Traditions with an Asean twist

VETERAN CHEF Ayusakorn “Van” Arayangkoon and his three pals, owners of the successful French brasserie 4 Garcons, are returning to their roots with the recent opening of Marie Guimar, a restaurant that borrows its name from the lady of Japanese-Portuguese-Bengali descent Maria Guyomar de Pina who created the famous egg yolk-based Thai desserts during the Ayutthaya era. 

Situated right next to their first outlet on Thonglor Soi 13, this new bistro offers a variety of authentic Southeast Asian dishes and rare Thai sweets. Most of the Thai favourites are based on Van’s family recipes and made with the best local ingredients. 

Designed on an West-meets-East concept, the 60-seat eatery resembles a colonial-style glasshouse and the spacious dining area is spread over two floors. Pastel green walls are offset by crafted Chinese-style wood doors and Korat-silk batik adds colour to the white ceiling.

“We wanted to open a Thai restaurant and named it Marie Guimar, who drew on her Portuguese roots to invent a lot of new Thai sweets. We offer a range of rare Thai desserts including pla krim khai tow, kanom sai and a fusion almond tart with thong yod and foi thong,” Van explains. 

“About 80 per cent of the dishes on the menu are Thai favourites. We also offer some popular easy-to-eat dishes that I discovered while travelling in Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. I’ve adapted some ingredients but guarantee their flavour is still authentic.”

Among the Asian dishes presented by Van, who cultivates many of the plants, herbs, spices and flowers in his own garden, is Cha Gio, Vietnamese fried spring rolls filled with minced shrimp and pork and served with a sweet sauce based on coconut juice and rice vinegar.

His offering from Myanmar is Monhinga, rice noodles in a full-flavoured fish soup made with chickpea flour, garlic, onions, lemongrass, banana tree stem, ginger and catfish. 

Indonesia’s Beef Rendang (Bt220) – tender beef braised in aromatic curry – is served with yellow rice and a choice of two spicy Sambal sauces while Bebek MG (Bt450), a deep-fried half duck, is braised in Indonesian spices and served with coconut rice. From Malaysia comes Cha Kuay Tiew (Bt180) – stir-fried rice noodle with seafood and pork cooked in a special salty-and-sweet sauce.

“We use the same spices and herbs here as Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Myanmar but our cooking techniques are different. In Thailand we use spicy chilli sauce to enhance the taste. Indonesians don’t like sourness so lemon and tamarind juice are not used in their cuisine. Malaysia’s Cha Kuay Tiew was created by Penang fishermen and is now very popular with local folks and foreign tourists. It’s stir-fried rice noodles with seafood, pork, or sausage. For the sauce, shrimp paste and sugar are cooked together until they caramelise.”

Thai comfort foods on the menu include Fried Rice with Crispy Crackling Pork (Bt180) and Khao Mun SomTum (Bt220), papaya salad with smooth coconut rice, shredded pork and spicy chicken curry. 

“Khao Mun Som Tum is different from som tum Thai. It’s a papaya salad prepared with salt, dried chilli and lemon but without tomato and cow-pea. It is sour, sweet and salty and is served with coconut rice and topped with shredded pork cooked in five-spice powder,” Van explains. 

Traditional Thai summer dish, Khao Chae (Bt320) is paired with such side dishes as pickled radish, dried chilli filled with fried fish and fried shrimp paste balls, while Stir-fried Bitter Melon is cooked with salted fish and duck egg and goes for Bt150. 

Other favourites include Pla Ra Tod Song Krueng (Bt250), Thai fermented fish fried with herbs and fresh vegetables, Kanom Chin Nam Prik (Bt200), Thai vermicelli noodle in a shrimp and mung bean curry, served with boiled egg, fried vegetables and shrimps and Kang Hung Le (Bt220), a Northern pork curry that’s paired with black glutinous rice. 

Those with a sweet tooth will love the rare Thai desserts like Pla Krim Khai Tow (Bt120) – melt-in-the-mouth rice flour strings and dumplings in coconut cream, Kanom Sai (Bt85) – pink sandy sweets, topped with shredded coconut and Black Sticky Rice Pudding (Bt110) that’s served with a bread fruit glaze.

“Pla Krim Kai Tow is served with two sauces – the white one is made with coconut milk and the red one is cooked in palm sugar, while Kanom Sai is rice flour, blended with honey and syrup and perfumed with aromatic candle smoke,” chef Van says. 

And do check out with one of Van’s delicious mocktails. Winter is a mix of cranberry, pineapple juice, melon juice and grenadine, Autumn is blended with ginger juice, Thai tea, pineapple juice and orange juice, Summer is made with mixed berry, brown sugar, honey, Sprite and mint while Spring is a blend of plum and lemon juice and Sprite. Each glass costs Bt135.

 

  

SWEET TREATS

Marie Guimar is at Oakwood Residence on Thonglor Soi 13 off Sukhumvit Soi 55. It’s open daily from 10am to 10pm. Call (02) 712 8036.