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Som Tam Jae Kim
by Miss Terry Diner
This week it is the real 100 percent Thai dining
experience. You will not need your compass as I will supply directions, but
there are no English names anywhere.
But first some background. Chaleaw Muangpan (Auntie Kim) has just won the
gold medal at the Pattaya Food and Hoteliers Expo 2007 for her Seafood
Papaya Salad (Som Tam Talay). She has a tiny restaurant in Banglamung down a
side soi, hardly the place where you imagine gold medal winners come from!
Now while Som Tam is the staple diet of the North-East, Auntie Kim is not
even from Isaan, coming from Chainat province. Her introduction to the noble
art of Isaan food came about by accident. She sponsored someone into a som
tam cart, but they ran away five years ago. To ensure she did not totally
lose her money, she took over the outfit and did the run herself. Two years
ago she retired the motorcycle and set up in Banglamung.
Now she has also been very interested in Thai herbs and their medicinal
properties, so she decided to incorporate them into her versions of som tam.
Cleanliness and freshness were also important to her, and from this comes
Som Tam Jae Kim! A truly amazing restaurant, run by a truly amazing woman.
Now to find it. Go outbound along Sukhumvit Road heading to Banglamung. As
soon as you go under the overhead footbridge opposite the Banglamung Police
station, take the first U-turn (where the Nissan dealership is located)
heading back to Pattaya. Around 50 meters after the U-turn take the first
left, which is Soi 21, and then immediately first right (Soi 21/2). Proceed
slowly down the soi (there are speed humps) and the restaurant is 50 meters
down on your left and before the canal.
You are now in true Thai territory. The kitchen is at the front of the
restaurant and the seating areas are behind and to the right. Basic rustic
tables and bench seating over an earth floor. Uri Geller style of bending
spoons, and no ceremony. But do not let this put you off. There is more to
come, starting with the menu. A simple two sided laminated affair,
proclaiming that the majority of dishes are between 25-35 baht. However, it
is all totally in Thai. I asked Auntie Kim if there was an English version
coming, but with true Thai pragmatism she shook her head. “100 percent
farangs come with Thai girlfriend,” she said.
My Thai friends with me made various suggestions and we sat back and waited
- and we did not have to wait long. Dishes started arriving on the table,
with sauces where required. The next slice of “Amazing Thailand” (thank you
Tourism Authority of Thailand for the slogan) was the presentation of the
dishes. All artfully done, with sliced tomato decoratively placed on the
dishes, and even the som tam itself looking inviting, and not the so
commonly presented pounded vegetables thrown at a plate. I could see already
why she had garnered a gold medal, before even trying the food!
Amongst our dishes was a beautifully moist sun-dried pork and similar
roasted chicken, which was really finger licking! We also had a Thai herb
(mara) with crab and tomato, which was notable for the differing flavors
presented in one dish. The sweet lemon juice dressing was another freshly
made item, as Auntie Kim uses no bottled ingredients, and it shows in the
clean tastes. Other dishes included a fish larb, which came with sticky
rice, and a corn with salty egg. We could see why this place was so popular.
And to complete the totally Thai experience, an elephant wandered by. True!
This restaurant must be tried. Take a Thai friend if you are unsure, but you
will find dishes you enjoy. If you are afraid of Thai chillis, stick with
the roasted chicken and sun-dried pork, but be brave! Try some of the
others. At the price you have nothing to lose. Highly recommended.
Som Tam Jae Kim, Soi 21/2 Sukhumvit Road, Banglamung, open six days (closed
Mondays) 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. (though can close earlier if the fresh
ingredients run out), street parking.
Grilled Japanese Chicken
This is a traditional Japanese dish (Yakitori), but all
the ingredients are available here, even the sake. The chicken is BBQ’d
several times, with steeping in a marinade in between. The sugar and ginger
gives the chicken a very different taste, almost caramelizing the outer
surface. You can select large chicken thighs, or even skinless chicken
breasts and make it closer to a grilled chicken satay (gai yang), Japanese
style.
Cooking Method:
Wash chicken thighs, wipe dry and insert skewers along the bone. Or
if using chicken breast, make 12 skewers from bite-sized pieces. Cook over a
charcoal BBQ or under the grill until partially cooked.
Mix sake, soya sauce and sugar and pour into a wide flat bowl. Lay chicken
skewers in the marinade for five minutes, then turn over and leave for
another five minutes.
Return to the BBQ and cook for two minutes each side. Then return to the
marinade and repeat the marinade process. Now complete the final BBQ
grilling while brushing the remaining marinade over the chicken, to produce
a dark shiny glaze. Sprinkle with the powdered ginger.
Shred the cucumber and sprinkle with salt and serve the chicken skewers on
small plates and garnish each with a mound of cucumber.
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
Chicken thighs
12
or Chicken breast fillet
250 gm
Sake
1 cup
Dark soya sauce
1 cup
Sugar
120 gm
Powdered ginger
4 tspns
Cucumber
2 small
Salt to taste
Skewers
12
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