Thai Blooms with Chef Ninja

By : | 0 Comments | On : May 1, 2017 | Category : Events/Reviews

Expat chef Ninja, whom some of us know as the warm and gracious Thai lady with amazing cooking chops, at the helm of Inazia& Chime, the pan Asian restaurant when it launched at Sheraton Hyderabad, has now moved on to the mint-new JW Marriott, Kolkata.

So, when Yogender Pal, the executive chef of Marriott Hyderabad roped her in to curate Where Thai Cuisine Blooms, a Thai food promotion at Okra, the 24-hour dining at Marriott, he knew exactly what was on offer for Hyderabadi diners: exceptional  Thai fare, some of them absolutely rare and traditional recipes.

I was privvy to a preview of the festival at a bloggers’ table which had a special menu crafted with all of Chef Ninja’s specials. “I have tried to incorporate the best of Thai street food, a few spicy southern Thai classics as well as a couple of the more mellow Northern Thai dishes,” says the soft-spoken Ninja.

We get started on Tod Man Pla, Thai Red Chilli spiced Fish Cakes and these are quite delicious! Keeping us inspiring company are some Thai inspired cocktails, a lemongrass martini for me to begin with, mixed by Leo, the star bartender at Okra.

I have the best of both worlds by ordering a vegetarian salad, ie Som Tam or Papaya salad, and also trying a spoonful of the minced chicken salad from my dining companion’s plate. Som Tam  is one of my most favourite Thai dishes and here Ninja doesnt disappoint. It is as expected: fresh and crunchy, tangy, spicy (spicier than usual, in fact and I am told the spice quotient of a good papaya salad varies every few kilometres) and sweet in turn, with all the aromas intact! But to be fair, the minced chicken salad is even more divine, with mint, shallot and spring onion and has plenty of crunch provided by the toasted brown rice grains added as garnish.

Som Tam or Raw Papaya Salad

Minced Chicken Salad or Laab Gai

Tom Yum Phak or the spicy and sour herb soup I had chosen tyrns out to be a tad sour for my liking, so I ask instead for the minced chicken with clear soup and this one is a winner! Simple, clean flavours and much nourishing is this hot and aromatic soup.

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to Thai, I am always greedy for a little more, even though I am stuffed. So on chef Yogender Pal’s recommendation, we try the Potato, Mushroom and Pumpkin in yellow curry with a bit of Steamed Jasmine rice, and the curry is just super delicious, creamy, yummy and bursting with the goodness of all the Thai herbs like galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

 

There are more intricate Thai elements in store. Pastry chef  has created a lemongrass mousse with pandan ice cream and I am gobsmacked as we are taken through the deconstructing exercise of this pretty-looking dessert by Chef Ratheesh Unni Nair, the pastry chef of Marriott who is popular for his well-crafted desserts.

 

Lemongrass mousse with pandan ice cream

The mousse is delicate with the flavour of lemongrass and its rare to find the pandan leaf, which is used in curries as well as steaming fish, to be used cleverly in a dessert like this.

The gracious chef Ninja with the spread; Chef Yogender can be seen in the mirror reflection

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