Chef James Lin (林作煜) was taking a stroll around Bangkok when he came across the floating markets and noticed locals were addicted to a zesty appetizer that involved wrapping a variety of spices in banana leaves.
“I was really searching for food that nobody else in Taiwan was serving up,” said the Sheraton Taipei's chief executive chef, who has been honing his culinary skills in the US and oversaw the menu at the hotel's newly opened Sukhothai restaurant.
The spices — shallots, dried shrimps, coconut, chili, lime, young ginger, green mango, roasted peanuts and a sugar cane-based mieng sauce — are folded in a leaf and eaten raw. One can change the amount and combination of spices to personalize the dish, but either way it's a taste sensation.
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
Though Lin has substituted spinach for banana leaves in what he calls the South Sea salad roll, the other 58 dishes presented at Sukhothai mostle rely on imported ingredients from Thailand.
This means that traditional Thai dishes, which are often augmented in local restaurants so they taste like Chinese food, get a fresh lease on life. The original flavors of classics such as tom yum gung (sweet and sour shrimp soup) renew one's faith in the power of food to surprise and delight.
Joining Lin in providing authentic tastes is chef Phonlaphat Sudsaidee, from northeast Thailand, who has combined tradition and creativity to produce food rarely encountered here.
We were served what is called the khantoke sampler platter, consisting of nine small dishes, all of which have a unique flavor but nevertheless complemented each other. The som tam (green papaya and shrimp salad) came with a tart lime dressing and was eaten with rice that was pressed in the hand, traditional Thai style.
The meal came to a conclusion with Thai sweet rice and mango, and flour pastry with water chestnuts and sweet coconut cream. Sukhothai, by the way, means “golden dawn” and was the Kingdom of Siam's first capital in the 13th century.
Until Aug. 31 guests are offered a free appetizer of kratong thong (minced chicken tartlets) and ice fruit tea. Also, go to www.sheraton-taipei.com and download a coupon for one free dessert.
Thai food doesn't get much better than this, even in Thailand. And now is the time to visit.
The Taipei Times last week reported that the rising share of seniors in the population is reshaping the nation’s housing markets. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, about 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident. H&B Realty chief researcher Jessica Hsu (徐佳馨), quoted in the article, said that there is rising demand for elderly-friendly housing, including units with elevators, barrier-free layouts and proximity to healthcare services. Hsu and others cited in the article highlighted the changing family residential dynamics, as children no longer live with parents,
The classic warmth of a good old-fashioned izakaya beckons you in, all cozy nooks and dark wood finishes, as tables order a third round and waiters sling tapas-sized bites and assorted — sometimes unidentifiable — skewered meats. But there’s a romantic hush about this Ximending (西門町) hotspot, with cocktails savored, plating elegant and never rushed and daters and diners lit by candlelight and chandelier. Each chair is mismatched and the assorted tables appear to be the fanciest picks from a nearby flea market. A naked sewing mannequin stands in a dimly lit corner, adorned with antique mirrors and draped foliage
The election of Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) as chair of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) marked a triumphant return of pride in the “Chinese” in the party name. Cheng wants Taiwanese to be proud to call themselves Chinese again. The unambiguous winner was a return to the KMT ideology that formed in the early 2000s under then chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) put into practice as far as he could, until ultimately thwarted by hundreds of thousands of protestors thronging the streets in what became known as the Sunflower movement in 2014. Cheng is an unambiguous Chinese ethnonationalist,
The consensus on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair race is that Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) ran a populist, ideological back-to-basics campaign and soundly defeated former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), the candidate backed by the big institutional players. Cheng tapped into a wave of popular enthusiasm within the KMT, while the institutional players’ get-out-the-vote abilities fell flat, suggesting their power has weakened significantly. Yet, a closer look at the race paints a more complicated picture, raising questions about some analysts’ conclusions, including my own. TURNOUT Here is a surprising statistic: Turnout was 130,678, or 39.46 percent of the 331,145 eligible party
RSS