrities. They’ve appeared on Thai cookery shows for years, but are still not so well known to foreigners. And with their contrasting personalities — the tall, laconic Khun Tee makes the perfect foil for Khun Bangkom’s bundle-of-fun enthusiasm — I look forward to my visits as much for the laughs I’ll share with them as I do for their first rate food.
Grab a beer, settle yourself down against a backdrop of Thai soap operas, and ask them simply to bring you three or four dishes, depending, of course, on how many of you there are. Frankly, I’m salivating at the thought!
K xx
I am delighted to be working with my good friends at the Tourism Authority of Thailand to promote Thai food and culture. They will be collaborating on my Thai Food Heroes series, and I will be sharing some of my favourite Thai recipes through their Twitter and Facebook feeds, and through their official blog.
I will be off on my travels this week, hunting for new food heroes, so stay tuned for a Bo-That update, Thai travel tips and anything else that tickles my fancy!
K xx
Khun Ann and Mao Yai run a beach restaurant beyond all my imaginings. Under a bamboo sala, and off one burner, they cook for about 6 shaded tables, right on the sand. And, boy, can they cook!
I found this place in Baan Nam Kem by accident. It’s a village which was almost entirely washed away by the 2004 tsunami — the restaurant itself is a stone’s throw from the memorial. By the time I first visited, the local fishing community had entirely rebuilt itself, and the village was back in business.
On my last visit, we had a delicious yum kai pla sot — a green mango salad with onion, coriander and lightly floured and fried fresh fish roe; tom sap kraduk moo — a very spicy version of a pork rib tom yum; squid with sataw (or “stink beans”), heavy with turmeric and lemongrass; and the freshest steamed blue crabs with a spiky, limey dipping sauce. All with an idyllic view of the Andaman sea, you really can’t go wrong.
Apart from the sataw dish, this wasn’t typically southern Thai cuisine. But it was incredibly good seafood cookery. And it underlined the resilience with which people in this area have come back from a devastating tragedy. I cannot emphasise this enough: if you’re in Khao Lak, where the hotels are marvellous, please make the effort to leave the compounds and visit places like the Prak. They’re a testament to the human spirit. And this restaurant in particular is a testament to good food.
K xx
So, about a week ago, Peppe at my local Italian deli ordered a particularly top-of-the-range mozzerella for me. It’s a thing of beauty, rich and creamy and deeply delicious, and just the thing for a figgy, cheesey salad I had planned for an upcoming thing. I know the figs are not at their best just now, but the “thing” is for the summer and it’s good to get it down while you have the chance. But it’s snowing.
I mean, really.
The last thing I want for lunch today is a summer fig salad when it’s snowing. I want a deep rich stew with a steaming gravy. And my duvet.
On an aborted trip to find the monk who makes medicines at Wat Chedi Sao (he’d moved for some peace and quiet, but that’s another story), and with growling stomachs, I stumbled upon Oi’s corner restaurant with an ad for look chin (meatballs) outside. We sat down and ordered a bowl of noodles — the one dish she makes — and it turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever had.
It was the cleanest, clearest, purest pork broth with a subtle sweetness, bathing perfectly cooked rice noodles, simple, tender pork and pork liver, a sprinkle of bean sprouts, coriander and deep-fried garlic, and that was it.
Certainly, this is a case of less is more. It was a dish of perfect simplicity. Add to that Oi’s charming, friendly welcome and her pride in her work, and this place is, in the words of the old Michelin Guide, “worth a detour”.
While Lampang itself is a pretty town, complete with horse-drawn buggies and an historic clock tower, it has little in the way of foodie diversion. So you’re bound to get hungry on the road between Wat Chedi Sao and Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, both well worth seeing. All of which makes Oi’s shop well worth knowing. And, while it’s quite a way away from the Elephant Conservation Centre on Route 11 between Chiang Mai and Lampang, I plan to make the trip next time I visit Bo-That. After all, it’s half way between him and the medical monk!
You’ll find Oi’s Noodles right on the corner of Highway 1035 and the soi to Wat Chedi Sao, which is well signposted.
K xx
Ah—Sangiovese! Is there another Italian grape as versatile? As ready to reveal new aspects of itself in different soils and micro-climates? In the Maremma, almost half way between Rome and Florence in Southern Tuscany, they call the grape Morellino, and turn it into distinct, gluggable and delightful reds which frankly, I really rather look forward to.
Morellino di Scansano is one of the newer DOGC’s, and its rules state that the wine must be made with at least 85% of the local Sangiovese, with the rest of it made up with any black grape variety which makes the official list. This allows the wine makers a lot of room to make their wines distinct. And the Poggioargentiera is certainly that.
For a start, it’s made with 15% Ciliegiolo, apparently one of Sangiovese’s DNA parents and a grape which brings intense cherry flabours and vibrant garnet colours. Then, like all Morellinos (as opposed to the Riservas), it’s young. This is a wine which has spent at most 8 months in the barrel. It’s fresh and zippy, with bags of energetic summer fruit. There’s an interesting spicy note to it too, which keeps the wine from being too frivolous for food. And, at £8.99 when you buy two at Majestic, it represents excellent value.
fh
