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Fit for a king

1/ 9/2002

IF you'll pardon the pun great Asian chefs should always enjoy their wok, and this is certainly true of Vunnee Kitraksa whose brilliant Thai dishes have been consumed by the country's royal family.

I joined Vunnee at the Pacific Restaurant in Manchester's Chinatown where she leads the kitchen team and where we cooked up a refreshing seafood and chicken salad. It had squid, king prawn with dried shrimp as well as the chicken strips. This delicious mix is fried and coated in a dressing of sweet and sour sauce made up of tamarind, lemon grass, red onion and lemon juice and garnished with cashew nuts and coriander, leaves.

The different tastes worked well together - I would serve this just after a spicy starter to get people's mouth watering and ready for the main course. While cooking Vunnee told me her mother had inspired her and passed on her great skill in the kitchen. I asked the queen of Thai cuisine did she enjoyed the British delicacy, fish and chips?

"Yes," she said, "but," she smiled, "I prefer a Thai curry." I think many of us curry lovers would agree to that.

Back home as well as satisfying royal hunger Vunnee has cooked for top politicians and film stars - in fact there was always someone famous dining at her Bangkok hotel. Vunnee said her favourite dish is chicken and rice Thailand style with ginger, chilli and black bean. But is cooking Thai food in the UK different to cooking back in the Far East?

"Not much, you adapt yourself where you're here. One difficulty is obtaining the full range of ingredients. We somehow still manage to find them or improvise with what you have here."

I asked her if she was a temperamental chef?

"All chefs are temperamental, she said. "It depends how busy you are and how competent the support staff are. At the Pacific we don't have such problems, I have a very strong team behind me."

Vunnee's favourite is a Tued Chum Say - who is a well respected chef who has cooked for the King of Thailand - a great honour.