Well, after arriving into Bangkok airport yesterday afternoon, i freshened up and went straight out to dinner with Tim and Boworn. They took me to a very authentic Royal Thai restaurant called Ruen Mallika. Tim and Boworn were telling me that there are many expensive Royal Thai restaurants in Bangkok that the tourists go to thinking that it is wonderfully authentic - but how wrong they are! Ruen Mallika however, is recognised as a really exceptional Royal Thai restaurant by the locals and i wasn't disappointed!
Royal Thai cuisine was nurtured by the Thai Kings in the C18th and C19th and it involved the court chefs taking inspiration from regional dishes all over Thailand, and refining them for the tastes of the Royal court - making the flavours more refined and presenting them beautifully with carved flowers from vegetables.
We started with an excellent dish called Miang Kam. It was a selection of dry ingredients that reflected the four main flavours of Thai - sliced chillies and shallot were there for hot, crispy pork fat, peanuts and dried shrimp were present for salty, sour was in the form of chopped up lime (which had its skin on so was bitter too) and finally roasted coconut which was slightly sweet. This was all arranged in little round circles cut from Chinese brocolli leaves, according to personal taste, and was topped with a sauce made from Tamarind (sweet and sour) and palm sugar - delicious! What was great was that every time you chewed the concoction, a different flavour sensation shone forth. Loved it!
We started with an excellent dish called Miang Kam. It was a selection of dry ingredients that reflected the four main flavours of Thai - sliced chillies and shallot were there for hot, crispy pork fat, peanuts and dried shrimp were present for salty, sour was in the form of chopped up lime (which had its skin on so was bitter too) and finally roasted coconut which was slightly sweet. This was all arranged in little round circles cut from Chinese brocolli leaves, according to personal taste, and was topped with a sauce made from Tamarind (sweet and sour) and palm sugar - delicious! What was great was that every time you chewed the concoction, a different flavour sensation shone forth. Loved it!
Miang Kam
We also tried many other delicious dishes including satay (see above) whick was served with peanuty satay sauce as per usual and white toast (why is that traditional over here? Answers on a postcard)...
Anyway, it was a very fine start to my trip and slept sweetly with Singha (pronounced 'Sing' to those in the know ;) and Mee (noodles) featuring in the sweetest of dreams...
Happy cooking!
HJ
No comments:
Post a Comment