Spice I am – Darlinghurst, NSW (media event)

Spice I Am head chef Surjet Sangkaem and Phol Tantasathien, a celebrity chef from Thailand

It was less than a week ago that I attended the SBS Food Safari Book Launch at Spice I am before I found myself with a couple of food bloggers at this restaurant again, for a cosy dining experience with cooking demonstration by Spice I Am owner and head chef Surjet Sangkaem, and his friend, Phol Tantasathien, the Brand Ambassador of Le Cordon Bleu in Thailand who is visiting from Thailand for the Thai Food Festival in Darling Harbour just last month. But Phol’s past as an actor in Thailand, who has appeared in numerous movies has rather become the topic of the evening.

The not-so-new Spice I am in Darlinghurst is a lot more spacious and elegant than the original one at Wentworth Avenue. While black tables and chairs filled most of the corners in the restaurant, I like how there is also a more intimate lounge area where diners can sit back while enjoying a cocktail or two.

With very little information on what the menu has to offer, we are soon presented with many dishes that mainly focus on prawns imported from Thailand. I’ve been told that these farm bred prawns are snap-frozen as soon as they were caught to seal its freshness in.

We started the evening with the Thai king prawn salad served in a crispy shell (Miang Goong Gaa Tong Krob). The poached king prawn is served with lime, garlic, galangal, shallot, ginger with roasted peanut and chilli. We were also lucky enough to have Phol and Surjet to demonstrate how to make that little crispy morsel using a flower metal mould by dipping it into batter then deep fry in hot oil. They reckon the freshness of the prawns should speak for itself, hence the next plate is simply a poached king prawn with a muddle of tangy chilli sauce.

Phuket-style fritter of Thai king prawn on crispy betel leaf with chilli sauce, crushed peanuts and coriander

The next dish is simply my favourite of the evening. Bour Tod deep-fried betel leaf, a southern Thailand recipe that Surjet learned from his aunt. I’ve had betel leaf before but this is the first time I’ve had them deep fried. It is an absolute havoc of soft tenderness of the prawn against the crisp crunchiness of the deep-fried batter, which absolutely had me devouring it with my eyes closed in satisfaction.

Goong Yum Ta Krai Thai - king prawn salad with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, coriander, mint and crushed cashew nut garnished with fresh chilli

For main, we got to share a few dishes together with fragrant jasmine rice. The tower of king prawn salad (Goong Yum Ta Krai Thai) is a well balanced dish with the classic soury spicy Thai flavour. I really like the crunchiness of Thai salad using lots of fresh herbs like lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, coriander, mint and fresh chilli just to name a few.

Goong Pad Prik King - Stir fried Thai king prawn with green beans and red curry paste

The goong pad prik king probably got the most thumbs up from our corner at the table. I love a good pad prik king paste which has a very similar characteristic to a sambal paste, it has a manageable hotness and a subtle sweetness. The battered deep-fried prawns are not as crispy as I’d hoped for, but it is beautifully soaked up the sauce while the raw green beans add texture in the background.

Pla Nueng Manaow - Steamed fillet of Hiramasa kingfish with fresh lime, garlic and chilli dressing served on a bed of steamed Chinese cabbage

The steamed fillet of Hiramasa kingfish (pla nueng manaow) is the lonely fish in the school of prawns this evening. The fish is tenderly soft, covered with a rather large dose of chilli seeds with a soury lime dressing. Don’t be fool by its cleaning looking plating, this fiery zesty dish makes one’s lips twisted in agony. We found it is the hottest dish of the night.

Gaeng Keow Waan Goong - Green curry of Thai king prawn with apple eggplant, pea eggplant, kaffir lime leaf, red chilli and Thai basil

The Thai king prawn green curry (gaeng keow waan goong) does help by giving the numbing tongue a break from all the spicy hotness. The creamy curry is infused with coconut cream with fresh prawns swimming among all the apple and pea eggplants. I always love biting into the tiny pea eggplant and let out a tiny pop inside my mouth.

Tom Yum Goong - Thai king prawn in a hot and sour soup with galangal, kaffir lime leaf, chilli, Thai basil, cherry tomato, eschallot and oyster mushroom

I haven’t had many good tom yum goong in Sydney, but this is possibly one of the best I’ve tasted. Don’t let the outlook fools you again, this hot and sour soup is definitely much more hotter than I expected. There is a generous amount of ingredients including oyster mushrooms and two big king prawns. This soup has certainly brought out the darker side of me, I am slowly becoming a chilli addict and keep wanting more and more until my whole body is burning from inside out.

Khao Naew Ice Cream - Green sticky rice served with coconut ice cream

Before I know it, the dinner has come to an end and the finale dessert are presented to us. Finally something to cool the body down after all the hot dishes. A contemporary take of the traditional sticky rice (khao naew ice cream) by using pandan to infuse the glutinous rice and served with coconut ice cream. I actually couldn’t taste any of the pandan flavour in the sticky rice, but the coconut ice cream is aromatic and creamy, just how I like it.

Thank you Surjet and Phol for being such an entertaining hosts. I definitely will go back to Spice I Am for a proper dinner… with meat.

[A Table For Two attended the Spice I Am Thai Seafood Dinner courtesy of Spice I Am, Thai Trade Department and PEPR Publicity.]

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Spice I Am Restaurant
296-300 Victoria St, Darlinghurst
P: +61 (02) 9332 2445

Lunch: Thursday-Sunday 11.30am-3.00pm
Dinner: 7 days 6.00pm-10.30pm

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