EATING OUT
Excellent Thai cuisine in the heart of Vietnam's bustling southern metropolis
UNG-AANG TALAY
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From above: The delicious green curry with pork served with crispy-fried roti; snapper steamed with lime; and poo lon, small crabs in coconut cream sauce flavoured with fresh lemongrass, shallots, and chillies and served with fresh vegetables. |
A musical ear might hear a lively marching rhythm in the chorus of motorcycle horns that begins at sunrise in the southern Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh City and continues all day and into the evening. It was against this sonic backdrop that I met up for a Thai meal with a friend I had known since high school.
We headed for the city's District 1, a kind of Siamese quarter, or Saigon version of Silom Road. There were plenty of Thai restaurants to choose from, but not all of them had Thai cooks in the kitchen. We selected one that did, the Golden Elephant, a Thai-owned place where the cooking is done by Thais. I learned that it had a good reputation among local diners as a restaurant where the cooking had maintained high standards since opening five years ago.
The first page of the menu announced, "No MSG", and as I flipped through the remaining pages I found that it didn't differ at all from the menus handed out in good restaurants here in Thailand. The listings weren't limited to kai phat bai kraphrao, kai phat met mamuang himaphan, tom kha kai, tom yam goong or other inevitable standards, but covered a thoughtfully selected range of dishes that gave a good idea of the special character of Thai cuisine.
We chose both common dishes and others that are less easy to find, including pla kaphong nueng manao, poo lon, thawt man pla krai, kaeng khio wan mu kap roti, and khao nio thurian.
The first dish to arrive was the pla kaphong nueng manao (snapper steamed with lime). It was served in a fish-shaped cooking pan set over a burner, with the lime juice-flavoured sauce presented in a separate dish like a soup. When the steaming liquid in the pan began to bubble the lime sauce was poured over the fish, and soon it was gently boiling, too.
The fish had the sharp, fragrant bite of the lime, delectably balanced with saltiness, peppery heat and slight sweetness. It had been steamed skilfully so that it was neither overly firm and dry from overcooking nor mushy and raw. The full flavour was accented with chillies, garlic, and aromatic herbs to create a version of the dish that would have been impressive in a good restaurant at home here in Thailand.
The second dish served was the poo lon (about 115 baht), a personal favourite that it is extremely difficult to find these days in versions that show it off to its best. Real poo lon is recognisable from the first bite by its rich, perfectly balanced combination of coconut-cream nuttiness, sweetness, slight sourness, and saltiness.
At Golden Elephant, the cook had used large, Vietnamese samae crabs, slowly simmered with freshly-squeezed coconut cream and flavoured with fresh lemongrass, shallots, and chillies. The harmony of flavours in the sauce was further enriched with sour tamarind water, palm sugar, finely chopped pork and whole pounded eggs. Tender kaffir lime leaves were sprinkled on top to create an aroma that seduced my nose before I had tasted the eggplant, wing beans and other fresh vegetables served with it. The poo lon served at Golden Elephant is flawless.
I asked for the thawt man pla krai (about 170 baht) as another test because I knew that the real thing is very hard to find. The thawt man pla krai fish cakes at Golden Elephant, although they didn't look much like they did in in the old days, were very good - chewy and tasty from the fresh pla krai meat that was used to make them.
With the kaeng khio wan (about 125 baht), as soon as this green curry dish was served, I smiled because I could see right away that the coconut cream used to make it had just been extracted. It wasn't the tired-looking concoction obviously made from canned coconut cream and store-bought curry paste.
The curry paste at Golden Elephant was alive with a spectrum of tastes and fragrances. The cook had added coriander seed, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, and mace to make it aromatic, as well as another essential ingredient, kapi, which, when pounded into the curry paste, is at the heart of its flavour.
The curry seemed to have been made the old-fashioned way, separately and slowly frying the curry paste in coconut cream until the coconut oil begins to separate out, then keeping it over a low heat to release the fragrance. Some kaffir lime zest was sprinkled on top of the curry to further enhance its bouquet. I ate the curry with a freshly fried roti, and could have asked for nothing more.
Thai restaurants everywhere in the world know that the world-famous Thai dessert khao nio mamuang must be included on the menu if at all possible. Golden Elephant offered sticky rice with either mango or durian. If I see the durian version, khao nio turien, on a menu, there is no way that I am not going to order it.
The serving showed the kitchen's credentials to be well in order. The sticky rice was just right, the equivalent of al dente pasta, not to mushy, and the durian was properly soft but not overripe. It was lusciously blended with the thick coconut cream, so much so that my love of this magnificent fruit went up another notch. Those who don't like durian may have the opposite reaction, though, and might do well to stick to the mangoes.
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Golden Elephant
34 Hai Ba Trung Street, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel 08 822 8554
Open: Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm and 5-11 pm,
Sat and Sun all day
Credit cards: Mastercard and Visa
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