Reopening its doors with a seasonal menu is a slice of heaven aka Saawaan. Under the helm of chef de cuisine Sujira "Aom" Pongmorn and chef pâtissière Arisara "Paper" Chongphanitkul, the one Michelin-starred restaurant on Soi Suan Phlu still follows the format of a traditional Thai meal, taking inspiration from the street food culture and varied regional cuisine.
The menu (eight courses, B1,980++, juice pairing B850++) shines a spotlight on premium local produce, with each supplier hand-picked by the chefs. It is also divided into sections based on techniques commonly found in Thai cooking, such as stir-frying, fermenting and grilling over charcoal. Begin your meal with three amuse bouches of Saawaan's version of a miang, made with khao mee, which is mulberry compote with jasmine rice and tamarind all wrapped in pickled mulberry leaves. The second is the polamai dong or pickled fruits using winter melon, passion fruit and longan. To replace chilli flakes, rosella and cricket powders are used. The last amuse bouche is pad hoy lai or stir-fried clams in an edible shell made from sweet basil and basil oil.
Saawaan.
The Raw dish is prawn and cucumber in a coconut dressing, which is inspired by the Isan dish called kung ten or dancing shrimp. When acidity is pulled from the tiny shrimp, it appears as though they are dancing, thus earning the dish its name. Chef Aom, however, uses Japanese ama ebi because of its natural sweetness and crunchy texture. The cucumber is served in three ways, pickled, charcoal-grilled and raw. Wash this down with the juice pairing of homemade ginger ale, made with organic lemongrass and som saa.
Fermentation is commonly used in Thai food and at Saawaan it is represented by kanom jeen, thin rice noodles that have been fermented for days. Chef Aom serves the noodles in a peanut and mung bean sauce accompanied by a selection of tempura made from vegetables, herbs and flowers from an organic farm in Nakhon Pathom. One of my favourite teas is Silver Needles and here it is paired with the fermented dish. The white tea from Chiang Rai is served cold and earns its name from the youngest tea buds, grown amidst the forests in the North, hand-picked and is sun and shade dried. The natural lychee and floral notes go hand-in-hand with the sour dish.
Water chestnut, gelatinous coconut, smoked ice cream.
Charcoal.
Gaeng jued Saawaan or clear soup comes from an 80-year-old Thai recipe book, which originally uses pork belly. At Saawaan, blue swimmer crab is used to showcase the Boiled technique, served with coconut and squid. The broth is made with chicken feet, chicken bones, pork bones, dried squid and shrimp, boiled for five hours. Kapi Kua represents the Dip and is made tableside. The significance is the housemade kapi or shrimp paste made in three stages: new, young, and aged for its developed flavour. Served on the side of three types of rice crackers: jasmine, riceberry and khao man poo, as well organic fresh rose apple and cucumber. To wash this dish down, what better than the juice of naam dok mai mango with chilli and organic lemon basil to lend the dish a balance of sweetness with a slight kick of spiciness. Yum!
The Stir-Fried is inspired by pad kana naam man hoy or stir-fried kale in oyster sauce. The dish showcases two different types of oysters; glazed and charcoal-grilled Jean-Paul oyster from the coast of Normandy in France and the second is in the sauce, which makes use of the local oysters. Is there any other drink to pair with oysters than coconut water, especially if you're not drinking champers? Here mapraw naam hom or young coconut water is infused overnight with local cucumbers and wild herbs. I may have enjoyed the drink a tad more than the dish. The Charcoal dish is based on the northern salad dish aka larb. Here limousine veal is paired with charcoal-grilled beetroot and a northern masala made with more than 15 herbs and spices. Another one of my favourite pairings, tamarind juice made with fermented sesame seeds and tropical fruit.
Curry.
The main course ends with a special novel southern and northern mix. Gaeng kua is a yellow curry, popular in the southern parts of Thailand and at Saawaan it is paired with a northern curry paste used to stir-fry the banana blossom. The Ibérico pork is marinated overnight with sweet rice and then smoked with coconut and rice, and served rice from the highlands of Mae Hong Son called bue polo. The juice pairing is housemade kombucha made with Saawaan's culture from wild-grown jungle black tea from Chiang Mai.
For the sweet finale, pastry chef Paper has turned her attention to water chestnut for the housemade tub tim krob. Served on the side are candle-smoked coconut ice cream and caramelised gelatinous coconut. Paired with rice milk made with khao niaw dam or organic black sticky rice from Nakhon Pathom, mashed into a pulp to develop rich and creamy flavour. Of course, no meal at Saawaan is complete without the petite fours, which look as good as they taste. Banana compote with turmeric chocolate, makham or tamarind tart, dried tamarind and tamarind curd and galangal marshmallow with whipped cream and coconut. Visit saawaan.com.
Boiled.
