Eating out at the Tak Hing Restaurant in the Pattaya Centre Hotel

Friendly atmosphere is created when dining “Chinese Style” at community tables.

When one thinks of Chinese food, sloppy, gloppy, viscous sauces thickened with cornstarch and sugar are what comes to the average westerner’s mind. These sauces usually smother pieces of mystery meat number 346, vegetables and a load of bean sprouts. This has given Chinese food a bad reputation with the western medical community.
What people seldom consider is that the Chinese civilisation has been the source of many of the necessities of today’s world civilisation. To side-step a bit, acupuncture and the Chinese pharmacopoeia are now accepted by the west.
One of the most important aspects of health in the Chinese tradition is food. The Chinese truly believe that you are as healthy as the food you eat. As everyone probably knows, all things in the Sinitic world are divided into Yin and Yang. In the Chinese kitchen, some foods are Yin or ‘cool’ foods and others are Yang or ‘hot’ foods. This has nothing to do with temperature, but the effect they have on the body.
Too much Yang in the body can cause one to be aggressive and hot-tempered. It can also lead to diseases, such as heart problems, and strokes. Too much Yin can cause fatigue, depression and low blood sugar.
Chinese physicians attempt to balance Yin and Yang, so the patient is physically healthy and emotionally ‘centred’.
The major component in this is proper eating. In the past and on the mainland, people still have knowledge of this. Foods that are ‘hot’ are beef, durian, and sticky rice. Examples of ‘cool’ foods are plain white rice, pork and most vegetables.
A companion and I had a wonderful tasty and healthy dining experience at the Tak Hing Restaurant at the Pattaya Centre Hotel.
The Chinese ‘hot pot’ is a food eaten during the winter months. This helps to increase Yang in the body and protect people from diseases caused by cold weather. Our hostess, Managing Director of Public relations Ms. Synthia Chen, explained that this is a family meal usually eaten about twice a month.
When we walked into the restaurant, with its elegant atmosphere of a restaurant in old Shanghai, there were plates of fresh pork, beef, seafood and chicken. Another table was bright with water morning glory, cabbage, mushrooms, jelly noodles and Bamee or egg noodles.
My companion and I choose from the various foods and sat down at our table where a steaming pot of skimmed chicken broth was waiting for us. It seems that chicken soup is a panacea in almost every civilisation.
Ms. Chen then instructed us in the proper method of hot pot eating. She told us the Chinese will cook the various meats and vegetables first, to infuse the broth with the elixirs from these foods. Pieces of taro are an important component as they add a non-cloying sweetness to the soup.
My companion chose squid and several types of organ meats (these are very Yang). I tried beef, pork and chicken, a mixture of Yin and Yang. We also put verdant vegetable dumplings in the fragrant mixture. As everything bubbled in a very come-hither fashion, Ms. Chen opened one window of Chinese culture for us with her fascinating conversation.
When everything was well done, (Ms. Chen reminded us that we should leave the pork in the broth a until it was entirely cooked), we tried to eat this ambrosial soup as politely as possible. I say politely, because it was so wonderfully tasty and satisfying that we had to resist the temptation to gulp it down and ladle more into our bowls. Flavouring sauces were served with the soup. One consisted of fragrant cinnamon and other spices. The second was based on fermented tofu.
After about three bowls of soup each, we were feeling satisfied and Ms. Chen reminded us that we should now try the various noodles. The curative part of all the foods had now infused the chicken broth. I choose Bamee and my companion went for the glass noodles.
I suffer from asthma and chronic chest congestion, but after this gastronomic health treatment, my lungs began to clear and my companion and I both remarked on our feeling of satisfied well-being.
The informative Ms. Chen told us it was now time to balance our meal with a bowl of ‘cool’ foods. This consisted of water chestnuts, red beans and glass jelly in a clear and very lightly sweetened syrup.
After finishing this, my friend and I felt totally replete but not logy full.
The medicinal herbs which are used in the hot pot are imported from China and are not cheap. So, if you want to try wonderful Chinese cooking by master chef Leong Pui Hong of Macao, the hot pot meal without the medical component is a very attractive 150 baht. But my friend and I feel that anyone who wants a true ‘experience’ should go for the winter-health hot pot which is a reasonable 330 baht.

Dining at the Tokugawa Restaurant

The Tokugawa Shogunate lasted for almost 400 years. The Tokugawa samurai were known for their ferocity in battle, as well as devotion to Japanese arts, such as Bon-Odori, calligraphy and poetry. This appreciation of good things also extended to fine cuisine. The hallmarks of the era’s cooking were moderation and beauty of presentation.
My companion and I received an example of this when we went to the Tokugawa Restaurant in the Ambassador Hotel. The Tokugawa has a large restaurant and a special room for VIPs.
Our hostess, Khun Laddawan, greeted us Japanese style at the entrance to the Tokugawa, where we lowered our heads in Japanese fashion when entering, as the entryway is not unlike that of a Japanese Cha-No-Yu.
The inside is decorated in warm, light wood which creates an atmosphere of spiritual uplift and relaxation. Once seated, we began our meal with Saba Sushi, the fish being imported from Norway. My companion said it was excellent. I tried the teriyaki steak, which was very well cooked.
Next on the menu, we tried the pork boiled in soy sauce. This tasty dish was a pleasurable experience for the palate, and for those who quail at the thought of raw fish, it was a good example of a less ‘exotic’ type of Japanese food.
We completed our meal with the second staple food of Japan, Yaki Soba, thick noodles made from buckwheat. It was excellent.
Prices at the Tokugawa are a bit on the high side as the Japanese are quite meticulous about ingredients being only the best and as fresh as possible. But don’t be deterred, the Japanese food at Tokugawa is well worth the trip.

Recipe

YAM MAKREUE OR EGG-PLANT SALAD

Take two long green egg-plants and toast them over a fire until the skin starts to burn. Take them off the fire and peel. Cut the egg plant in inch-size pieces and arrange them on a small, preferably elongated dish.
Peel 5 to 6 small red onions and slice them thinly;
Take a bunch (how many is “up to you”) of small mouse chillies (Prik Kee Noo) and cut them up in small pieces;
Mix in a bowl, fish sauce (Nam Pla) and lime juice to taste;
pound in a mortar one tablespoon of dried shrimps and pound them until they soften up and fall apart.
Sprinkle the onions, chillies and dried shrimps over the egg-plant pieces and dress further with the Nam Pla and lime juice mixture. Garnish with coriander leaves (Bai Pak Chee) or if you, like a lot of foreigners, do not like the flavour of this parsley family plant, use the local mint leaves (Bai Saraneh). Serve with drinks, or rice and other dishes.
As the Mediterranean people also know, egg-plants becomes far more interesting after you have toasted them.