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Article |
Nation |
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The nation 146 |
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Scala Sharkfin Chinatown Restaurant
and New Guang Meng Restaurant |
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In late March I received a telephone
call from my good friend, Khun Visit
in Chinatown, otherwise known as
Yawaraj in Thai. He invited me to
help him take the New US Ambassador,
Ralph Boyce on an eating tour of
Yawaraj.
Of course I jumped at the
opportunity and we met up with the
Ambassador in the early evening. I
had met Ralph Boyce four or five years
earlier at a function presided by
H.R.H. Princess Mahachakri Sirinthorn
when she first visited Chinatown and
did her walk-about.
Ralph Boyce is fluent in Thai. He can
also read Thai and I am surprised that
his command of the Thai language is
much better than some Thais like me.
Although, he does not know much of
Thai slang used of my generation he
does very well from what he has
acquired. Ambassador Boyce arrived
accompanied by his good friend Ajarn
Sathit who has known him for a long
time.
We parked our cars at the
Thien Fah Foundation where there is a
hospital and a shrine for all the
Chinese Gods. This was the first
Foundation created in Chinatown to
help all the Chinese community in
Chinatown. They practice both
traditional Chinese medicine and
Western medicine. Patients pay what
they can to be treated, the Foundation
pays the rest. |
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We all walked down the street
chatting and made way to our
first destination, Scala
Chinatown Sharkfins. They had
prepared for each of us a hot
pot of sharkfins soup. I
attempted to rib the
Ambassador that he should not
be eating sharkfins because it
was not politically correct.
He diplomatically
replied that if it was he who
was paying for this meal he
would not have ordered the
soup and when he was in
Jakarta, it was forbidden for
American diplomats to order
sharkfins at Chinese
restaurant. Since he was a
guest it would be impolite to
refuse to eat this great
delicacy.
And eat all of it
he did. He seemed to know
what you should season the
soup with. The soup was
indeed delicious. Scala
Chinatown Sharkfins Restaurant
has been with us for a very
long time since their fathers
generation. Strangely enough,
they buy their sharkfins from
Canada and Mexico. They have
to buy the whole shark and
sell off the meat and kept
only the fins. The shark meat
is used to make amongst other
things imitation scallops and
animal feed |
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We also tasted their
famous shrimp rolls.
Fresh shrimp is chopped
up; pork fat is added to
it with salt and white
pepper and sometimes
sesame oil. Everything is
mixed together and wrapped
in edible paper and fried
in medium heat without
giving the shrimp roll too
much color.
It is served with
plum sauce, delicious!
From there we continued
down the road to another
restaurant, New Guang Meng.
This restaurant has been
with us since my fathers
early youth. They
specialized in Chiew Chow
(Taejiew) cuisine. WE
wanted the Ambassador to
try the Chinese version of
sashimi which is called
Hue Sae. Raw fish is
sliced thin and arranged
on a plate sprinkled over
the top with sesame
seeds. It is eaten with a
sauce which is sweet.
The sauce has
peanuts and chili paste in
it. To eat it you have to
dip the raw fish into this
sweet sauce and eat the
fish with accompanying
vegetables which consisted
of sliced star fruit,
Chinese pickled daicon,
Chinese celery, cucumbers
and many other greens. It
tastes quite unusual but
definitely not fishy.
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Ralph
Boyce dove into the food
like an old pro. WE had
suckling pig which was
truly delicious because
it was not greasy and
the pork skin was very
thin and very crispy
with a hint charcoal
that is used to roast
the pig. It did not
come to me as a surprise
that the Ambassador was
very much at home with
the food we were eating.
In our conversation during
the meal he asked
questions about the food
and some nuances of the
Thai language. Then he
would write all the new
information down on a
card that he carried in
his shirt pocket. We
ate pickled squid
stir-fried with celery,
a dish that is my
favorite at this
restaurant. There were
many other dishes that
we tasted but I am
running out of space to
write.
It is suffice to say that
I had a very enjoyable
evening walking around
eating with Ralph Boyce
who had very little
security fallowing him.
He was relaxed,
personable and for me
had a great sense of
humor. In some ways he
seemed more Asian than I
am. |
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Scala Sharkfin
Chinatown Restaurant
438-5 Yawaraj Road,
Chalermburi
Intersection
Bangkok 10100
Telephone#
0-2623-0183-7
0-2221-1713 |
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Taste
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Hygiene
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Qality of raw
materials
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New Guang Meng
Restaurant
4-8 Padsai Road,
Bangkok
Tel.# 0-2224-2201
0-2224-2170 |
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Taste
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Hygiene
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Qality of raw
materials
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