Kin Thai by John Chantarasak
In his cookbook Kin Thai, John Chantarasak takes us through modern recipes to cook at home exploring native Thai ingredients with a Western focus.
Photography: Maureen M. Evans
‘Unlike in Western culture, the emphasis in Thailand is on a selection of dishes that provide contrasting flavours and textures but come together as a balanced, coherent meal,’ says John Chantarasak. Photo: Maureen M. Evans
Burmese pork belly curry with pickled garlic (gaeng hung lae) from Kin Thai. Photo: Maureen M. Evans
John Chantarasak is a half Thai, half British chef based in London. His new cookbook Kin Thai is a collection of 80 recipes that shine a light on lesser-known Thai cuisine, as well as more popular Thai food classics.
‘The main aim of this book is to get more people cooking Thai food and to dispel some of the myths that Thai food is overly complicated and too labor intensive for the home kitchen,’ says John Chantarasak.
Kin Thai includes ingredients native to Thailand, while also exploring the origins of western ingredients, explaining their place in Thai cuisine. The book gives us insight into John’s own experiences, detailing the differences between regions of Thailand, and how the different cultures, climates and ingredients affect local dishes.
‘Unlike in Western culture, the emphasis in Thailand is on a selection of dishes that provide contrasting flavours and textures but come together as a balanced, coherent meal,’ says John.
The chapters are structured by type of dish: from snacks and relishes to curries, stir-fries and salads; to roast duck and lychee red curry (gaeng daeng bet) and Langoustine and red fire greens with yellow soybean sauce (pak kheo fai daeng).
Below we share a recipe from the book: Roasted scallops with pounded red chilli dressing (hoi chaehn pao).
‘Thailand has always featured in my life. When I was a child, we would travel to Bangkok to visit family, and stay at my father’s childhood home, in the neighbourhood of Thong-Lor,’ says John Chantarasak. Photo: Maureen M. Evans
Kin Thai includes a list of pantry essentials that are required to cook a selection of Thai dishes at home. Photo: Maureen M. Evans
“The main aim of this book is to get more people cooking Thai food and to dispel some of the myths that Thai food is overly complicated and too labor intensive for the home kitchen.”
Roasted scallops with pounded red chilli dressing (hoi chaehn pao) from Kin Thai, recipe below. Photo: Maureen M. Evans
Shiitake mushroom and Thai basil soup with tapioca pearls (gaeng juet) from Kin Thai. Photo: Maureen M. Evans
ROASTED SCALLOPS WITH POUNDED RED CHILLI DRESSING (HOI CHAEHN PAO)
This simple recipe packs a punch with the bold flavours of red chilli, fish sauce and lime juice. I have suggested this as a snack, but the dish would make an impressive starter to a meal, especially with the scallop served baked in the shell. If using prepared scallops, though, they rarely come with their shells. Instead, soak bamboo skewers in water for an hour, then skewer a few scallops together and cook under a hot grill (broiler), turning once during cooking. Serve the red chilli dressing on the side as a dipping sauce or pour over just before serving.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
8 medium live scallops
For the red chilli dressing -
1 long red chilli, seeded and chopped
2 red bird’s eye chillies, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
coriander stem
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons palm or brown sugar
METHOD
To make the red chilli dressing, pound the chillies, coriander root, garlic and salt together in a pestle and mortar to form a smooth paste. Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and mix everything together until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside for 15 minutes, allowing the flavours to mellow and marry together. It will taste spicy, sour and salty, with a background sweetness.
Clean the scallops. The best way to do this is to slide a table knife against the inside of the top (flat lid) shell, separating the scallop meat from the top shell. This will allow you to fully open the shell. Scoop the scallop out from the bottom (round bowl) shell using a tablespoon to separate the scallop meat from the bowl shell. Wash the scallop in a bowl of cold water, removing and discarding the black digestive tract. Set the white scallop meat and orange coral (roe) meat aside.
Clean the round bowl shell for presentation and repeat the process until all the scallops are cleaned.
Preheat the grill (broiler) to a high heat. Cut the white scallop meat in half, leaving the orange coral whole. Return the scallops to their round bowl shells and arrange on a grill tray. Spoon
1 tablespoon of the red chilli dressing over each scallop, then grill (broil) for 1–2 minutes until just cooked through.
Remove the scallop shells from the grill and spoon another.
1 tablespoon of the red chilli dressing over each scallop.
Serve immediately. Be careful of the hot shells!
