Thai Food at Red Chopsticks

What I have just discovered about Dato' Lim Bian Yam is that his culinary skills are not limited to local Chinese and Malay food. Dato' Lim is also skilled in the cooking of food from other cultures, and this is transferred to any of his students willing to learn, like Tee Peck Siang, who runs Red Chopsticks in Ideal Avenue.

On 7 April, 2016, my wife and I had the pleasure of trying out Red Chopsticks' newly launched Thai menu.

Our meal began with the Miang Kham เมี่ยงคำ. This is a traditional snack or starter of Thailand and Laos, usually taken before the main course. The items at Red Chopsticks' Miang Kham include lime (with the peel), shallots, chopped peanuts, toasted coconut, diced ginger (which I forgo, as I don't like ginger), and dried shrimps. These are wrapped with daun kaduk or wild pepper leaves (Piper sarmentosum), but for the benefit of people who don't like daun kaduk, Red Chopsticks also prepared some lettuce.

What we like most about the Miang Kham is the sweet-and-tangy sauce that goes with the various ingredients. This, I believe, is made with palm sugar, lemon grass and chilli.

Red Chopsticks (7 April 2016)

For our main course, my wife and I had the Pineapple Fried Rice King and the Thai Belacan Fried Rice King. The Pineapple Fried Rice King is a set that includes the prawn tomyam soup ต้มยำกุ้ง and thab tim krob ทับทิมกรอบ dessert. The tomyam comes with two large prawns, while the pineapple fried rice includes a pan-fried seabass fillet in Thai 3-taste chilli sauce. The Thai Belacan Fried Rice King is a set that includes clear fish tomyam soup ต้มยำปลา, Kai Ho Bai Toei ไก่ห่อใบเตย (chicken wrapped in pandan leaves), fritters, and thab tim krob. Both tomyam soups are served in coconuts. Between the two types of tomyam, I prefer the one with prawns, because it is redder and spicier. And to quench our thirst, we had the coconut shake.

Once again, it was a lovely dinner at Red Chopsticks. I enjoyed all the items, in particular the prawn tomyam and the coconut shake. Due to the blend of strong flavours, at first I felt the belacan rice was not sufficiently flavourful, but towards the end of the meal, I began to detect the belacan flavour which is nice, but alas my rice was finishing by then! We look forward to returning to Red Chopsticks to try out its other dishes.