Showing 161 - 170 of 269
Watching the chef at work
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 07/12/2014
» Here in Bangkok there is a small restaurant — there is just one long table with seating for 12 — where the prices are well into the high-end range. There are just enough seats to accommodate an executive group. The layout is unusual, with a spacious kitchen in the same space as the dining area, so customers can view a cooking system that is orderly, clean and modern. The decor and lighting are attractively contemporary.
A small place with big heart
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 30/11/2014
» Photharam in Ratchaburi province is a small district that might seem unremarkable at first. It has nothing to draw tourists, is not important economically, boasts nothing flashily contemporary, is innocent of hotels and, in short, has nothing to attract the eye or make you take a second look. But if you stay there for a while and look at things slowly and carefully you will be fascinated by Photharam. There are intriguing things to be found beneath its modest surface.
Run through the jungle
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 23/11/2014
» Many people think that foods in the ahaan paa (forest or jungle food) category get that name because they are made using ingredients brought in from the wild. This is partly true: they may contain meats that people ordinarily do not eat, but they share other qualities, too. They are easy to prepare with no hard-and-fast recipes, and are often extremely spicy. Many are kap klaem dishes intended to be eaten together with alcoholic drinks.
Disobey our robotic food overlord
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 02/11/2014
» Thai food, in all of its plenitude and variety, has spread smooth as silk to every corner of the globe. But now it has come under scrutiny by a government unit that has created a device to define strict standards for recipes.
'Yam' that makes you go 'yum'
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 26/10/2014
» Thailand's cuisine spans many kinds of dishes, among them kaeng (curries and soups), boiled and steamed dishes, stir-fries, deep-fried dishes and more. Some go together well to form pairs. Kaeng khio waan (a spicy, coconut cream-based curry) with phat phak khana kap pla khem (Chinese broccoli stir-fried with salted fish), kaeng som phak boong kap khai jio (a sweet-sour-spicy, soup-like curry together with omelette), kaeng pa pla sai (a very spicy fish curry made without coconut cream) with pla chon daed dio thawt (deep-fried semi-dried snakehead fish), kaeng lueang pla kraphong (a fiery Southern variant of kaeng som made with sea bass) with moo waan (sugar-sweetened pork), and kaeng lieng nam tao (a vegetable soup containing gourds) with dried mussels fried with sugar and nam pla to make them sweet and salty, are just a few from an endless list of Thai dishes that pair up nicely.
A foreign but not forbidden fruit
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 19/10/2014
» When we hear someone mention khanom farang (a muffin-like sweet), man farang (potato), maak farang (chewing gum) and trae farang (natural trumpet), we know that the word farang means the item in question was a Western import into Thai culture. But the word farang itself has two meanings. One is the name of a fruit — the guava — that was introduced by Westerners, and the other refers to Caucasian foreigners.
The old ways of making rice nice
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 05/10/2014
» Everything evolves and changes. Even cooking rice evolves in ways to keep it tasty and appealing. Nowadays we have electric rice cookers and microwave ovens. All you have to do is push a button and let the electricity do the work. You don't need any special skill or technique. But before we reached this point, the situation was more complicated.
Look north
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 28/09/2014
» If someone mentioned that they were planning a trip to Thi Lo Su waterfall in the Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary or Amphoe Mae Sot in Tak province, there would be nothing very surprising about it.
All fished out
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 31/08/2014
» In Thailand, pla jaramed (pomfret), a saltwater fish, and pla nuea awn (sheatfish), which lives in freshwater, are the reigning queens of the fish market. They grab the eye of anyone scanning a fishmonger's stand, and immediately set the imagination to work devising menus of dishes that would bring out the succulent best in them.
Hedgerow foraging
B Magazine, Suthon Sukphisit, Published on 24/08/2014
» God sends us the rainy season, and if it causes certain problems it also comes bearing gifts. Among them are some ordinary wild herbs such as tamlueng, yawt krathin and yawt cha-ome, three plants that Thai cooks can turn into some wonderful dishes.