WHAT I LOVE ABOUT...
Saiphin Moore on her food experiences in Phetchabun
Thai food is not homogenous, and though I could have centred this feature around Bangkok, where I first opened a noodle shop, I’m choosing to tell you about my home region, because if you don’t know about it, and you love Thai food, you should. Thai people call Phetchabun, where I grew up, ‘little Switzerland’. The mountainous landscape and ‘cold’ (for Thai standards) weather is a welcome respite to the heat elsewhere. The area attracts lots of local visitors, especially around September-october, a season often referred to by the Thais as ‘plai fon ton nao’, which literally translates as ‘end of rain, beginning of cold’.
1
Foraging
My family comes from Khao Kho district in Phetchabun. It’s situated between the North and North-eastern regions of Thailand, a two-hour drive from the border of Laos. Because it’s surrounded by mountains and jungles, the food culture here is all about foraging. I grew up sitting around charcoal grills with my mom and aunties, cooking ingredients that we could forage from the jungle or buy from the local Mhong village fresh market. Catfish, ants’ eggs, crabs, frogs, bamboo shoots, quails; you name it, we’ve got it all in Khao Kho. Children here learn how to cook from a very young age. Because most families are farmers, everyone has to pitch in and help with the food throughout the day. I started helping my grandma and my mom around the kitchen when
I was only about six or seven. I grew up cooking alongside my aunties or uncles, and I often tagged along to forage or fish with them.
2
No tables
When families and friends sit down to eat, it’s not around a dining table, it’s always on the floor on
Children here learn how to cook from a very young age
a bamboo mat with the whole extended family surrounding a large spread of food. There’s no order to who eats first, everyone just digs in. Meals often go on for hours, especially in the evenings and at weekends.
3
Sticky rice
A massive bamboo basket containing sticky rice is always the most important part of the meal, whether that’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s well known in Thailand that sticky rice plays an important part in agriculture – it’s a major source of fuel to keep the farmers going through the day.
4
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Every place has typical dishes that are eaten at certain times of the day – Phetchabun is no di erent. This is what you should expect to eat: Breakfast is almost always larb, a type of salad made with minced meat mixed with fresh chillies and herbs like coriander, dill, mint and garnished with toasted rice, served with a bunch of fresh vegetables. Lunch is a variation of papaya salads, kanom jeen, fermented rice noodles with spicy curry sauce, and spicy grilled meat salads. For dinner, we always have grilled meat or whole fish, alongside spicy soups or curries like gaeng nor mai – fermented bamboo shoots curry.
Saiphin grew up in Khao Kho, northern Thailand, before moving to Bangkok and opening a noodle shop at 20. There are now 19 Rosa’s Thai Cafes in London, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester, serving Saiphin’s signature dishes, from butternut curry to drunken noodles. rosasthaicafe.com
5
Grilled chicken
Although Gai Yang, grilled chicken, is a staple part of Thai cuisine, each region has their own take on the recipe. My favourite is from the sub-district of Wichien Buri. I love their grilled rotisserie chicken so much that I tried to replicate it in my cookbook. What makes it so di erent from everywhere else in Thailand is lemongrass and turmeric, which give it a distinctly golden yellow colour.
6
Herbs
We eat herbs in quantity. Fresh herbs like dill, coriander and vegetables like green aubergines are often eaten alongside chilli dips or larb salad. There often is a whole plate or side dish full of fresh herbs and vegetables to go with every meal.
7
Tamarind
Phetchabun is well known for its sweet and sour tamarind. When roasted, the tamarind flesh becomes super-juicy and you can snack on it straight from the pods. It’s also the same variety of tamarind that goes into our local pad Thai sauce. It tastes di erent – sweeter – than tamarind from other parts of the country like the south, which grows the more sour variety used in their regional cooking.
8
Beer
We love nothing more than ice-cold beers to go with our lunches and dinners. Thai-style lager really complements the food because it’s very refreshing, low in alcohol content (4-5 per cent), and is great at cooling down the heat in the food.
Rice spirits
Keep an eye out for Nam Khao Mak [fermented rice spirits] – if you see it, order it. It’s a northern Thai speciality made with the water used to steam sticky rice, mixed with yeast, and left to ferment for 20-35 days. The result is something similar to a sake or rice wine with a much higher alcohol percentage. It’s a drink for special occasions, like during Songkran celebrations (Thai New Year every 13-15 April) – it’s super-sweet and delicious, but definitely potent.
Cabbages & coffee
Did you know that you can pick strawberries and cabbages in Thailand? The climate in Phetchabun makes it perfect for growing produce that won’t grow elsewhere, and the region is well-known for local farm-stays (you can also go camping and hiking in the cooler months). As well as cabbages, strawberries and other cooler climate produce, you can also enjoy locally grown Arabica coffee. Take a cup up to a high point and watch the stunning local phenomenon of sea mist swirling around the mountains at sunrise.
Grilled spring chicken with Thai herbs
This is my favourite grilled chicken recipe, ever! I learned it from an 80-year old chef who ran the Bua Tong restaurant in Wichian Buri, Phetchabun. It’s famous for its char-grilled chicken.
SERVES 4 PREP 1 hr plus at least 1 hr 15 mins marinating
COOK 40 mins EASY
1 kg chicken, cut in half and flattened,
or 1 kg thighs and wings
3cm piece galangal, sliced 3 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped 6 garlic cloves
4 coriander stalks, finely chopped,
plus a few leaves, to serve
For the marinade
7 tbsp brown sugar 200g evaporated milk 3 tsp ground white pepper 3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Thai seasoning sauce 1/2 tsp rice wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp fried garlic
1 tsp chicken bouillon
2 tsp ground turmeric 1 Mix all the marinade ingredients together, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. (This makes a large batch, enough for 4 kg chicken, so tip a quarter into a large bowl and freeze the rest.) Add the chicken and turn it over with your hands so it is well covered. Leave to marinate for 15-20 mins.
2 Tip the galangal, lemongrass, garlic and coriander stalks into a food processor and blitz to a paste, or use a pestle and mortar. Rub the paste all over the marinated chicken and leave in the fridge for 1 hr.
3 Light a barbecue or heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the chicken on the rack of the barbecue over white-hot coals and turn until cooked through. Or put in a roasting tin and roast for 40 mins, or until golden brown and cooked through. To check it’s done, pierce the meat with a skewer – the juices should run clear. Scatter over the coriander leaves and serve with a salad, grilled red pepper and your favourite spicy dipping sauce, if you like.
PER SERVING 355 kcals • fat 18g • saturates 5g • carbs 12g • sugars 10g • fibre 1g • protein 36g • salt 0.9g