Manila loves the Peninsula Bangkok’s chef Sumalee

I met this beautiful chinky-eyed Thai lady chef in one of our trips to Bangkok.
For three years now, I enjoy a sametime, next-year love affair with her – food affair is more like it. And my Darleng doesn’t mind a bit at all. She even comes with me every time I go to see her. Am I not one lucky guy?

She simply introduced herself as chef Sumalee Boonek, the teacher for our Thai cooking lessons at the Peninsula Bangkok. We found out later on that not only is she an award-winning chef, she is also the executive chef of Thiptara, which was voted as Asia’s best hotel restaurant in November 2003. Yeah, Asia’s best, not Thailand’s best! This very pleasant and unassuming lady came in an immaculate white chef’s uniform. I instantly liked her.

Chef Sumalee taught us how to make phad thai noodles with two-color eggs and my favorite curry, kaeng kiew warn moo, a dish of pork in green curry sauce. In exchange, I thought her and her sous chef how to make authentic adobo. Well, we could not have had an exchange of wedding rings, so instead we had an exchange of recipes. Then she prepared a dinner for us at Thiptara, which is famous for its homestyle Thai cuisine. We did not choose from the menu but asked her to take control – from the appetizer to the dessert. Our only request was that she "cook it like you will eat it." Which meant that she should not adjust the spiciness of her dishes. I was, after all, with a "hot" lady. Pun intended. And it turned out to be a memorable, well-planned meal.

The second time I had a chance to meet with chef Sumalee was when she came over last year as guest chef at The Peninsula Manila’s Spices. Before heading to the Peninsula, I bought her some tamales and different kinds of suman and kakanin. I was that excited to see her and taste her cooking again. That time, her dishes drew crowds to Spices, and her cooking class was such a big hit that there was a clamor for more.

So, following her success last year, "my" chef was again in town recently, and Darleng and I were again one of the lucky ones to be invited to try her cooking. I had to beg off because I had a fund-raising dinner engagement with some artists. It is moments like this when I wish I could split my body into two or three. I dropped off Mary Ann at the Pen, while I headed to my dinner. All that time, my mind was with chef Sumalee and her dishes. Just as soon as I could sneak from my dinner, I drove to the Pen for a quickie and only went back to my artist friends afterwards. Nevermind if traffic was bad, nevermind if I had dinner already. Thai food always excites me.

Contrary to what many may think, Thai food is not just spicy. Like any cuisine, it is about balancing different tastes, flavors and textures in one meal. The only thing distinct about Thai cuisine is that it has a lot of hot dishes; that is why some people think all Thai dishes are hot. But this is not so. Take the dinner "my" chef prepared that night, for example.

First was yum thua-ploo, which is wing bean or sigarillas salad with shrimps and peanuts. Darleng surprised everyone when she said she has not eaten nor seen sigarillas before. Well, to start with, she does not like vegetables, and that is why when she takes a liking to a vegetable, I learn how to cook it so she can have vegetables in her diet. And she liked the yum thua-ploo so much. She cannot even recall how many servings she had. This is one Thai dish that admittedly I have not seen before. And it was good, especially since the sigarillas were crunchy. The sigarillas were raw, and were just tossed with shrimps and peanuts. "Please learn to make this," Mary Ann begged with her usual you-cannot-resist-me style. This was not a hot dish.

Then came the yum nhaem, Changmai sausage salad with ginger, shallots and fresh chili. Pinoys might not find this dish palatable. The Thai sausage, unlike what we are accustomed to, is pale in color and looks raw even when cooked. The taste of ginger balances the fresh chilies, I guess, but I find it a little overpowering. This dish is semi-hot.

Then came the thod man pla, fish cakes with cucumber peanut sauce. Fish cakes are probably the most popular of Thai appetizers. You see them on the streets, in food courts, and even in Thai restaurants of five-star hotels. My guess is because it appeals to everyone’s taste. But these fish cakes are not easy to make. They are easy to eat, yes, but to make, certainly not. And my test of an excellent fish cake is that it must have that fresh and clean taste, not the biting taste like some have. It should be nice and firm on the outside but moist inside. And chef Sumalee’s fish cakes are exactly how I want them. Served with a mild cucumber sauce, they were very soothing. This dish is not hot at all, unless like Darleng, you’d love to dip them in fish sauce with sliced fresh chilies. Didn’t I tell you she is one hot lady?

Next dish was tom yum tha-lay, a spicy and sour seafood soup. Tom yum is my Darleng’s favorite Thai dish, and she was so very excited to see it on the menu. This was meant to be the spicy dish following the cool fish cake. But upon request of some diners, the soup turned out to be too bland for Mary Ann’s taste. She added just spoonfuls of dried Thai chili pepper and added rice to her bowl of soup. This is how she always takes tom yum, as if it was pesa. Then she requested for a bowl and told the waiter to tell the chef if she could make her tom yum as hot and as sour as if she would be the one eating it. This was the hot dish.

Next course was the mas-sa-man nua, curry with beef tenderloin and potatoes, a very sweet dish meant to counter the heat from the soup. The beef was tender and nicely flavored, but too sweet for my taste.

Then came the pla kra phong nueng ma-now, steamed sea bass with a spicy and sour sauce. The sea bass had a very fresh and clean taste. It even smelled nice. Except for Mary Ann, this was everybody’s favorite dish that night. (She does not eat fish fillet, and that is another story altogether.) The sea bass was so fresh and properly steamed that you could even taste the sweetness of the fish.

The last, and the best so said many, was the goong oob woon-sen, roasted big prawns with glass noodles and ginger served in a clay pot. No doubt about it, everyone was attracted to the delicious smell of the dish. It looked like a Chinese-inspired dish to me. I am allergic to prawns, so I just watched and listened to them moo in delight. "Manyaman," said Darleng.

"Hey, this is really good," said another, as she was helping herself to the second prawn.

"Thought you said you’re too full to take anymore," said another.

I just smiled; I was actually on my second dinner. Which just shows there is always room for a delicious one.

By the dessert course, I still hadn’t seen my same-time, next-year food partner. I braved into the kitchen to surprise her and steal a photo of her while she was cooking. She didn’t remember me one bit. Huhuhu. Well, I never used "we;" I just had a food affair. I never called it "our affair;" it was just "my affair."

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Catch chef Sumalee’s cooking and her lessons at The Peninsula Manila’s Spices from May 6 to 28. For reservations, call 887-2888 local 2168 and 2596.

Here’s a tip: Simply tell her if you want your dishes cooked spicy hot or not. You see, I am willing to share my "ladyfood" with you all. Like my Darleng, I am not the jealous type.