A true taste of Asean

OFFERING AN all-too-rare chance to taste the best-loved dishes of each Asean member nation, the aptly named So Asean restaurant is well worth a trip to Ratchadaphisek Road to enjoy, say, a traditional Tea Leaf Salad from Myanmar washed down with a cup of aromatic coffee made from beans harvested in the highlands of Vietnam.

Located on the first floor of The Street shopping mall, this new restaurant, which opened late last year, is operated by Food of Asia, which also owns the popular Cantonese restaurant Man Fu Yuan at EmQuartier.

Comfortably seating 50 diners plus another 10 in a private room and boasting a round-the-clock coffee counter, So Asean offers 100 Southeast Asian dishes and coffee brewed the traditional way. 

“We wanted to bring together Southeast Asia’s diverse cuisine under one roof so we selected the most popular dishes from all 10 Asean member nations,” says store marketing manager Kunnaree Jongaruntuprungsee.

“Many of the ingredients are similar to those found in the Thai kitchen but are used in different proportions, which gives the food a different flavour. Some of the recipes have been adapted to suit the Thai palate but the majority are faithful to the originals.” 

The kitchen is under the supervision of Narin Namphrom, a veteran of such five-star establishments as Bangkok’s Grand Hyatt Erawan, Nara Thai Cuisine in Singapore, Parrot Cay by Como Group and Amayara Resort in the Caribbean.

He recommends we start with Lah Pet (Bt135), the healthy Myanmar Tea Leaf Salad that blends the pickled herbal tea leaves with various fried nuts, fried sliced shallots, tomatoes, roasted coconut, dried shrimp, and toasted sesame wrapped in betel leaves. 

“A team from the cooking TV show ‘Iron Chef’ helped us to design the menus,” Narin says. “They’re all easy to eat yet surprisingly complicated to prepare.” 

Indonesia’s spicy meat dish Rendang is available in two versions, chicken or beef (Bt185 and Bt215), but both feature Sambal sauce made from spices and shrimp paste. We choose chicken, which is boiled with coconut milk until tender then fried with spicy yellow curry. 

Malaysia’s fragrant rice dish Nasi Lemak (Bt165) is also cooked in coconut milk and the rice is coloured blue with butterfly pea flowers. It’s served with fried chicken, fried peanuts, boiled eggs, prawn chips, crispy fried fishes and spicy Sambal sauce. 

Adobo (Bt185), a favourite in the Philippines, is a tender chicken and pork stew served with home-made pickled vegetables, while Cambodia’s Fish Amoke (Bt215) is almost the same as the Thai Hor Mok. Here the fish is tossed with curry paste and blended with fish sauce to give it a sticky texture, then steamed for about 20 minutes until crispy. 

“We’ve adapted the recipe of Adobo to give it a smoother flavour. We marinate the chicken and pork with black and white soy sauce around 30 minutes, then simmer with shallots, fresh pineapple and pineapple juice until the meat is tender,” Narin says. 

Those with a sweet tooth will love the creative home-made desserts, which include crispy toast served with aromatic Thai tea sauce topped with ice cream and meringue, Crispy Roti paired with riceberry ice cream and the Banana Fritter Volcano with riceberry ice cream and chocolate sauce. They cost Bt165 and Bt145.

And no matter the time of day or night, a caffeine kick can be enjoyed with a Vietnamese Drip Coffee served with condensed milk and syrup or a Hot Indonesian Baigur Coffee, which is mixed with coconut milk and ginger.

  

 

SO GOOD!

>> So Asean is on the first floor of The Street shopping mall on Ratchadaphisek. The dining area is open daily from 10 to 10 and the coffee bar operates around the clock. 

>> Book a table at (02) 121 1909 or visit the So Asean Cafe & Restaurant page on Facebook.