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Article |
Nation |
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The nation 149 |
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Marnee Thai San Francisco |
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I have just returned from USA working
for the Thai foreign Ministry for the
second time. I was on a lecture, demo
and workshop on Thai cuisine project
where I go to well known chef schools
to teach chef instructors about Thai
cuisine. On this trip I went to two
institutions. The first was at CSCA or
Culinary Schools of Southern
California in Pasadena and The
Culinary Institute of America at
Greystone in the Napa Valley, near San
Francisco.
The latter is the West Coast branch of
my old school CIA in Hyde Park, New
York. While I was at Greystone I met a
Thai chef and restaurant owner who
came to assist me as well as
participated in the filming of the
food demonstration. Chef Chai Siriyarn
is quite well known for his cuisine at
his two restaurants in San Francisco.
An unassuming man with great talent,
his restaurant has been awarded the
prestigious Zagat award. A highly
priced award much like the Guide
Michelin in France or Shell Chuan Chim
in Thailand. |
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It is my opinion that it is
futile for the Thai Government
to spend so much money to give
out Thai Select Award to Thai
restaurants abroad because
this means nothing to all
those farangs who will be
eating at these Thai
restaurants. The objectives of
Thailand kitchen of the world
as I understand it are
basically three folds; first,
to increase the number of Thai
restaurants all over the
world. Second, as the number
of Thai restaurants increases,
export of Thai products will
increase. Thirdly to increase
the awareness and popularity
of Thai cuisine all over the
world, which in turns will
translate into more export for
our products.
My role is in
the third objective. The
ability to cook Thai should
not be the exclusive right of
Thais if we really want to
export more Thai products and
see Thai food being cooked
more in farang homes. Thai
restaurants abroad are there
to offer a taste of Thailand
to patrons that are
predominantly non-Thais. There
are two types of Thai
restaurants. The traditional
Mon and Pop operation which
serves traditional original
Thai cuisine and the more
upscale Thai fusion
restaurants like Chef Ian
Chalermkitichai’ s restaurant
“Kittichai” in New York. If
our objective is to promote
export of Thai raw materials,
then we should not limit
ourselves to the narrow
definition of Thai cuisine and
who should be cooking it.
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We should rather
recognize it for what they
are, traditional and
original Thai cuisine or
fusion/re-designed Thai
cuisine which still uses
that traditional Thai
ingredients but uses
western cooking processes
and presentation ideas.
Chef Chai’s food at his
restaurants is
traditional.
Zagat
recognized it as such and
Chef Chai still maintains
the standard of taste that
is true Thai taste. His
menu consisted of
traditional Thai dishes
like Por Pia Tod or fried
spring rolls that were
crispy and fragrant with
your traditional sweet and
sour dipping sauce. The
chicken satay was very
tender and perfectly
seasoned. |
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His Mee Krob reminded me
of those that I use to
have when I was in
Sukhothai Palace in my
youth. It was crispy and
candy like with the scent
of orange peel which in
Thai original recipe uses
Som Sah (Chinese Orange)
but here Chef Chai uses
the zest of Sunkist orange!
I use to eat the Mee Krob
with Green Curry but was
too Graeng Jai to ask.
Another remarkable dish
was Tod Mun Kao Poad, (corn
fritters) served with
cucumber salsa.
These were
crispy on the out side and
sweet and tender on the
inside. We ate so much
food that day; some of the
more memorable dishes were
Pad Thai with Glass
noodles, Prik Khing shrimp
and long beans. Then Chef
Chai came out with his
piece de resistance which
is not usually on the menu,
Dungeness crabs done two
ways, with garlic and
black peppers and in a
curry sauce. |
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These were crispy on the
out side and sweet and
tender on the inside. We
ate so much food that day;
some of the more memorable
dishes were Pad Thai with
Glass noodles, Prik Khing
shrimp and long beans.
Then Chef Chai came out
with his piece de
resistance which is not
usually on the menu,
Dungeness crabs done two
ways, with garlic and
black peppers and in a
curry sauce.
This time I had to get my
hands really dirty to
really enjoy these two
dishes. Chef Chai has two
restaurants in San
Francisco of the same name,
both are traditional Thai
cuisine restaurants and
Chef Chai makes all the
sauces himself. I hope to
be able to go back to USA
again soon to try more of
Chef Chai’s cuisine. |
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2225 Irving Street,
San Francisco, CA
94122
Tel: 415 665 9500
2nd Branch
1243 9th Avenue,
San Francisco, CA
94122 |
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Taste
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Hygiene
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Qality of raw
materials
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Price
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Service
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