Prepare your taste buds for a journey to northern Thailand, where every dish is a perfect blend of tradition and fusion. Now, you don’t have to travel far to experience these authentic flavours, as Asia Kitchen by Mainland China, a brand under Speciality Restaurants, is hosting a Northern Thai Food Festival in Kolkata. The cuisine brings together the rich flavours and techniques of Myanmar, Laos and China — with each dish offering a taste of cultural heritage
All images by Amit Datta
The region’s authentic flavours are brought to the city by Chef Tanya, who has deep-rooted expertise in Thai cuisine. She has curated a menu featuring traditional recipes made with fresh ingredients. Introducing the menu to My Kolkata, she said, ‘I have included all my favourite dishes — the ones we usually make at home. When we think of Thai food, we often think of the seafood popular in the southern coastal regions. But in the north, the food primarily comprises noodle soups, grilled meat and more, cooked with fresh herbs and local spices’
Moving on to the food, we started with (bottom) Prawn in Blankets — juicy prawns wrapped in thin strips of flour and deep-fried to create a crispy, golden layer. Next were the (top) Spicy Tamarind Chicken Wings, offering a perfect balance of sweet and sour flavours from the tamarind, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds adding a hint nuttiness to the dish
Assisting Chef Tanya was Chef Indroneel Bhattacharya, corporate executive chef at Speciality Restaurants. Speaking to My Kolkata about the choice of northern Thai food, he said, ‘People are more familiar with the coastal cuisine from places like Bangkok and Phuket. The food in the northern part of Thailand is made with fresh herbs and spices. We wanted people to experience the northern flavours of Thailand right here in the heart of Kolkata’
