Meet Nat: globetrotting citizen of the world, seeker of delicious foods and our newest contributor to World to Table.  He’ll be sharing with you his travels, his recipes, and his unbridled love for food. — Veronica

My name is Nat, short for Natayada, and I’m from Thailand by way of America.   I was born in Bangkok and have lived in Europe and Africa, but now go back and forth between east and west.

My obsession with food came early. One of my first memories is of being in a kitchen in Paris as my mother and grandmother were debating how to make Thai dish taste right with the limited ingredients we could find.

The mission of my life has been to find what makes food taste right, to seek out new dishes that retain the essence of the cuisine from which they came. To boldly eat what no one has eaten before.

My quest to taste the most authentic, most original incarnation of a dish has taken me near and far.  I once drove over seven hours on Thailand’s northern highway going from restaurant to restaurant in Sukhothai searching for its legendary noodles.  Call me obsessive.

Despite government efforts to make it a world-class tourist destination, Sukhothai is really just a sleepy little town at the northernmost part of central Thailand. The days when it was Siam’s capital city and a thriving commercial and cultural crossroad between Cambodia and Burma are long gone. The lovingly restored ruins may have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site but, every time I go, there are never more than three or four others walking around the old temples. It is often so quiet that I can hear the breeze.

When I asked people about Sukhothai noodles, however, I was met with blank stares.

I was shocked.  Sukhothai is in central Thailand and the local cuisine would be familiar to anyone who has tried Thai food. Sukhothai noodles are famous for being different from your standard bowl of Kuay Tiew or that most Thai of noodle dishes, Pad Thai. At least in Bangkok, they are.

Imagine, if you will, a hearty tom yum soup. Practically every Thai restaurant in the world has it on the menu. Tom yum has a sweet, sour and fragrant tanginess combined with a searing kick that has become the best-known representation of the Thai palate. The term ‘tom yum’ literally means “soup spicy”.

Add to your tom yum a choice of rice noodles — thick, thin or vermicelli — then some blanched green beans, bean sprouts, ground pork, roasted pork, dried shrimp, fish balls and some small pieces of braised spare ribs. Sprinkle over it some minced spring onion. Serve with battered, deep-fried morning glory leaves and crispy won ton skins. And there you have the celebrated Sukhothai Noodles.

Yuki Srikanchana serves them at her popular Bangkok restaurant, Nara, where I can never stop at just one bowl. The secret, Yuki says, is in the sugar one uses in the tom yum base. Palm sugar, which has a rich, smoky flavour adds substance to a good tom yum. She favours sugar made from the sap of coconut palms. It is has the consistency of molasses and is subtler than the strong taste of sugar made from the sap of sugar palms.

Sukhothai Noodles

Crispy battered morning glory leaves and wonton skins

Actually, I have a theory about the origin of Sukhothai noodles. The late Queen Rambhai Bharni, the consort of King Rama VI, lived out her widowhood at Sukhothai Palace which was in the Sukhothai district of Bangkok and nowhere near Siam’s ancient capital. The palace kitchens there were renowned for the particularly fine food. Perhaps that’s where the famous noodles came from.

A trip to Sukhothai, searches on the internet and interviews with countless chefs haven’t shed any light so my theory is probably as good as any. Considering the complicated recipe for Sukhothai noodles which requires detailed, labour-intensive preparation, it makes sense that the dish should have its inception in a palace where a large staff could do all the work.

Nara has three branches in Bangkok. For further information or to make reservations, please go to: www.naracuisine.com

For truly authentic Tom Yum, I recommend making the stock from the recipe below. Canned or cartoned stocks available in western supermarkets tend to have been made with carrots and western herbs such as thyme, parsley and bay leaves which have a distinctly sweeter and western fragrance. Having said that, if pressed for time, ready-made stock works fine. If using a stock with no added salt, you may have to increase the amount of fish sauce in your final tom yum. If you have time, however, try making the stock yourself. It makes a huge difference. The ingredients listed usually can be found at an Asian supermarket.

Pork Stock

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork ribs, left in a rack, if possible
4 quarts water
2 stalks of fresh black pepper
6 stalks of Chinese celery, broken into 3” lengths
Note: Chinese celery has thin, green stalks and is much like normal celery but a much subtler flavour. If using normal celery, use only two stalks.
1 5oz white turnip, cut into 1” slices
1 head of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 large onion, cut into quarters
4 cilantro (coriander) roots

• Note: Cilantro root is a staple herb in Thai cooking and is merely the root of the plant. It has a more intense flavour than the leaves and stands up to a long simmer better. Save the stalks and leaves for a garnish.

Instructions:
1. Place all the ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Skim the pot only once after 15 minutes. (Unlike French cuisine, where a stock’s clarity is valued, the flavour of Thai pork stock is considered enhanced by the solids that rise to the surface of the pot after the first skimming.)
3. Simmer on low for 1½ hrs.
4. Remove the ribs and reserve for another use.
5. Strain the stock and use for Tom Yam or as a base for other soups.

Tom Yum
serves 4

Ingredients:
1 quart of pork stock
2 stalks of lemon grass, cut into 3” pieces and smashed
2 tbs of palm sugar (If the softer, coconut palm sugar is unavailable, a 2” block of sugar palm sugar — which comes in hard cones — can be used. If all else fails, use 1 tsp of granulated sugar. Do not substitute with brown sugar.)
6 spur chillies, with stalks removed and smashed (Spur chillies are green, red or yellow, are at least the width of a large pencil and at least 2” long. They have less heat than bird’s eye chillies and a slightly sweeter flavour.)
8 bird’s eye chillies (These are the most popular chillies in Thai cuisine and are famous for their kick of fiery heat. They are also known as chilli padi)
2 oz of galangal (also known as blue ginger), cut into ¼ -inch slices
4 kaffir lime leaves
¼ cup of lime juice
1lb of fresh prawns, shelled and deveined (Frozen can also be used.)
¼ lb of straw mushrooms, halved if large
2-3 tbs fish sauce, to taste
Cilantro leaves

Preparation:
1. Bring the pork stock to a boil on high and add all the ingredients except the prawns, fish sauce, mushrooms and cilantro leaves.
2. Lower the heat and simmer until the fragrance rises in the steam (about 5-10 minutes, depending on the freshness of your ingredients).
3. Turn up the heat to high again and add the prawns, mushrooms and fish sauce.
4. Boil until the prawns are just cooked through. (This should be less than 5 minutes, depending on the size of prawn. They should have lost their translucence and be a pale pink colour. If they start to turn white, they are overcooked. Do not overcook or they will become tough.)
5. Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro leaves.

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