It’s all the craze nowadays. From René Redzepi Noma where he’s famed for forging for food around forest nearby so he can get the weirdest and sometimes most delicious stuff. To Raymond Blanc who has his OWN GARDEN OF VEGETABLES! Every chef now does not just want the best. They want the best, but next door.
No longer is it “cool” to have Alaskan king crab in European kitchens, because it has travelled too long and has consumed or produced too much poisoned dioxide. Now they want stuff locally made by locals for the locals.
Funny then, that in Asia this trend is not picking up steam. I was at the Sukhothai hotel recently and it said “Authentic Thai Inspired Cuisine Cooked by The Best Thai Chefs”. Underneath it said
"Using New Zealand and US mussels." Hmmmm. I wondered to myself to be fairly intelligent. I read all the Harry Potter books, I don’t believe in the newspapers and I still think Elvis is alive smoking a J (joint) with Tupac. Bar from the severe dyslexia, I would say I’m above average in smartness.
With my intelligence I am not wrong in saying that Thailand is one of the largest exporters of seafood in the world. Having lived here for what seems to be 100 years, (15 to be precise) I have sampled some of the best seafood around. WHY THE HELL THEN are we importing from New Zealand!
If you drive anywhere from Bangkok to eat, every bloody country’s seafood or meat is represented but our own. US scallops, Alaskan crab, NZ mussels and Maine lobster. It’s a minimum 10 hour flight to the closest one of these places!!! Phuket is a 9 hour car ride! It infuriates me when we go to these fancy places, and these chefs are making all this great food and they use everything that’s not Thai. The global movement is pushing for chefs to source locally; if you think it’s bad, adapt your recipe and find alternatives. Noma has a dish made with ants for gods sake!!!
For those of you who want to see some thing amazing check out COOK IT RAW! René Redzepi is the star of this movement but just YouTube cook it raw hosted by Anthony Bourdain. This is where the world is heading. This will show you what REAL chefs are doing in the world of culinary.
I understand if we were living in the Sahara desert and you just can’t find stuff. But in saying that, there is a chef called Magnus Nilsson who literally lives and cooks in a snowed in town in Sweden and he only uses stuff he can grow in the summer and stores it in a cave. THAT’S COMMITMENT! That’s talent.
Hope however is not all lost. There is a beautiful establishment at the back of Sukhumvit Soi 24. Many of us have been going since we were kids. Reservations mean nothing, it’s packed every day. Even on Valentines day. Yes, this blogger took his date to Son Thong.
Why is it so good? Well, they use the best THAI ingredients, and prepare everything in the freshest and cleanest possible way.
Fried noodles with crab meat and spring onion.
THEY USE FRESH crab meat. Not from the can! The flavours are very Chinese. A great filler if the seafood is not enough.Very simple and delicious.
On the left - Pepper crab. On the Right - Grilled tiger prawns
The crab is dusted with some sort of flour before frying. Its absorbs the flavour beautifully. The fresh prawns are just divine. If there was ever an exhibition for fresh Thai food this was it. Honestly it's better than any Maine lobster flown in. Sweet and suclulant meat. HUGE in size. With a dash of spicy seafood sauce. Any valentine will be ready to go after this.
Grilled squid.
As you know from previous posts, a squid that I keep blabbering on about is very tough to cook. Grilling it is just ridiculous because it's always over cooked and burnt or so raw you feel like throwing up. This was brilliant!! Soft and succulent; you could eat this and drink beer forever. They use a little cumin to kill off some of the smell of the squid and gives it a robust flavour.
Salt backed THAI sea-bass
This is an age old technique of cooking. The salt preserves all the natural juices and makes it extra juicy and soft. I had this dish once at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok It cost me (well, my dad) a kidney and was under seasoned. This had lemongrass and kaffir lime shoved in the guts of the fish to perfume the meat! NOW THIS IS A MUST TRY dish. The complex flavours and beauty of fresh fish is just intoxicating.
After all said and done, local is good. It helps the local economy, it preserves the age of tradition and trade. It's fresher and tastes better. More people should be looking at what's around them than just simply watching Jamie's 15mins meals on TV and going to buy all this expensive nonsense that you don't really need.
This place is a hidden treasure. People will be sitting with diamonds the size of mountain on their ears just to sample the fresh and simple flavours. GO and support them! Next time some idiot tries to sell you NZ mussels tell him to shove it.
Best. Kung. Ever.
ReplyDelete