16 hours ago
TOM PARKER BOWLES reviews Thai spot Supawan: ‘This is cooking that makes the senses holler
Wichet Khongphoon is a man of many talents. Hotelier. Florist. Chef. Restaurateur. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a sideline in nuclear fission. Anyway, he comes from Trang, in the south of Thailand, and opened Supawan, just behind King's Cross, to honour his late eponymous niece. God only knows why I haven't visited before. I'm a regional Thai food freak, obsessed with the likes of 101 Thai Kitchen, Fitou's, Singburi, Kolae and Som Saa. But how I missed this one I'll never know.
Thank goodness, then, for Kay Plunkett-Hogge, who was born in Thailand, lives there with her husband Fred, and is the author of Baan, one of my favourite Thai cookbooks. They're both over for a few weeks, and we meet at Supawan. Kay is a fan.
We skip the usual green curries and pad Thai and move straight down south, where chilli, turmeric and shrimp paste (gapi) rule supreme. There are gai yang gorlea chicken skewers, plump chunks of thigh marinated in a coconut-scented curry sauce. And yum hoa plee, a banana- blossom salad that explodes across the palate in a sultry bacchanal of taste and texture: the warm growl of the dried chilli and the sharpness of tamarind; the crunch of toasted coconut, cashew nuts and deep-fried shallots. Wow.
Pad sa-tor has fat prawns cooked in a fragrant, punchy, homemade red chilli paste. Green stink beans (sator) add fresh bite and mustardy pungency. Then moo hong, a traditional Phuket dish with Chinese roots – gelatinous chunks of wobbling pork belly braised in a sauce sweet with palm sugar and gently spiced with black pepper and five spice. Another Phuket classic, kha-nom jeen namya poo, or crab curry with soft noodles, packs a rather more strident chilli punch. But again, there's the ever-elegant balance of the hot, sweet and salty. The key, Kay tells me, is in the quality of the gapi.
Finally, nam prik kung siab, a relish with dried and smoked shrimp at its heart. Served with a jungle of crisp greenery, the dish has heat and depth and heart and soul. And leaves the tastebuds craving more. This is cooking that makes the senses holler in lusty delight.
'Eat well, live well, be happy' says a note at the bottom of the bill. After dinner at Supawan, I'm nothing short of ecstatic.
