Reminiscing Thai Cuisine

CEBU, Philippines - Time seems to move so fast and it has been seven months already since my first visit to Thailand last December. All my foodie friends recommend at least one visit to Thailand in a lifetime, since Thai food reigns among the best in the world. It’s true that there are Thai restaurants in Cebu, but here there is a tendency to alter the authentic Thai recipes in order to gain acceptance by the locals.

I remember a former student of mine in Veterinary Medicine who was stationed in Bangkok but left after only six months. He explained that he had a difficult time eating there because he could not stand the taste of hot chilies. He had no access to a kitchen so he had to eat out most of the time and almost always had to bear with chilies. He grew desperate that he would order only siopao, only to find that it also had chili in it.

One has to develop a tolerance to chili hotness to truly welcome Thai cuisine. The classic Thai soup, Tom Yum Gong has dynamic flavors of sour, salty, sweet, umani and chili hotness that explodes as soon as it touches your tongue. Older Cebuanos are just set in their ways not to accept chili, but young people today are very adventurous with it. The so-called ‘millennials’ can eat dynamite spring rolls – wrapped chili espada! – without blinking an eye.

I joined the press launch of the Thai Sojurn at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, for which the hotel imported guest chef Nontra-Udon Buapha from its sister hotel in Hong Kong, Marco Polo Prince. The food I ate in Thailand was still very fresh in my taste memory and it was my reference in appreciating the dishes that Chef Buapha prepared for the media.

The menu listed Pad Thai Stir-Fry Noodle Dish, Steamed Fish with Lime and Garlic, Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken, Thai Stir-Fried Squid, Chicken Satay and Pork, and Thai Mango Sticky Rice. Chef Buapha did a live cooking demo on the preparation of a salad, the Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad with grated green papaya, chilies, garlic, tomatoes, tamarind juice, peanuts, tomatoes, dried shrimp, etc.). Some members of the media, however, could not tolerate chili, and so Chef Buapha was kind enough to prepare a special blend for them.

The classic Tom Yum Gong (Thai Hot and Sour Soup, with shrimp, lemongrass, chili, and kaffir lime leaves) was also served. I could compare this one with the versions I tasted in Thailand. One thing I immediately noticed was the amount of dried twigs, grass and leaves mixed in my bowl of soup, and I knew this was the authentic stuff – it was truly delicious. Another classic, Pad Thai Stir-Fry Noodle was served, three versions of which I had tried in Thailand – one at the Damnoen Saduak floating market, which looked enticing because it was prepared before your very eyes – and all three were just too oily. Chef Buapha’s version was much better!

The Thai buffet dishes at the Café Marco included Pomelo Salad, which prompted me to reminisce. Since in Cebu, pomelo is served as a raw fruit and not as a salad, I was a bit surprised at the sight of it. And I recalled one household during a fiesta in Asturias serving pomelo as an appetizer. The host whispered to me that pomelo had a lot of fibers that would act like a sponge and expand in the presence of water. When fiesta guests would eat pomelo and drink water, their stomachs expand and they would eat less of the lechon and the rest of the main dishes.

The highlighted dessert at Café Marco was Thai Mango Sticky Rice. However, I opted for two other desserts on display, the Tiramisu and the Mango Cheese Cake – because the presentation was just so beautiful! (FREEMAN)