Lin Heung Tea House

I've always liked the idea of dim sum -- countless small Chinese dishes served with an endless flow of green tea (one of my favourite things to drink) sounds wonderful to me -- but I'd yet to encounter a version that I truly enjoyed. My first authentic dim sum meals in Macau and Malaysia were fun, but too meaty and oily for my taste, while much of the dim sum I've come across in Thailand has been processed and flavourless (in addition to being meaty and oily). I thought for sure that I would finally meet my fantasy dim sum in Hong Kong, a city virtually synonymous with the dish, and to a certain extent, I did. In Lin Heung Tea House I found a restaurant that fit my preconceived notion of how a dim sum place should be: a great old hall complete with grumpy waiters, creaking trolleys, old men reading newspapers, lazy ceiling fans and lots of cigarette smoke and tea. But as with previous attempts, I was let down by the food.

Don't get me wrong; there was nothing wrong with the dim sum at Lin Heung Tea House, but the dishes were just as meaty, oily and heavy as those I'd had before. Arriving late one afternoon we were given some of the restaurant's 'special' dishes: shown above at 6 o'clock is fish maw and minced pork wrapped in tofu skin and steamed, at 9 o'clock a type of pig stomach, at 12 o'clock a type of sweet bun called 'Malaysian cake', and at 3 o'clock, pork liver fried in an oily garlic sauce. The volume of meat and oil made the cleansing properties of extremely strong tea a necessity:

and effectively marked the end of my search: dim sum is what it is, and I should stop looking for a salad in a steak house.

Lin Heung Tea House 160-164 Wellington Street, Hong Kong +852 544 4556

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Yung Kee

  In 2008 the Michelin guide expanded its borders to include Hong Kong and Macau. This gained quite a bit of attention in the international media, as the influential guide had previously limited itself to fine dining in Western countries. This apparently also generated a great deal of interest in Hong Kong, as in an effort to promote the accomplishment, I was taken to two Michelin-starred restaurants on my recent press trip there. Of these, the restaurant that stands out the most in my mind is Yung Kee, a nearly 60 year-old Hong Kong staple and recent recipient of a single Michelin star.

Unfortunately, we arrived at Yung Kee at the end of a day in which I'd probably eaten more than any previous in my life. In the space of a few hours we'd been to a Japanese buffet, an old-school dim sum restaurant and now this. But the food at Yung Kee was so good, I somehow found a way to make room.

Yung Kee's most famous dish by far is its roast goose:

I'm not a huge fan of duck or goose in general, but enjoyed this well enough -- it was pleasantly meaty, oily, crispy and tender. But I was more blown away by Yung Kee's dictionary perfect stir-fried dishes, which due to our somewhat uncollaborative ordering, comprised the remainder of our meal. These included Shredded chicken with chili:

the chili in this case actually a very mild bell pepper, which like all of the restaurant's ingredients, was expertly and attractively sliced, and like all vegetables to follow, was perfectly fried, retaining all of its fresh crispiness. There was Chinese sausage fried with kai lan:

the sausages, which I think were a mixture of pork and goose liver, were on the waxy side, as Chinese sausages typically are, but again this was a masterpiece of deft stir-frying and subtle-yet-adequate seasoning. Sauteed sliced beef and vegetable was similar:

although here, for me at least, it was the meat the stood out. The beef appeared to have been pounded until tender and marinated, giving it a nearly fall-apart texture and a pleasantly salty flavour. Again, the technique took the forefront here, and the beef was simultaneously just-cooked and partially singed. Our final stir-fry was eggplant flash-fried with crab meat:

I can't imagine this dish involved more than five ingredients (eggplant, crab meat, salt, oil and perhaps a bit of corn starch), but was wonderful: smokey, well-seasoned and relatively un-oily -- everything a good stir-fried dish should be.

Reeling from having consumed so much food, I sat back and looked around the restaurant and noticed that, despite the accolades, Yung Kee appeared more or less like any other upscale-ish restaurant in Asia: there were a few tourists, but most diners appeared to be middle-to-upper-class locals, including several families. The dining room was boisterous and service was equal parts professional and informal. It struck me that this is exactly what a lauded restaurant should be like -- excellent food that everybody can enjoy without the baggage of formality and snobbery. I can't wait for the chance go back to Yung Kee on an empty stomach and try a greater repertoire of dishes.

Yung Kee 32-40 Wellington Street, Hong Kong +852 2522 1624 www.yungkee.com.hk 11am-11.30pm

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Nathan Congee and Noodle

While in Hong Kong I got the chance to eat at some Michelin-starred restaurants (one of which I'll blog on soon) and a few other similarly upscale places, but to be honest, what I really wanted to do was eat what regular Hong Kong people eat. I finally got my chance at Nathan Congee and Noodle, a closet-sized restaurant in Kowloon.

The place is allegedly famous with local foodies, but also apparently has a reputation among visitors, as the menu was written in, of all languages, Thai:

We started with a few classic Hong Kong-style side dishes, such as kai lan with oyster sauce:

jellyfish salad with 1000 year-old eggs:

and lettuce with oyster sauce:

But the emphasis here is congee, made to order by a man in a small booth:

I ordered a bowl of fishball congee (shown at the top of this post), and like the bowls of the stuff I've encountered in Thailand, it was pleasantly bland, blandly pleasant, inoffensive stuff. I've never been a huge fan of congee, but can see why others like it, and by all standards, this was a pretty good bowl. I particularly liked the crispy deep-fried fingers of dough, which unlike other places, were still crispy.

Despite it not being the most delicious meal of my trip, I probably found it the most memorable, simply because it seemed representative of what people in Hong Kong really liked to eat, and didn't involve foam.

Nathan Congee and Noodle 11 Saigon Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong 2771 4285 7.30am-11.30pm

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Hong Kong and Macau

Chefs at work in the kitchen of the InterContinental Hong Kong's Chinese restaurant

I apologise for my silence -- I've spent the last several days in Hong Kong (my first time there) and Macau (my third) and have had no time to blog. I'll be posting on some of the more interesting things I saw and ate in these two places over the next few days.

Jay 2009

  I'm a bit late on relaying this, but Thailand's annual Jay or vegetarian festival is currently is full swing. I've made a couple trips to Bangkok's Chinatown, the centre of activity, and I can report with confidence that the offerings are as vegetable-free and oily as ever:

Although, at least as far as I'm aware, there have never been claims that the food sold during the vegetarian festival includes vegetables or is supposed to be healthy, I'm shocked at how overwhelmingly veggie-free and deep-fried, and how eerily meat-like the offerings are (is going without meat for 10 days really so difficult that it necessitates the invention of mock pork intestines?). A more accurate name for the event would be the Deep-Fried Fake Meat and Carbohydrate festival. I also find it fascinating that an event with apparent origins in sacrifice and asceticism has instead become an exercise in gluttonous indulgence. But I'd be a hypocrite to slag off anything with copious amounts of food as a central tenet, particularly when this is the only time of the year when I can get freshly-made khanom tub tap. This is a sweet made by pounding syrup and peanuts into a flaky shell (the process of which is pictured at the top of this post), which then is stretched and rolled around more ground peanuts -- the Asian version of a Butterfinger candy bar.

Enjoy the meat-free fun until Tuesday, October 29. But if it's veggies you're looking for, I'd suggest staying at home and fixing yourself a nice salad.

Pok Pok on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

More Thai food-related a/v content: Portland, Oregon restaurant Pok Pok was recently featured on the US television programme, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Some brilliant recipes to be had, and I love how it's raining every time they step outside. I miss Oregon...

"it just tastes bloody good"

Apparently the primary appeal of Thai food according to Australian chef David Thompson. My buddy Newley Purnell interviewed Thompson at Bangkok's recent World Gourmet Festival and put together this audio slideshow of the meeting for CNNGo Bangkok, a recently-launched website that I've also contributed to.

Phai Kiaw

  Phai Kiaw ('Green Bamboo') is, as far as I'm aware, the only place in Bangkok where one can get Sichuan-style hot pot. It's not as delicious as the huo guo I've encountered in China, but is a fair approximation, and a welcome change from MK or Coca (the preeminent Thai hot pot chains). The broth at Phai Khiaw is possibly even oilier and spicier than I remember it being in China, but Phai Khiaw's ingredients are on the whole probably better, and on my most recent visit (pictured above) we also ordered several other Chinese dishes and everything was quite tasty indeed.

At the end of the meal, and to our surprise, our buddy W pulled out a bottle of absinthe. We dug in, and Phai Khiaw's Burmese/Chinese staff didn't seem to notice, let alone mind, that we were in their restaurant burning sugar on suspicious-looking spoons:

It was my first time drinking the stuff, and the picture below, depicting the tuk tuk ride to our next destination, pretty much sums up the night:

Or was it the Sichuan pepper?

Phai Khiaw Ground floor, Silom Plaza (corner Th Silom & Th Narathiwat) 02 635 2724, 085 699 2277

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Piang Kee

Piang Kee is both the most noteworthy and quirkiest restaurant I've come across in Bangkok in a long while. For starters, the Chinatown-based restaurant specialises in Hakka Chinese dishes, a relative rarity here in Bangkok. The restaurant itself is unabashedly old-school, and the lovely middle-aged couple who have run the place for the last few decades are still incredibly enthusiastic about what they do. And to round it off, Piang Kee is both rather difficult to find and maintains inconvenient opening times, at least for those who would like to visit for dinner.

I had heard about the restaurant on a Thai television programme, and with a bit of help, was eventually able to track it down. The photos below constitute two separate visits to Piang Kee, the first with the clever food researcher who was kind enough to find the restaurant for me, and the second with Bo and Dylan of Bangkok buzz restaurant Bo.lan, and David and P'Tong from London's Michelin-starred Nahm:

On both visits we ordered the dishes shown at the top of this post, stuffed tofu served in a broth seasoned with khao maak, fermented rice, and 'drunken' chicken. The former is my favourite dish, mostly because of the broth, which is made salty and red from the addition of the fermented rice, an unusual ingredient used in several dishes here. The chicken is tender and silky and made fragrant and slightly tart by the addition of the rice wine.

Another house specialty is deep-fried stuffed tofu skins:

These are deliciously crispy, and like many dishes here, are filled with a mixture of minced pork and dried squid that has been dry roasted and minced. They're served, also like just about everything here, with a specific dipping sauce, in this case a syrupy plum sauce.

The house dipping sauce, on the other hand:

is a simple mixture of fresh chilies and salt that is left to ferment overnight. It's amazing stuff that's pleasantly spicy and sour, and the owners suggest it as a dipping sauce to the tofu and chicken dishes above.

Another dish associated with the restaurant is dumplings made from daikon and carrot and supplemented with dried shrimp:

The shrimp provide the dish with a briny taste and the thick soy sauce dip provides a sweet counterpoint, although in general I found the dumplings to be a bit gloopy and heavy.

A must-order dish is the pork belly served over preserved greens:

The meat has a subtle smokiness and is fall-apart tender, and I really enjoyed the slightly crispy re-hydrated spinach.

On one visit there was a dish of sliced pork belly:

a specific type of pork belly, according to the owner, and served chilled over bean sprouts with a tart/spicy dressing.

One of my favourite dishes at Piang Kee is goat braised in red sauce:

extremely meaty and rich, with a subtle herbal flavour. As is the case elsewhere in Chinatown, the dish is served with a thin dipping sauce based around dried galangal.

The couple do their own perfectly-seasoned fishballs, made from plaa kray, a type of freshwater fish:

and a very unusual stir-fry of lettuce and the ubiquitous khao maak:

Somebody ordered kaeng jeut, normally a predominately salty broth:

but in this case both salty, from pork and dried squid dumplings, and aggressively tart, from the used of dried plum.

And fermented rice was employed yet again in this stir-fry of thin rice noodles and pork:

A dish that was rather bland on its own, but wonderful when taken with a bit of the wonderful chili sauce.

The restaurant normally closes at 6pm, but if you want to have a slightly later dinner and can speak Thai (or Hakka), call ahead and I imagine you'll find that they're normally willing to accommodate.

Piang Kee Trok Wat Kuson Samakhon (off Th Ratchawong, across from Grand China Princess Hotel) 02 221 6024, 086 832 8849 11am-6pm

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Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: Fulvio Siccardi

Chef Fulvio Siccardi shaving truffles at the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival

Chef Fulvio Siccardi was born in Turin in the Piedmont area of north-western Italy in 1969.

Since 2004 he has been owner and Chef of Ristorante Conti Roero at Monticello d’Alba, where he received his second Michelin star. His dinner for the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival was classically Italian, combining simple but high-quality ingredients with an emphasis on the tastes and ingredients of the country's north.

Our starter combined peppery pastrami-like sheets of beef, crispy greens and a rich mustard sauce:

Chef Fulvio Siccardi's Lightly smoked marinated beef tenderloin with grain mustard and chives emulsion

all of which were (generously) supplemented by truffles, shaved just before service by the chef himself (shown at the top of this post).

Our second course, which Siccardi calls alternatively Egg in jail or Vertical egg, is the his signature meal, and was quite possibly my favourite single course of the entire festival:

Chef Fulvio Siccardi's Egg in jail

The full name of the dish is Egg with black truffle, scented Parmesan and milk sauce, and these ingredients are combined in a special kind of heat-resistant plastic bag and baked at approximately 450F for seven minutes. To eat, we untied our bags, added the crispy croutons:

Egg in jail

and using a spoon, scooped out every last bit. The eggs were rich and creamy, and had a wonderful Parmesan pungency that I can still recall clearly the next day.

This was followed by a very northern Italian gnocchi with a rich ragu:

Chef Fulvio Siccardi's Potato gnocchi with bra sausage and veal ragu

The next course we had previously encountered at the Gala Dinner, although this version was supplemented with chanterelle mushrooms:

Chef Fulvio Siccardi's Carmelized vinegar goose leg with Belgium endive and chanterelle mushroom

The chef explained that with this dish he's attempted to combine all off the basic flavours: bitter from the endive, sweet and sour from the carmelized vinegar sauce and meaty and salty via the mushrooms and goose. Siccardi told us that the goose leg was cooked for several hours confit-style, but to our surprise the meat had none of the crispiness or stickiness associated with this method of cooking, and could easily have passed as sous-vide.

Dessert was three variations on yet another northern Italian dish, panna cotta:

Chef Fulvio Siccardi's Panna cotta trilogy

the version on the left was a seriously impossibly light cream topped with a delicious salty caramel -- it was probably my favourite dessert course of the entire festival -- while the panna cotta in the centre was supplemented with hazelnuts in the traditional manner.

Fulvio will be hosting his final dinner at the Four Seasons Bangkok tonight, October 11. Some of the events are already sold out, so if you’re in Bangkok and interested, act fast. Call the Four Seasons at +66 (0) 2 126 8866, or email the hotel at wgf.bangkok@fourseasons.com.

Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: Gala Dinner

At the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival's Gala Dinner

Friday night was the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival's Gala Dinner.

Each of the chefs involved in the event prepared a dish for the occasion. Some, such as Chef Christine Manfield, served a variation on her dish served a few nights earlier:

Chef Christine Manfield's Woodbridge smoked ocean trout, tea smoked oysters, blood sausage, celeriac and apple salad

while others, such as foie gras king Michael Ginor, created a dish specifically for the event:

Michael Ginor's Citrus butter poached lobster with sea beans and potato cream

If the above doesn't already sound rich enough, Ginor's dish was then garnished with flakes of foie gras that had been cured in kelp:

Chef David Kinch providing a foie gras garnish at the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival's Gala Dinner

Behind the scenes, there was a surprising amount of cooperation between the chefs:

Inside the kitchen at the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival's Gala Dinner

such as American chef David Kinch helping Japanese chef Kazumi Sawada prepare the latter's deep-fried conger eel. There was also equally as much discipline, both in preparation and in service:

Dinner service at the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival's Gala Dinner

And the night ended with pastry chef Francois Payard's chocolate-centric creation:

Chef Francois Payard's Palet d'or with hot and cold chocolate

and several glasses of Yamazaki malt whisky from Japan.

Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: Behind the scenes

David Thompson and Ning Najpinij of Khao Cooking School preparing for Thompson's dinner at the Four Seasons Bangkok's World Gourmet Festival.

In addition to taking part in and blogging about this year's Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival, I also got the opportunity to put on the whites and spend a couple afternoons in the kitchen, lending a hand to prepare David Thompson's Thai meals.

This meant the unique opportunity to share a kitchen with chefs such as Thompson and Christine Manfield, not to mention the pleasure of working with the Four Season's talented and amazingly hospitable kitchen staff:

As I believe I run a risk of exaggerating my part in all of this, let me make it clear that my role was strictly that of kitchen slave (Thompson's term, not mine). My contribution was limited to such technically advanced tasks as arranging quail eggs on a platter, peeling grilled chilies and stirring very heavy pots:

A crappy iPhone pic of me, pitching in to make Thai sweets for David Thompson's dinner at the Four Seasons Bangkok's World Gourmet Festival

It was only on the second day that I was allowed to touch a knife (with it I clumsily and slowly scored several kilos of squid), but over the two days I was able to see how several dishes were made, taste heaps of interesting food and provide input on their taste, and generally see what goes on inside the kitchen of a high-level restaurant. It was a fun and revealing experience. I've worked in a few kitchens since I was a teenager, but it's been a very long time since those days, and I'd forgotten how physically difficult it can be to stand for hours on end, just how hot kitchens are, and the risk that fingers constantly face from lazy knife work, scalding hot liquids, searing chilies and the enduring odour of squid.

Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: Christine Manfield

I'll let you in on a little secret: Of the chefs assembled here for the Four Seasons Bangkok World Gourmet Festival, Chef Christine Manfield is easily the loveliest. And up to this point at least, I reckon that her dinner has been the tastiest. But more on that in a minute.

Manfield, a native of Australia whose current outpost is the Sydney restaurant Universal, is a longstanding proponent of drawing tastes and flavours from disparate cuisines. I spent a bit of time in her kitchen leading up to her dinner (more on that to come soon) and was blown away by the diversity of ingredients she was using. Some of her vegetables seemed most likely to be bound for David Thompson's Thai meal, while some of the spices she used made the kitchen smell as if we were in Tunis or Marrakesh.

Previous to Thursday night's dinner, I had the opportunity to chat with Manfield about Australian cuisine, writing, her eclectic palate and love of travel, excerpts of which are below:

AB: In talking with Australians, I often get the impression that Asian food is perceived as an essential part of what people today consider Australian Cuisine. Would you say that this is accurate? CM: Absolutely. Because there were so many Chinese miners in the past, every tinpot town in Australia has a Chinese restaurant. The food wasn't always good, but it's always been with us. The shift happened over the last 20 years, and was a result of immigration and the fact that so many Australians travel. We've become used to this diversity, and now are even starting to appreciate the regional differences in Asian food.

AB: Do you plan to incorporate any Thai flavours or ingredients while here in Bangkok? CM: Half of my repertoire stems from Thai food -- fish sauce is my salt. When I was in London, we used to get excellent Thai ingredients. In Australia it's more limited as we're on island and there are lots of restrictions. When I'm here I like to use palm sugar, it's like caramel. Som saa, which is like lime, orange and kaffir lime combined, is another I like to use. I like dishes that look simple, but at the same time, have highly refined flavours. You should be able to taste every flavour in a dish.

AB: Other than simply a source of inspiration for recipes, travel appears to play a central role in your life. CM: I spend half my year traveling. Last year I went on 14 overseas trips! I take my staff abroad and lead culinary tours. I think young people should be required to travel abroad.

AB: Cooking is often perceived as a physical, rather than an intellectual endeavour, yet you and fellow Australian chef David Thompson are known as much for your writing as your restaurants. Why write? CM: For me, a cookbook isn't just a list of recipes. I come from an intellectual background and for me, cooking is about feeding my brain. I have a huge cookbook library and encourage my staff to read.

Now to the meal. For those here in Thailand, I thought that it was no stretch to find similarities between Manfield's dishes and the native cuisine. As she mentions above, the flavours were generally strong, independent and crystal clear, and she also didn't seem afraid to employ a bit of spice and salt. The first course, Dry aged beef tataki, pomegranate and pickled beetroot, did a great job of setting the pace for the entire meal:

Chef Christine Manfield's Dry aged beef tataki, pomegranate and pickled beetroot

The slices of beef were rich and moreish, and contrasted with the acidic, fruity flavours of the pomegranate, starfruit, beetroot and citrus. The meaty and acidic elements were bound together by a slightly sweet/sour onion chutney. The result was a dish that, even if it had been the only dish of the night, would have left most of us feeling mighty satisfied.

This was followed by Woodbridge smoked sea trout, smoked eel and pomelo salad:

Chef Christine Manfield's Woodbridge smoked sea trout, smoked eel and pomelo salad

another dish that could have easily passed as a yam or Thai-style salad in its emphasis on crispy freshness and acidity. In fact, the combination of smoked fish and thin strips of green mango was eerily similar to ngnoam swei kchey trey cha, a Cambodian dish that also revolves around these two main ingredients.

The Spiced crab, ginger and coconut broth:

Chef Christine Manfield's Spiced crab, ginger and coconut broth

combined, among other things, mustard seed, coconut meat and curry leaves, the ingredients that define the dipping sauce that accompanies southern-Indian dosai.

The most substantial dish (Manfield is known for serving virtually carbohydrate-free meals), was Jasmine tea smoked duck breast:

Chef Christine Manfield's Jasmine tea smoked duck breast, grilled duck sausage, spiced eggplant and green bean sambal

The dish was served with slices of a duck sausage that I found nearly identical to a very, very good sai ua, a type of northern Thai sausage (this was confirmed by the table of Thais next to us). The green bean sambal (essentially a stir-fry) included morning glory, grilled eggplant and green peppercorns, and was pleasantly spicy and salty (too salty for the aforementioned table). Amazingly, each dish was fried to order.

The dessert, Raspberry ripple:

Chef Christine Manfield's Raspberry ripple

was delicious, and included the first ripe raspberries I've encountered in Asia in years, but seemed slightly out of place among the largely Asian-influenced flavours of the previous courses.

Christine will contributing to tonight's Gala Dinner, tickets for which are still apparently available. If you’re in Bangkok and interested, act fast. Call the Four Seasons Bangkok at +66 (0) 2 126 8866, or email the hotel at wgf.bangkok@fourseasons.com.

Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: David Kinch

Chef David Kinch's Tomato soup, barely cooked, with coriander ice

I was particularly excited about meeting David Kinch and trying his food. Chef friends here in Bangkok have long been relaying the buzz of his California restaurant, Manresa, and I've long been obsessed with the Spanish flavours and ingredients that partially inspire much of his food. Not to mention the fact that, a few years back, I spent a fun afternoon in Bangkok with David's longtime Thai partner, Pim, of Chez Pim fame.

Before attending Kinch's cooking demonstration, I spent a few minutes talking with the chef, and an excerpt from our conversation is below:

Chef David Kinch giving a cooking demonstration at the Four Seasons Bangkok's World Gourmet Festival

AB: In looking at what you do at Manresa, it appears that there's a huge emphasis on locality. With this in mind, is it even possible to recreate what you do at Manresa here in Bangkok? DK: Absolutely not. At Manresa we strive for a certain sense of place, which can't be done anywhere else. To take this out of the equation is a giant curve ball for us. We have to come to these events with more ambiguous menus. For instance, I'll say that I want to use fish in a dish rather than have a specific kind of fish in mind.

AB: So you haven't brought any ingredients over from your garden or Love Apple Farm [the California farm that supplies the vast majority of Manresa's produce]? DK: No, it's just not practical.

AB: Will you incorporating any Thai flavours or ingredients while here? DK: No, we're simply trying to provide a snapshot of our restaurant. I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable making Thai food here.

AB: Your influences appear to come largely from Spain and Japan, two disparate food cultures. Are there any similarities between these two cuisines? DK: I'd say that my influences are more generally European, but I'm still very much a Francophile at heart. Respect for the product and tradition are paramount in both places.

AB: Many of the chefs here, particularly the Australians, have published books. Do you have any book plans? DK: I'm working on a book about a couple of meals I cooked for a friend. He's a jazz musician and has composed songs for the meals, which will be sold as a CD along with the book.

AB: As a restaurateur, how do you feel about amateur media, such as blogs? DK: Everyone is allowed their opinion. But there are a lot of people blogging irresponsibly. People don't always get the facts right and sometimes misidentify dishes or ingredients. And there are a lot of bad photos. The photos people take are of our products, and when they look bad, this makes our product look bad.

For today's cooking demonstration, Kinch demonstrated three recipes: Slow roasted rack of lamb with exotic spices:

Chef David Kinch's Rack of lamb with exotic spices

Tomato soup, barely cooked, with coriander ice (pictured at the top of this post), and a combination of desserts he calls A taste of New Orleans:

Chef David Kinch's A taste of New Orleans

Both dishes pictured above will be featured in Kinch's dinner at the Four Seasons Bangkok on October 10th and 11th, but I thought I'd share his recipe for the tomato soup, as it's probably the easiest to recreate.

Tomato  soup, barely cooked, with coriander ice

Kinch explained that the most important element in making this dish is to slowly bring bring the tomato soup to a maximum temperature of 150F. This relatively low heat allows some of the tomatoes to become fully cooked while allowing other parts to remain essentially raw, resulting in a soup that has the best elements of both the cooked and raw fruit. Kinch also uses a hand-operated food mill to process the soup, which results in it having a slightly coarse texture. If you don't have access to a food mill, Kinch suggests using a Cuisinart or Robot Coup, but not a conventional blender, as this will result in a texture that is too fine.

For the coriander ice: 1 litre chilled water 120 g sugar 3 bunches coriander/cilantro 1 bunch mint

For the tomato soup: 4 lb ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped 1/2 cup olive oil 2 oz red wine vinegar (sherry or balsamic can also be used) 12 basil leaves 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped salt pinch of sugar

For the coriander ice: Make syrup with 200 ml of the water and chill. Chill the remaining water. Blend all ingredients in a blender and strain. Freeze and grate using a fork or a food mill.

For the tomato soup: Combine ingredients in a large saucepan and without using a lid, bring slowly to 150F. This should take approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Process in a food mill. Strain and refrigerate.

Serve chilled, garnished with coriander ice, a basil leaf, and if desired, pickled vegetables or fruits.

David will be hosting dinner at the Four Season Bangkok on October 10 & 11. Many of the events are already sold out, so if you’re in Bangkok and interested, act fast. Call the Four Seasons at +66 (0) 2 126 8866, or email the hotel at wgf.bangkok@fourseasons.com.

Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: Paola Carosella

Yesterday, Argentinean chef Paola Carosella, of São Paulo's Arturito, held a cooking demonstration as part of the Four Seasons Bangkok's World Gourmet Festival.

Carosella's love for the food of her native South America is palpable, and she showed us how to make three dishes, all based around relatively common ingredients and representative of South American flavours, including a very Argentinean roast beef with chimichurri, an orange-scented dulche de leche flan, and a deliciously tart Peruvian ceviche:

Paola Carosella's ceviche

Carosella spent a year traveling and eating in Peru, and explained that her ceviche recipe is the result of this experience and is a classic version of the dish. She explained that ceviche can be made with whatever seafood is available, shrimp, octopus or even sea urchin, with the caveat being that it must be very fresh. She combines her ceviche with a small amount of leche de tigre, literally "tiger's milk," a blended ceviche that, in Peru, is typically served in shot glasses, sometimes supplemented with pisco, a type of local grappa. Carosella added that in Peru, ceviche is also often served with some sort of crispy side dish, in this case, sweet potatoes fried until golden.

Paola Carosella's Ceviche

For the avocado cream: 2 fresh avocados 1 lime sea salt

For the sweet potatoes: 1 kg sweet potatoes vegetable oil

For the leche de tigre: 100g white fish 200ml water sea salt 15 g fresh chilies 50 g white onion 2 garlic cloves lime juice

For the ceviche: 1 kg extremely fresh white fish 1 kg limes 1 kg red onions 100 g sea salt 200 g fresh chilies 200 g fresh cilantro/coriander 100 g garlic

For the avocado cream Put the avocados in a blender along with juice of one lime and a pinch of salt. Puree and keep refrigerated.

For the sweet potatoes Boil the sweet potatoes skin-on in salted water until tender. Allow to cool, cut into slices and fry until golden and crispy. Keep warm.

For the leche de tigre Combine all ingredients in a blender for a few minutes. Strain and keep refrigerated.

For the ceviche Peel and cut onions into very thin slices. Clean and separate cilantro/coriander leaves and chop. Cut fish into thin slices or cubes. In a glass bowl, season fish with sea salt and the juice of the limes, add the leche de tigre, chilies, onion and cilantro/coriander. Mix well and keep refrigerated until serving.

To serve, spoon a little of the avocado cream in each plate. Put a slice of sweet potato on the side and add ceviche and juices. Serve immediately.

Paola will be hosting dinner at the Four Seasons Bangkok tonight and tomorrow, October 7 & 8. Many of the events are already sold out, so if you’re in Bangkok and interested, act fast. Call the Four Seasons at +66 (0) 2 126 8866, or email the hotel at wgf.bangkok@fourseasons.com.

Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: David Thompson

Prawns with shredded herbs/Nahm yaa sai gung sap

I'm always excited when David Thompson is in town. I first met him several years ago when he hosted a dinner at the Metropolitan Bangkok, and we've stayed in touch since then, having had quite a few food-based adventures together in Thailand. Although David is often associated with his London restaurant, Nahm, the only Thai restaurant to have received Michelin stardom, he's also established himself as an author. His second book, Thai Food, is widely considered the most authoritative English-language book on the topic, and his third book, Thai Street Food, has just been printed and will soon be available in Australia (the rest of the world has to wait until next October). And fans of Thompson's cooking who live here in Bangkok have something else to be excited about: the chef has recently agreed to open a branch of Nahm at the Metropolitan Bangkok, to be open sometime next year.

Yesterday, as part of the Four Seasons Bangkok's World Gourmet Festival, Thompson demonstrated three different recipes featuring khanom jeen, what he reckons is the only type of noodle native to Southeast Asia.

David Thompson and Bangkok-based blogger, Newley Purnell

The recipe below, which Thompson suspects has its origins in the 1950s, requires relatively few exotic ingredients and is, according to him, more accessible to an audience outside of Thailand.

Prawns with shredded herbs/Nahm yaa sai gung sap

500 g medium small prawns 1 cup coconut cream a few tablespoons stock or water pinch of salt 1 – 2 tablespoons fish sauce pinch palm sugar 2 tablespoons sliced red shallots 1 heaped tablespoon sliced Thai garlic 2 tablespoons sliced lemongrass ½ teaspoon sliced galangal 4 tablespoons shredded grachai (a root also known as Chinese key) several sliced scuds – optional a little additional fish sauce – to taste 3 – 4 shredded kaffir lime leaves additional ½ cup coconut cream

Peel the prawns. Carefully de-vein. They should now weigh about 250 g. Scrape out any tomalley – there should be about 3 tablespoons.

Bring the coconut cream to the boil with the salt. Add the tomalley and simmer for a minute or two. Season the sauce with the fish sauce and palm sugar. Add the prawns and when just cooked, add the chopped prawns and the sliced ingredients and simmer for a moment:

Finish with the additional coconut cream, the fish sauce if needed. Stir in most of the kaffir lime leaves. Serve sprinkled with the remaining kaffir lime leaves. It should taste rich and creamy, aromatic and just a little salty and hot.

Serve accompanied by

* khanom jin (fresh rice noodles) * lemon basil * white turmeric * sliced cucumbers * trimmed bean sprouts

David will be hosting dinner at the Four Seasons Bangkok tonight and tomorrow, October 6 & 7, and on the morning of the 7th, will be leading a market tour. Some of the events are already sold out, so if you’re in Bangkok and interested, act fast. Call the hotel at +66 (0) 2 126 8866, or email the hotel at wgf.bangkok@fourseasons.com.

Four Seasons Bangkok WGF10: Graham Elliot Bowles

Last night was the first dinner of the Four Seasons Bangkok's World Gourmet Festival!

Our chef host was Graham Elliot Bowles, of Chicago's graham elliot. I'd read that Bowles's food is strongly influenced by American cuisine, apparently stemming from his youth as ‘Navy Brat,’ having lived (and eaten) from the Philippines to Hawaii, California to Maryland.

Deconstructed Caesar salad: baby romaine, white anchovy, Parmesan fluff, brioche Twinkie

I found this to be true, and to my enjoyment virtually ever dish was evocative of the tastes, flavours and ingredients I'd grown up with as a kid in the US. The strongest example of this, for me at least, was Bowles's Sweet corn bisque:

Sweet corn bisque with garlic marshmallow, pepper jam, Corn Nuts and lime crema

which, when poured, smelled exactly like the very American creamed corn, a soup I haven't encountered in a very long time. The garlic marshmallow was sweeter than I expected it to be, but this was countered by the subtle spiciness of the pepper jam. And I think this was the first time in perhaps 20 years I've consumed Corn Nuts.

The Barbecued pork belly:

Barbecued pork belly with cole slaw, potato salad, fried pickles, root beer

was similarly evocative, combining all the best elements of a southern American-style barbecue (another thing I haven't eaten in ages): cole slaw, potato salad and tender pork. The root beer sauce, although unusual, was comfortingly ketchup-like and delicious.

Bowles's dessert, Movie theater extravaganza:

Movie Theatre Extravaganza: popcorn gelato, Malt Balls, Twizzler puree, Cracker Jack

was heaps of fun, and included even more ingredients I haven't encountered since my childhood. The popcorn gelato was deliciously buttery and savoury, and although I'd almost certainly never even consider eating Twizzlers as an adult, the flavour was a perfect sweet/sour counterpoint. The Malt Balls and Cracker Jack provided a satisfying crunch.

The meal was accompanied by several Kendall-Jackson wines, of which our entire table really enjoyed the Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2006, and I couldn't stop sniffing the Grand Reserve Merlot 2005 (it tasted lovely too).

Graham will be hosting dinner again tonight, October 6. Some of the events are already sold out, so if you’re in Bangkok and interested, act fast. Call the Four Seasons at +66 (0) 2 126 8866, or email the hotel at wgf.bangkok@fourseasons.com.

Bangkok, October 4, 2009

  It's been a long time since I've posted something on this half of the blog, mostly because I haven't been taking too many pics lately. Other than the occasional photography assignment, I've predominately been working on guidebooks and other writing projects. It was during this photographic drought that I mentioned to a friend that I'd always wanted to check out a look thung concert, roughly equivalent to Thai-style country music. I got the hook-up (thanks, Angie!), and this afternoon I found myself at Suan Lum Night Bazaar, taking pics from the audience as well as backstage. I've previously posted photos of other Thai performances, from ngiw to likay, previously, and it's a topic I'd like to pursue, so stay tuned for more in the future.

Aidilfitri in Kota Bharu

As mentioned previously, my plan was to spend a few days in Kota Bharu, one of Malaysia's more staunchly Muslim cities, during Ramadan. I was looking forward to the holiday atmosphere, not to mention some extreme holiday eating at markets like the one I'd encountered in Pattani. Paradoxically, this wasn't to be the case, as because of Ramadan, all shops and restaurants were closed and most of Kota Bharu's residents seemed to be elsewhere.

There also appeared to be no equivalent of a special Ramadan post-fast market in Kota Bharu, although the town's evening market was particularly buzzing. Most dishes sold at the market were served to go:

typically bundled up in sheets of brown waxed paper. But if you wanted to eat at the market it was possible to take your bundle to a stall selling drinks, order a drink, and eat there.

These fish were coated in a curry paste-like marinade and pan-grilled on banana leaves:

There was heaps of grilled food:

particularly chicken:

but I really enjoyed the curry stalls (pictured at the top of this post), which served rich, meaty curries over rice, as well as nasi kerabu, the local equivalent of khao yam, blue rice topped with sliced fresh herbs and other toppings.

The sweets were also impressive, both in terms of quantity:

and variety:

On the eve of Aidilfitri, the last day of Ramadan, I waited in a very long and competitive line for two bundles of rice and took them to a drink stall. Most diners had already bought their meals, staked out a table, and were patiently waiting for the moment when they could eat again. Finally, just after 7pm, prayers were broadcast from the mosques in the area and after a month of daily fasting, Ramadan was over and people dug in:

Kota Bharu's Central Market

Since I was already in far southern Thailand, I decided to cross the border and spend a few days in Malaysia. Specifically, I wanted to spend some time in Kota Bharu, apparently one of Malaysia's more traditionally Muslim areas, during Ramadan. I was hoping to soak up some of the holiday atmosphere, eat some good Malaysian food and to hit up more post-fasting markets. I also wanted to check out Pasar Siti Khadijah, Kota Bharu Malaysia's famous Central Market, which I had read about previously here.

Well, things didn't go exactly as planned. Kota Bharu was practically comatose during Ramadan. The streets were eerily empty and all shops were closed. Thankfully the evening market was functioning, which I'll blog about soon, but virtually no restaurants, other than a mediocre Chinese noodle place, were open. In the end, I was able to hit up Kota Bharu's striking indoor market one day (it was closed the next for Aidilfitri), although the results are only marginally food-related, and more an excuse to show off my cool glass: