My Thai temptations
The temptation of Thai food lingers as soon as one gets a whiff of the kaffir and lemon grass-infused tom yam goong. Served in a white bowl, the shrimp soup — drizzled with coconut cream — teases the palate and prepares the taste buds for the complex flavors that await diners at My Thai Kitchen, a homegrown restaurant that serves delicious and authentic Thai fare at reasonable prices.
Opened in 2009, My Thai is owned and operated by restaurateur Nancy Cua, whose wandering taste buds led her to Bangkok, Thailand, where she savored the best-tasting tom yam goong in all its spicy glory.
“My family travels to eat,” Nancy enthuses. “Good, quality food is enough reason for us to pack our bags and go on a culinary journey.”
The idea of putting up her own Thai resto in Manila was hatched over a steaming bowl of the hot and sour shrimp soup during one of their food trips to Thailand.
Nancy Cua of My Thai “As soon as we got back to Manila, I asked chef Fernando ‘Fern’ Aracama if he could develop a Thai menu that would also cater to the Filipino palate,” relates Nancy.
Chef Fern gamely took up the challenge because luckily enough, he had just finished his authentic Thai cooking lessons in Bangkok. Nancy and her other partner, John Tian Seng, helped chef Fern conceptualize the menu.
Incidentally, Nancy is also responsible for bringing Pho Hoa, the largest Vietnamese restaurant chain in North America, to the country.
“It was during one of our trips to the US and Canada where we savored the best-tasting Vietnamese noodle dish simply called pho,” relates Nancy.
Realizing that there was no pho of this quality in the Philippines, Nancy decided to bring the famous noodle dish to Manila in 1997. The first Pho Hoa branch opened on Jupiter St. in Makati.
“Pho Hoa became a big hit among Filipinos. In fact, we now have 20 branches all over the country,” she adds.
Thai Will Be Done
Designed by Nancy’s son, Erik Cua, My Thai’s bright interiors and its signature Black Drawer Wall give the resto a contemporary feel, a place where family and friends can lounge and hang out over a great-tasting Thai meal.
The yam so oo (pomelo and shrimp salad) perks up the palate. Served on a bed of lettuce, the pomelo and shrimp salad is topped with peanuts, shallots, and mint leaf drizzled with lemon juice. It was light and refreshing.
Thai dishes like phad thai appeal to the senses because of their unique combination of spices and herbs that are layered over one another. At My Thai, diners can enjoy their phad thai with chicken, shrimp or tofu. The rice noodles are pan-fried with spring onions, scrambled eggs, and bean sprouts seasoned with tamarind, sugar, and lime sauce, and topped with chopped peanuts, chili, egg shrimps, and shallots.
Another must-try dish is the Thai nuea (beef) curry, which is my personal favorite. The oh-so-tender beef is soaked in a creamy coconut broth spiced with green curry, basil, kaffir, and chili.
“For Thais, eating chili is an art,” explains Nancy. “They love chili because they believe that it is both an aphrodisiac and a way to cool down after a meal (due to the extremely hot weather in the region).”
The most potent chilies, Nancy shared, are not the big red chilies but the tiny green ones. Known as bird’s eye chili or siling labuyo, the green variety packs a punch!
The khau kluk gapi or bagoong rice tops the menu. Served with sweet pork and thin slices of green mango, the rice dish is made fragrant with prawn paste, shallots, and ground peanuts.
For dessert, you can’t go wrong with tago haew (coconut and pandan pudding) and the sticky rice with mango.
My Thai in Gateway Mall shares its space with its sister restaurant Pho Hoa. So if you can’t decide what to order, you have a choice of Vietnamese or Thai food because you can order dishes from both restaurants.
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My Thai has branches at Eastwood Mall; SM Fairview; Wilson St., San Juan; Centris Edsa; SM North-EDSA, The Block; McKinley; and Gateway Mall.
