Hungry for the highlands

DOI KHAM Food Products, an affiliate of the Crown Property Bureau, is now catering to busy urbanites, inviting them to eat and shop without having to move more than a few steps.

The restaurant, which serves delicious Thai dishes, is a welcome addition to the shops for which the brand is known and is a great place to enjoy a snack or a full meal, sip a coffee and shop for Doi Kham’s famous fruit juices, rice and dehydrated fruits.

Located on the first floor of the new company building next to BTS Rajthevee station, the 80-square-metre restaurant has plenty of windows to let the natural light stream in. There’s nothing exaggerated about the interior design; everything is neat and clean with light grey floor tiles, white walls and a dark green counter with a marble top. The shopping area is close to the entrance, its shelves filled with a wide variety of Doi Kham products such as brown rice, ready-to-drink juices and fruit juice concentrates from the royal projects initiated by His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The dining area on the right boasts an open kitchen where diners can watch the chefs at work.

“This restaurant is a pilot for our new business model which we are merging the Doi Kham shop, restaurant and cafe. We’re rebranding Doi Kham to look fresh and modern and affirm our role as a business for social responsibility. We support the rural development of Thailand and produce goods with high nutritional value and free from chemical additives. Our products are non-toxic and do not contain preservatives or artificial flavours or colours,” says its executive Sorapas Sutthienkul.

Many products of Doi Kham are used in the cooking here. For example, the brand’s tomato juice concentrate is reduced for spaghetti sauce while canned lychee and longan add the sweetness to grilled duck with red curry. The yi-liang duck, also raised by the royal projects, can be enjoyed with mulberry sauce from a reduction of mulberry juice concentrate, and ready-to-drink fruit juices are whipped up to make refreshing sorbets and ice creams.

“Many of our dishes are made to the recipes of our company’s director Pipatpong Israsena, who is also a food connoisseur. The technique and presentation may be adapted to ensure a more contemporary look. Our menu is still fairly small as we only opened three months ago. We’re now in the process of creating new dishes using more fresh ingredients from the royal projects such as trout from Chiang Mai and black pork, chicken and beef from Sakon Nakhon,” adds Sorapas.

The kitchen is under the supervision of Anucha Pattanasiriruk who honed his culinary skills at Le Cordon Bleu Dusit Culinary School. Trained in French cuisine, Anucha sometimes uses French cooking techniques to give his dishes an authentic Thai taste.

“I stick to the original flavours but use sous-vide cooking and poaching to get the best results,” he explains. 

“Take my khao na gai (chicken with gravy on rice, Bt120). Instead of stir-frying marinated chicken in a wok, which tends to overcook and dry out the meat, I opt for sous-vide to ensure the flesh is juicy and tender. The chicken skin is boiled then roasted until crisp. A soft poached egg replaces the usual boiled egg but it’s also lightly batter fried for a crispy texture. The Chinese sausage must come from an old shop in the China Town. Our steamed rice comes in a variety of colours; purple from the extract of butterfly pea, orange from carrot, and red from roselle,” adds the 30-year-old chef.

One dish not to be missed is khao nam prik makham (rice with spicy young tamarind paste, Bt120) served with crispy fillets of pla salid (snakeskin gourami), salted egg and fresh vegetables. Equally delicious is mee hoon nam ya poo (rice noodle with crabmeat curry, Bt150) – a Southern-style curry with chunky crabmeat served with rice noodles with crabmeat and fresh vegetables.

Also tempting is mee kati (rice vermicelli in coconut milk, Bt130) where the noodles are cooked with minced tofu and pickled bean curd and enjoyed with pennywort leaves and Chinese chives seasoned with lime juice.

The restaurant offers a daily set lunch for two for just Bt320 and rotates the 15 sets so no one gets bored with the food. On the day I visited, the appetiser was crispy wontons followed by fried chicken wings and stir-fried cauliflower with shrimp. Then came spicy stir-fried bamboo shoots with chicken served with steamed rice in butterfly pea flower extract and rice noodles with fish curry and boiled eggs. The meal ended with chilled santol in scented syrup. 

If you still have room, check out one of the refreshing ice creams. They include strawberry sorbet, pumpkin and mocktail ice cream made from tomato, strawberry and passion fruit juices.

 

BEST OF THE NORTH

Doi Kham is on Phya Thai Road, next to BTS Rajthevee Station. Call (02) 656 6991 extension 145.

The cafe opens at 7am and offers freshly brewed Doi Kham coffee with sweet treats until 8pm. The restaurant is ready to serve lunch at 11am and stays open until 4pm.