'WONG LO GUT'

The spice and the chilis will get to you after a few days on a Thai diet, initially at the top end ie your throat, then the stomach, and eventually to the bottom end .... I reminded myself constantly of this threat and tried to manage it from day one. Being 'in-market' for 3-weeks now I managed to stay clear of even the slightest signs of any problems. How? It is a 3-prong approach (1) I drink lots, I mean lots of water like 3+ litres during the course of the day, and at night, when I am home (2) I load myself, daily, with delicious Thai papaya, water melon & pineapples at the ridiculous cost of Baht 2o a day (3) I help myself to one of these 'leung cha' from a Chinese medicine shop for, yes, Baht 2o again, almost daily. They come in different tastes, the one I like most is 'wong lo gut' at the far right which is extremely bitter, with no sugar. The Chinese saying here ' ... bitter medicine is better medicine ...." I can feel its combative spirit all the way down my throat, as the chilies raise the white flag. One more week to go, and I am home free. Touch wood!

BANGKOK STAPLE

I lost 12 pounds when I was at LCB. I nibbled all day while cooking but I did not eat much in the evenings since I was far away from meaningful food, and I was tired by the time I get home. I was hoping to do the same in Bangkok but that obviously does not work. I am too close to food, worst yet, food I love. Take a look at this bowl of mixed noodles ... 3 kinds of fish & meat balls, minced pork, pea sprouts, coriander, cracklings .... all you do is add white pepper, dry chili, sesame, fresh chili rings in tri-color and dig in!

I am not doing it on purpose but I have developed a habit of small meals here. You read about my breakfast in a previous blog, my lunch is at the school and always with rice or noodles, my dinner a simple fresh vegetable salad Thai style or a bowl like this one or variations of the theme. I should lose weight but I have not, why, street food! They are omni-present, much too tempting and I cannot resist sampling them. What killed me was Dora's visit, we ate very well, and we ate lots. I call this living it up ....

THANON SATHON

Today is sunny and breezy, it is a public holiday, and it is a perfect day for a walk. Equipped with my trusted Canon G9, a Cohiba, a hat, and a face cloth to wipe off the sweat I did a 3-hour loop around Sathon & Silom. Sathon is more a business district with brand new office towers, interspersed with embassies including the Holy See aka Vatican. The Catholic Church obviously owns a huge piece of real estate on Sathon as I walked past the St Louis Church, the St Louis Hospital & the St Louis Suksa School. Health Land, the spa we used to go for traditional Thai massage is also on Sathon, so is the Double A Book Tower. Of course the renowed Blue Elephant Restaurant is on Sathon, too, next to the Surasak Station. If you follow the BTS SkyTrain track you will eventually reach Saphan Taksin Station, and the public pier on the Chao Praya River. Turn right before you reach the station you will hit a busy section of Charoen Krung, with tiny shops that offer all sorts of goodies. At the end of this section make a right you will be back on the starting point of Silom, with the Shangri-la and the Oriental on your right, by the river. Silom used to be Bangkok's '5th Avenue' some years ago, in the 80s. It has a new face now, very neat, very dressed up, very up-market, presumably catering to high end 'farangs'. While the old Narai still stands the monstrous Sofitel, the elegant Hermitage have taken away her limelight. Life goes on ....

DON WAI MARKET

Today the 'farangs' in the group ie Misako from Tokyo, Oddam from Paris and yours truly were given a special treat, a visit to the Don Wai Market in the suburbs of Bangkok. Easily accessible by expressway the market is about 45-minutes from the city, located on the expansive grounds of Wat Don Wai, along a scenic river. The serenity today will turn into a tourist trap this weekend, when the country celebrates the birthday of her beloved King Rama V, the chief architect who modernized Thailand.

Don Wai is more a food market than a market-market as almost everything on display is edible. The selling points are; freshness, uninflated prices but what the locals love is they can still buy items made in the traditional way that one may not be able to find in the city. To me on top of this list, without question, is the broad smiles and unmistaken friendliness. Take your time if you wish to take pictures, they would either stop what they are doing and wait, or even pose .... like this charmer of a hawker whom I bought some 'classic Thai savory snacks' from. We had lunch at a river side restaurant (they all offer the best view) in a simple meal of 'Phed Palor' and rice, with 'kuk fa cha'. We shared a whole duck, 'phed', and 'palor' describes the way it is cooked, in soya sauce & star anise. It is not goose, but it tastes better than goose. With a light breeze, the blue sky, and a baby swinging in his rocker next to us .... Bangkok chic is redefined.

Back at the ranch everyone was hard at yet another carving lesson!

BTW it is a working Sunday for me, to make up for truancy when Dora was here last week.

FOOD COURT @ EMPORIUM

I do not know when and where this Food Court idea started but whoever created the first one should be awarded a medal. Asia has taken the concept to dizzying heights and every major city has its pride and joy. In the past 2 weeks I did a quick survey of the most patronized food courts or food plazas ie the ones with the most traffic and my #1 vote goes to The Emporium. My selection criteria are :

AMBIENCE : airy, well lit, contemporary, stylish
NOISE LEVEL : surprisingly quiet & calm, unlike MBK or Siam Parragon
NOSE TEST : one does not get overwhelmed by competitive food smells
SELECTION : a complete list of the usual suspects
PRICE : one pays 10-15% more but without question the quality justifies it
SERVICE : smiles all around, indeed a 'Smiling Food Court'

My favorite is the Braised Pork Knuckles .... I believe it the the 3rd stall on your left as you enter the Food Court. Order a whole plate at Baht 110 which you should be able to finish, with rice. The taste is unqiue. Still hungry? Go to the 1st stall on your right for a bowl of Beef Ball & Sliced Beef Soup with or without the 'sa ho fan' or flat noodles, for Baht 50. The best deal here is you help yourself to as much pea sprouts or Thai basil as you like. Together with the knuckles I guarantee you will walk away satisfied, and happy.

The Food Court is located on the 5th floor of The Emporium Department Store, and not the mall side of the building. Take the BTS Sukhumvit Line and get off at Phrom Phong, and The Emporium is linked to the station. It is 4 stations or about 15-minutes away from Chit Lom, the center of town, a quick ride.

KOONG-PAD-PONG-KA-REE

More appetizers yesterday, except one main course, a classic ... Fried Prawns in Curry Powder. This recipe can in fact be used for crabs as well, as it looks and tastes almost exactlly like Singapore Chilli Crab. 3 things are key to this dish ... (1) quick dip ie not more than 1 minute, in very hot oil to pre-cook (2) whisk an egg with non-sweet condensed milk to form part of the sauce and (3) add 'moo-sap' or minced pork to finish. For a dish with such a beautiful flavor it is surprisingly simple to make.

The appetizers yesterday were;

MOO SATAY : Grilled Satay with Peanut Sauce
KA NOM PANG NA MOO : Deep Fried Bread with Pork Topping
POR PIE TOD : Spring Rolls
THONG TONG (MONEY BAG) : Deep Fried Wrapped Flour Sheets with Shrimp & Pork
NAM KHING : Ginger Juice

Essentially Chinese 'dim-sum' items these Thai appetizers carry their own characteristics which are in the seasoning, usually more spicy, chilli hot and secondly, in the quintessential dipping sauce which is a rich example of how sweet, sour & salty tastes are balanced.

BACK TO STREET FOOD

If you like 'Char Siu Fan' this is the Bangkok challenge ... 'Pad Kra Prao Moo'. Litearlly it means rice cooked with holy basil and pork. It can also be chicken, or minced pork, but the picture shows the crispy pork version, topped with an agg, 'khai', making it a great lunch treat.

My classmates found this tiny family restaurant in one of the alleys inside the wet market, across the street from Wandee. An old lady was at the wok, as dishes after dishes were produced for a full house of 20+. The sauce on the rice, mixed with the runny egg, was seductive. The pork rind was crunchy but unlike its Chinese counterpart it was sweet, tasted like caramalized honey, and very good.

All was well until .... 2 rats showed up, one literally pranced over our feet under the table. I was 'surprised' and choked a bit on my next mouthful but since the women at our group did not show emotions, I acted like I grew up with it too. I had to, for face reasons, the Chinese in me surrendered. These must be house friendly little animals, they behaved like they know their way around, like Kaya roaming at home. Who knows, they might even be pet rats, but who cares, when you have a plate of 'Pad Kra Prao Moo & Khai' to finish!

PRATUNAM CHICKEN RICE

If you ask 10 Bangkok residents where they go for chicken rice you will get at least 10 if not 12 answers. It is like asking for Wanton Noodles in Hong Kong, Ramen in Tokyo, Pak-Gu-Teh in Kuala Lumpur or Hot Dogs in NYC. When it comes to palates and tastes it is personal, very personal in fact because other considerations outside of the specific food itself will come in.

'Kow Mon Kai' or 'Chicken Rice' on Ptetchaburi, however, seems to get a lot of nods so I made the pilgrimage. It is not difficult to find. Start from the Erawan Buddha, walk along Ratchaprarop with the Gaysorn Mall on your right, when you reach the first major intersection, with Phetchaburi, you should see the Pratunam Center dead ahead, make a right, look for the Phetchaburi 30 road sign .... bingo, the stall is right beneath it.

You cannot miss it, there is an army of service staff in uniform and caps. The man with the back to the camera is without any question the 'Boss' who locates himself at the center of traffic. He takes the orders, hands out the appropriate plates, watches over the server on QC, and every Baht collected is handed to him, which he checks and puts into a box. A classic Chinese proprietor at work, a familiar scene here in Bangkok if you peer into Chinese owned stores, especially in Chinatown. Invariably you will see someone wearing that same hat, regardless of the business they are in. Tradition wins here, I guess.

BTW my father told me when I was a teenager the success of Yung Kee back in the 60's had a lot to do with the way the boss ... the late Mr Kam Senior ... cut a goose. 'He is the only one in town who can get 12 plates of roast goose rice from a single goose, and make every order look ample' Dad said. Wise words on an even wiser chef, a businessman who used his head. Why is the Boss sitting opposite the server and watching her like a hawk, there you have it.

A plate of chicken rice with nice liver and giblets, plus a geneorus bowl of chicken & melon soup is Baht 30 or HK$7.5 ..... Forgive me while it was a wonderful experience and gratifying food I must admit I could not differentiate.

A young Thai couple we met over the weekend told us this place has been around for 50 years, at the same spot. It opens as late as 5pm but will stay open until 3-4am, catering to the after hours crowd, like Tsui Wah near LanKwaiFong. This means 'Pratunam Chicken' has witnessed the maturing of 2 generations of party goers, Thais at our age, and their kids who are grown-ups now. Isn't is heart warming? May the tradition go on for many more generations and please, Boss, do not ever change the system that works.

HAPPY CAMPER

Dora spent a long weekend here and we had a wonderful 3-days exploring the city, interspaced with some serious meals at both end of the price spectrum. Sorry .... I stand corrected, it should be 3-days inspecting all possible shopping outlets, sans MBK & Tokyu next to it, which she deems 'not relevant'. Years ago the Central Department Store was at the helm, before Siam Center came along, both are in the Chit Lom & Siam Central district. Next comes the Emporium further down the Sukhumvit Line, and now everyone kneels before Siam Parragon which defines what a super-mall should be, anywhere in the world.

For years my better half has been in love with the Louis Feraud brand (no idea where it comes from) with the original store at the Dusit Thani, in the days when she ruled the 5-star hotel scene many moons ago. Surprisingly she was still able to buy a 'collection', at the same store on this visit, without blinking. In our 30 years together I have grown from loving to shop with her, to being not as excited, to implying it is not my favorite past time, to showing annoyance, and finally to telling her it is better she goes with the girls while I wait outside with a cigar. That said, I must say I share her happiness in finding and buying something she really likes. Cest la vie!

We ate well, which adds even more fuel to Dora's happiness. From Bonjour we crossed the line to Food Courts in the malls, to street front eateries that cost less than Baht 100 or $25 for two, and finally to Baht 10 street food which I ate, and she watched, in her classic 'fake endorsement' mode.

Look at that glorious Dora Tang smile as she pours the heavenly sauce on her pink lamb rack at Bonjour ... suitable for framing. Dora works so hard at her school these days I am worried she has lost her ability to let her hair down, and live. I was proven wrong the past few days here in Bangkok. Yes, she still remembers how to smile, look at her!

CHEF BUUM

Not quite 27, Chef Buum is at the helm of Bonjour and I only need 3 words to describe our experience ... Truly & Wonderfully French! His full name in Thai is Siwametr Boonyarittiwong which I guess is a good reason why he uses a nickname. Speaking fluent French Chef Buum was schooled in France in the culinary arts but upon graduation he was asked to join the teaching staff as an 'Assistant Professor'. Coming home last year he joined the Bruzaud-Grille brother & sister team to open Bonjour 15-months ago, as Chef de Cuisine. His menu is extensive, with focus on the most traditional of French 'tastes'. We over-indulged (so what else is new) and ordered extra dishes under the excuse of trying out the Chef's litany of culinary poetry.

Dora had the most delicious rack of lamb, sourced from a special farm near Pauillac in the Pyrenees hills. I had roasted cod, a fish I love and it is always a good test of the kitchen. The dish, however, comes with a light, creamy seafood-lemon sauce, with periwinkles .... some over the cod, some standing on tiny boiled potato cylinders, not to mention the slithers of aromatic baby leek at the bottom. Just visualize the presentation, this dish is serious French cooking at award winning standards. It is a true winner. In addition we also had sauteed frog legs, Buum's interpretation of bouillabaisee with sea bass, a tuna sashimi salad, plus a bottle of Chateau Brumes 2008, a Red produced right here in Thailand. It was sheer greed, but every bite was worth it. BTW we finsished with Buum's signature chocolate dessert which is a trio of ice cream, mousse and wafers, ask for it. By now you probably understand why we were so excited, and why Bonjour won top awards so soon after opening.

Remember B&B on your next visit to this City of Smiles .... BONJOUR & BUUM!