Hai – Som Tam Convent, Silom, Bangkok

January 24, 2010

conventSomTam

Som Tam, delicious in a sado masochistic kind of a way. In Vietnam you almost always add chilli at the table, spicing things up to your own taste, not so in Thailand. Tiny spice bombs are pounded into papaya salad, making the experience of eating this dish excruciatingly painful for the uninitiated or for those who fail to ask for ‘foreigner spicy’. After a few lip-tingling, mouth-burning, nose-running papaya salads I became mostly acclimatised, luckily just in time for our visit to Hai – Som Tam Convent, the home of a Som Tam that is more than just head-explodingly spicy.

conventSomTamMakings

This laminate table eatery is buzzing at lunchtime with office workers grabbing a quick feed, the staff are friendly, the vibe is inviting and some people even linger under the fluorescent lights. Serving food from the northeast Isan region of Thailand meaning that the sticky rice is plentiful and (those blasted) chillies feature heavily.

conventChicken

We order a side of juicy chicken grilled to perfection with plentiful sticky crisp skin, sticky rice and som tam accompanied by a plate of herbs, raw beans and a wedge of cabbage. The menu features a whole list of different additions available to be pounded with your papaya salad, but fermented crabs didn’t appeal for some reason, so I chose ‘Som Tam with Peanuts’.

conventSomTamHai

The chicken is delicious here, but the Som Tam is the best I’ve eaten in Bangkok. The chilli is levelled out by sweet sour tomato and the fish sauce light dressing, while fishy dried shrimp add crunch and flavour. The peanuts are crisp and smoky from being blackened on the grill in an attack of attention to detail not often seen. Sop the juices up with some sticky rice, beware the odd un-smosched chilli and savour balanced flavour and riot of textures.

conventStickyRice

A variety of larb is also available as well as other grilled meats, but my advice would be som tam all the way. If you aren’t into the pleasure is pain hotness level, then try giving ‘mai phet’ (not spicy) or ‘phet nit nawy’ (a little bit spicy) a go. Or just acclimatise, for som tam this good a little pain is worth it.

conventSomTam2

Hai – Somtam Convent
2/4-5 Convent Rd. Silom Rd
02 631 0216
Sun – Fri 10:00am – 8:30pm, Sat 10:00am – 5:00pm

Posted in Thailand 3 Comments >>

Pikelet and Pie featured in Cleo

January 20, 2010

Hello! Guess what? Pikelet and Pie has been featured in the February edition of Cleo!

cleo
Click image to read full article

Media mentions and press are great for bloggers, especially food bloggers. We get a little limelight, increased traffic and hopefully appear less strange when we take photos in restaurants. We get a whole different audience for a second, and hopefully we can keep them interested, keep them returning week after week. But sometimes it backfires.

When I filled in the survey to be part of this article (that’s right, no fancy interviews here) I was excited to see my words and picture in a glossy magazine, who wouldn’t be? I had been featured on blogs before, but nothing physical with high production value and written and fact checked by a staff of experienced journalists. I gladly answered the seven questions in detail, supplied photos and clarifications and giddily awaited publication date… to be somewhat less than pleasantly surprised.

Now Cleo, I have some questions for you:

  • Do you really think that Julia Child is French?
  • Was it your intention to tell the world that there is something mentally wrong with Food Bloggers’? (such as, we are obsessed and addicted and need some strategies to help us deal with our issues?)
  • Were you trying to make a comment about Food Blogging by implying that we represent another issue on the continuum of eating disorders?
  • This article implies that deriving pleasure from food is wrong and unhealthy. Is this really the message you want to send to the young women who read Cleo?

Food for thought, indeed.

Posted in house keeping 21 Comments >>

Cucumber Salad

January 17, 2010

cucumberSalad3

I am forever trying to complicate things, unintentionally, but still. I spent years at university adding complexity in an attempt to find simplicity. Convoluted ideas can befuddle even the most intelligent and when that idea is about food the resulting dish will likely cause confusion and at worst, revulsion. Good food can be like great concepts, either beautifully spare or focussed in entwined complexity which appears to be simplicity redefined. The former is more achievable in a home kitchen, the latter best left to experts.

cucumberSalad1

Continue reading »

Posted in salad, side dish, vegetable, vegetarian Tagged , , | 8 Comments >>

iberry homemade, Bangkok

January 14, 2010

I know that many of you are waiting patiently for more Vietnam posts, they are coming I promise, but Pikelet and Pie is going to experience a brief Bangkok interlude, starting now.

iberry2
L-R Taro, pumpkin and almond, mafi, mangosteen sorbet and paradise tea

I dislike the appleisation of names as a rule but not iberry. I find the name of this Thai ice creamery as charming as its quirkily designed spaces and novel flavours. There are iberry outlets dotted around Bangkok from counters in food courts to cafes, but unfortunately the area I stayed in was devoid of delicious ice cream treats or else I would have visited daily.

iberry1

Continue reading »

Posted in Thailand, review Tagged | 5 Comments >>

Jackfruit – from garden to plate #5

January 8, 2010

jackfruitTree2

Jackfruit, Durians marginally less putrid younger brother. One of the largest fruits ever it is difficult to handle, spiky on the outside and sappy between the lobes of fragrant flesh. But the hard work is worth it, when after peeling away the pith you are rewarded with easy to deal with pods of jackfruit, delicious, intriguing, complex. Popular throughout Asia, but not often seen in Australia, jackfruit is eaten raw, mixed into iced desserts, baked into cakes and the cooked flesh of the young fruit is used in savoury dishes.

vietJackfruit
Jackfruit vendor in Hanoi, Vietnam

Continue reading »

Posted in from garden to plate 8 Comments >>

Page 3 of 43«12345»...Last »