Pun Pun Vegetarian Restaurant

http://www.punpunthailand.org/

A hidden gem

…and I do mean hidden. We spent a good hour looking for it (not such a bad thing as we’d just had a buffet lunch at Khun Churn not 3 hours prior- hey, it was my birthday and all I wanted to do was eat), but it seemed obvious once we worked it out. Don’t make the mistake of trying to follow a map to find the restaurant, and don’t get confused by the non vegetarian Pun Pun van outside the temple. Instead just get yourself to Wat Suan Dok and find the monk chat building on the grounds. A pathway leads up the side and along that path is the restaurant.

When we found the restaurant, a lovely man took our orders and brought our meals. As our last dishes were brought out, he smiled and said they would be closing but we were welcome to stay and finish our meal. We paid him and the staff left, leaving us alone in a lovely, quiet, peaceful spot to enjoy one of my best birthday meals ever.

Hed Sa-Tay

Hed Sa-Tay at Pun Pun Vegetarian, Chiang Mai

Deep fried shiitake mushrooms served with peanut, tamarind, and coconut sauce (40 baht).

I’m a firm believer that batter frying is a serious skill, and if you manage to fry something that’s still crispy 20 minutes after it left the oil and has got cold, then you’ve got the knack. Fabulous.

Pad Khing Dtow Hoo

Pad Khing Dtow Hoo at Pun Pun, Chiang Mai

Stir fried ginger, tofu, mushrooms, and greens (40 baht).

Paul’s choice off the menu, ginger based stir fries are always a winner. Fresh veggies and pungent ginger with cashew nuts can’t really fail.

Dtow Hoo Steak

Dtow Hoo Steak at Pun Pun, Chiang Mai

Tofu steak topped with coconut milk and black pepper sauce (50 baht).

Tofu for the win! This protein-rich dish would have been enough for my whole meal were I less of a pig. Perfectly creamy smooth fresh coconut sauce and the best textured tofu you’ll ever find, this was the star of the whole meal.

Dessert

Dtow Hoo Namman Ngah at Pun Pun, Chiang Mai

Deep fried home-made sesame tofu and vegetable cooked in onion and sesame oil dressing (40 baht).

Clearly the fact that I’d eaten not long before this meal didn’t get through my thick skull the fact that tofu isn’t exactly a light foodstuff, so I went ahead and ordered another tofu dish. One day soon I’ll be attempting to make this on my own, because it too was deeeeeelicious.

Final Thoughts

If you find yourself in Chiang Mai and are looking for an inexpensive, nutritious, and sustainable dining choice, then look no further than Pun Pun vegetarian restaurant. Open from 9am – 6pm all days but Wednesday, I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed. Plus you might learn a thing or two!

It’s nine days of bliss, I tell you. Food coma vegan bliss. Unfortunately I was only in-country for three or 4 days of the festival, so had to eat twice as many meals to make up for lost time.

I ate a lot of great things in those four days, but I’ve got to share one of the most amazing experiences in my mental catalogue of cool shiitake: the vegetarian festival tent at Chatukchak weekend market in Bangkok.

The Chutuchak Market Vegetarian Tent

I had just returned to Bangkok a day or two prior to meet a friend and then fly home. A bit sad (home? already?), tired, and meh (constant rain), I force myself to get up early and head to the weekend market (one of the largest in the world). I figure I’ll find some cool kitchen implements and snap some interesting photos at the very least. Around 11am I’m pretty much going to die from starvation and thirst, so I find a booth with the festival yellow flags and grab a bowl of water chestnuts in coconut milk.

Dodging puddles and ambling around the food, tie dye tee, and pottery stalls, I spot a tent surrounded by yellow flags. Still a bit peckish, I figure I’ll take a peek and grab a few [tonnes of] further snacks. I finish my rubies fast for fear of rain drops diluting the coconut milk and stripping it of its richness and flavour.

Under cover of the tent everyone smiles big gracious smiles at me, the only tourist around. Heaving, people are everywhere, back to back, I’m overwhelmed and move to the side. This isn’t within my comfort zone but the atmosphere is surely a sign the food is good?!

I’m standing by a long table and a group of older people start talking to me while a photographer snaps some pictures. Everyone is thrilled, and I somehow feel like I’m the guest of honour at a party I don’t really understand. They encourage me to eat, ask questions about where I’m from, smile, smile, smile, take more pictures of us together like we’re old friends. There are styrofoam bowls full of food everywhere. Hundreds.

Eventually I move away, curious to see all that’s on offer and make some choices. Noodles, buns, and deep fried tofu call to me from one corner; soups and deserts from the adjacent tables, more of everything and then some from the other end. Popcorn, rice, curry, beans.

I’m already overwhelmed by all of the options but decide to suss out the Pad Thai, to start with something I know, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how this system works! What’s the custom, how do I pay, how are these people like perfectly balanced ballerinas with 4 bowls of soup, a stack of noodle trays, and 19 bags of popcorn stacked in their arms?

Then a woman offers a tray of Pad Thai. Smiling, she says “take it.” I smile back, a little unsure, and she reads my confusion. “free,” she says, “it’s all free.”

My eyes begin to water. I’m overwhelmed and can’t answer, so she places the tray in my hands. The photographer is still taking pictures of me and everyone is still smiling. For those seconds it’s as if time has stopped, one of those moments where the present hits hard and I realise how incredibly lucky I am.

Suddenly I see the vegetarian tent in a whole new light. Outside a woman is filling a wagon with bowlfuls of food, to the other side is a huge offering table, and everyone appears to be so grateful for it all.

I spend the next hour sampling what my stomach can take, the photographer still snapping pictures of me with most vendors I visit, the vendors eager for me to try this and that. Some young men educate me about ingredients, telling me which dishes to choose (“that’s my favourite, but you should try them all anyway”). People clear seats for me to sit while others bring me water. A man sitting next to me says “It’s the culmination of the festival and this is the only day where it’s like this.” An official stops beside my chair and chats to me about England while someone else brings me more water.

Complete strangers are enjoying both something nice being done for them and doing something nice for someone else. I’m so emotional over the experience that I feel like I’m in a dream and I can hardly fight back tears.

I don’t want to leave because I feel naively safe and protected here, but I’m going to be sick if I take another bite so I wander away to dispose of the remaining piles of food.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a vegan cooking class at May Kaidee vegetarian restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Not the first, nor the last, time I’ve been to this veggie haven, I’ve wanted to subscribe to their half day cooking class for years; I just never find the time when I’m around. This time, however, I bit the bullet and signed my name along the dotted line.

The class itself (which ended up being private tuition as no one else signed up) is taught by May’s sister Diana and, at least in the case of my class, results in about 16 dishes. Many are simple alterations of a previous recipe, hence how it’s possible to fit so many dishes into a four or 5 hour class.

Shopping sucks, except for food

The day started with a trip to local Sompet Market to purchase ingredients and get schooled in the basics of these recipe constituents. It’s fairly rudimentary stuff but if you’re new to Thai cooking then it’s a good summary for certain.

What follows after returning to the restaurant is a brief session in cutting and preparing vegetables, followed by an immediate relocation to the upstairs kitchen. Fires are lit, woks go on the heat, and you begin with the basics of toasting sesame seeds and peanuts, deep frying cashew nuts, TVP and tofu, plus a quick how to on and discussion of chili pastes. These are condiments you’ll use throughout the morning.

Some archetypal Thai dishes and variations on the theme

The actual recipes started with tom yam soup and tom kha soup, followed by quite urgent queries of which I prefered (“Both! How can I choose?!”). Quickly we moved on to pumpkin soup (and a second curried variation). The next dishes off the hob were stir fries: mixed vegetables with ginger and the same again but with the aforementioned fried cashews. Pad thai, fresh peanut sauce, spring rolls in fresh rice paper, and the restaurant’s famous pumpkin hummus were thrown in the mix, along with the preparation of the quintessential green Thai curry and massuman curry dishes. The course was finished off with the preparation of a spicy green papaya salad and mango with sticky rice.

The class cost 1200 baht in total and that price included everything. All dishes prepared are single serving, but it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that one person cooking so many solo portions still equals a bumtonne of food. Even after sharing with some interested Australian diners, Paul (who, might I add, only appeared once all of the food was finished) and I couldn’t finish it off.

Would I do it again, in hindsight? Yes, definitely. Despite being aimed at culinary beginners, Diana is a passionate and information woman who can tell you just about anything you want or need to know about Thai cuisine. That alone is worth the price tag so far as I’m concerned.

Luckily, the company answered my request in a way to give me hope.

We’re glad to hear you’ve discovered Daiya and are enjoying it while in the U.S.  We are in talks with several groups who are interested in supplying the European market so please keep an eye on our website over the coming year for updates.

Great, right?

In other news, my childhood home was the land of crazier. The kitchen was gutted and being refitted and all available cooking facilities had been relocated to the garage (read: mostly ineffective electric hob, microwave, and toaster oven). The bathtub became the kitchen sink and any available surface the counter space.

It’s nice to be home (but I can’t wait to see and use their finished kitchen).

The cost of heaven comes at a premium, but what can I expect when my pearly gates exist as the doorway into any shop in Switzerland? Similar to the French macaron, but lighter, a trip to the city of Zurich cannot be complete without a visit to Confiserie Sprüngli for a taste of their divine Luxemburgerlis.

At 10.30 CHF per 100g you will easily spend your daily travel allowance in one go, but after one bite I promise you won’t regret your decision. A shame the recipe is a secret kept close to the heart of Sprüngli.

The oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe

Opened in 1898, Hiltl claims to be the oldest vegetarian establishment on the continent. When in the city of Zurich I inevitably find myself here enjoying a selection of perfectly cooked seasonal vegetables and moorish treats. Is it the best food I’ve eaten? I won’t lie, because I can turn out similar flavours and presentation from my own kitchen, but it’s really a lovely place and well worth a try.

They have both a sit down menu with service and a buffet (price by weight), the latter a process of serving yourself and weighing the end result for the price. The portions from the buffet versus the menu seem to come out at similar prices (between 25-35 CHF) so don’t try to dupe yourself into saving money. Just sit down and enjoy a treat! The rösti is good and my friend swears by the madras banana.

Pure vegetarians beware as they do use rennet in some of their cheeses. This is evident and marked on the buffet bar but not on the English sit-down menu. Also note there is a special daily menu in German that doesn’t feature on the English menu.

…and of course chocolate

To many people the idea of Switzerland is synonymous with a luscious indulgence in tempting chocolates, and I will agree they do have a way with cacao. But, like any other place associated with a fine food, you can substitute quality for cost or embrace those establishments worth remembering (your wallet never forgets). Teuscher is one such institution, one which will cost you more than you’d ever think to spend on chocolate but which will leave you considering brands like Cadbury’s and Hersheys to be anything but chocolate.

Americans might enjoy Teuscher’s US based stores while the rest of us have to wait for a trip to Switzerland or Germany. Try anything. Everything! Something?

In Switzerland I remind myself, oh I have to, that I must listen sometimes only to what my mind desires. Every once in awhile, it’s okay to ignore that voice of reason in your head and opt instead for sheer ignorance of the fact that you could remortgage your home and still only just afford a meal out. This is what I tell myself. My Luxemburgelis and me.

It’s not unusual for me to call life off for a few weeks and just get out of here. That combined with weekends away, short trips, and visiting my family back in the US means my lazy arse doesn’t get a post up for a brief time. Oops, sorry. The thing is, I love travel. My excuse this itme? A week away in Salcombe (which is in the county of Devon in Southwest England if you don’t know), followed by a few days in Brussels with my visiting mother.

Why am I telling you this? Because when I travel I always find food related things which inspire me, make me warm and happy, and often cause me to drool on my last set of clean clothes. I always say to myself, “write about this! Post the recipe you created as a result!” and clearly I ignore myself most of the time. This time, however, is different because I banned myself from eating my finds until I photographed them… and once they’re photographed they may as well be posted!

Belgian chocolate.

This is almost a buzzword in the foodie world, isn’t it? The truth is most of it’s worthless, factory produced piles of goop which can make Hershey’s chocolate seem authentic. I tried and even enjoyed a fair amount of such choc, so don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a junk food fest as much as the next person, but at the end of the day I believe in paying a lot for a little of something good rather than a little for a lot of something under par in quality. Hence I looked out there chocolatiers with a good reputation for making their own quality product: The Chocolate Line, Dumon, and Sukerbuyc.

Dumon Chocolatier

This is the chocolate maker I would recommend to a serious chocoholic. Dumon’s chocolates are the creamiest, smoothest chocolates for which one could hope. It’s melt-in-your mouth good, and the staff are helpful; they have to be as the chocolates are not labeled. I was at first put off by this, but I left feeling more knowledgable about what I bought as the shop staff really engage with customers to explain. In the end I felt confident in trusting their own choices and took away a box of their picking. I wasn’t dissapointed with a single one.

Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc

Katelijnestraat 5, Brugge.

A sign on the door asks for only customers to come inside in order to preserve quality. A few years ago I’d have passed this off as an act of snobbery and would have huffed away to the cheapest shop I could find. Yes, I’d show them! Now, not so much. Are they snobbish? Perhaps. Does the attitude make their chocolate better? Probaby not.

The thing is, I get it. There are so many chocolate shops in this small city, enough to spend a full day going in and out and only seeing half. They are mostly all the same, and many with staff who don’t seem at all interested in what they sell. I understand why a shop who makes their own would get frustrated with yet another pack of tourists bursting in the door only to leave and, as I said, head to the cheaper place down the road (something they would do anyway). Plus Sukerbuyc has a great window display, one which allows the browsing public to see all they have on offer without entering the store.

I entered the store, because I knew I wanted to buy. I knew they had something different, and I knew I needed to buy some of the Advokaat (avocado); I’d sampled a white chocolate truffle with avocado in Brussels but this was the first I saw in dark. Others I sampled include dark chocolate and violet, coffee, and more which have long since come to rest in my stomach.

My opinion on Sukerbuyc? For lack of better words, this chocolate is less rich than that which is sold in Dumon. Not that it’s untoothsome, just less creamy and with less milk used in the recipe. I could handle no more than one or two silky pieces from Dumon in one sitting; my body could survive slightly more from Sukerbuyc no doubt. Their avocado was quite possibly my favourite find of the trip.

The Chocolate Line

Simon Stevinplein 19, 8000 Brugge

Fried onion, cola, violet, caramel coriander, cabernet sauvignon, lavender, lemongrass, vodka-lemon, and earl grey. Chocolates.

I thought I would save the most interesting for last.

One thing that frustrates me most with people, even self proclaimed foodies, is their willingness to dismiss a flavour simply because it sounds bad. Think of all the things we ingest now, combinations which at some point in time didn’t exist. Once upon a time there was a person with an original thought to use curdled milk to make cheese, to mix flour and water and bake it, to combine tomato with herbs to create a sauce… You get the idea. Why not combine onion and chocolate? From a species which enjoys a wide range of fermented foods and wholly unordinary culinary practises, chocolate and onion seems positively straight forrward!

So yes, those are the flavours I chose, and I’m not at all disappointed with my selection. The chocolate and fried onion combination was quite interesting and subtle; it worked well in my opinion. But my favourite thus far has been the vodka-lemon, imparting a series of changing flavours as it rests on your tongue. Cola has been my least favourite, though not overall. That distinction would have to go to the sickly false banana flavoured chocolate I regretably purchased elsewhere.

When in Bruges, eat these

Dumon is perfect for serious lovers of rich milk chocolate. Try anything with their chocolate ganache.

From Sukerbuyc I preferred the dark chocolates, and the avocado filling is highly recommended.

If you’re interested in trying something different and wholly inspirational, head to The Chocolate Line. Be sure to try the vodka-lemon white chocolate!

After a lengthy holiday in Southeast Asia, I’m back and ready to cook (well technically ready to sleep, but I’ll get around to both at some point). Sorry for the lack up updates being lazy and not updating while I was adventuring away.

The easiest country in which to be Vegetarian in Southeast Asia is easily, for me, Vietnam. A lot of people assume that since these countries are Buddhist, they are veggie-friendly. This is not the case, especially in Thailand where things like fish and oyster sauce are used in just about everything from sweet chilli dips to curries. In fact, the “vegetarian” sections of menu will often list things like “vegetables in oyster sauce.” Go figure.

I won’t dwell on that much, because having been there before I knew this was to be expected. But there is one thing I will dwell on, and that’s the quality of bean curd in the region. In Vietnam I ate it nearly every day, sometimes more. Very early on I made the decision that as soon as I got home I would order a SoyQuick soy milk maker and a tofu press. Now the trip has come and on, I’m back home, and have received my new toy. This morning was my first attempt at its use, and with the first batch of soy milk I decided to try to make some home made tofu.

Using the SoyQuick was dead easy and it really makes the soy milk in a speedy manner (the beans, of course, have to be soaked first), but I thought the clean-up was a bit tedious (but then again it was before sunrise — hey, I’m jetlagged). I followed the instructions (*gasp*) to coagulate the milk and poured it into some muslin in the tofu press, along with a tad of salt and some liquid smoke flavouring. The instructions instructed (fancy that) to press for only 15-20 minutes, but I left it for a couple of hours. I’ll admit this was mainly due to laziness over anything else.

The end result is pretty good for my first go, I think! I’ll be sure to experiment with lots of nifty flavours and such over the next weeks, so stay tuned!

Simple foods like breads and fruit juices should not contain 101 ingredients, most of which I’ve never heard of. When I see something in the ingredients list I’ve never heard of, that product goes back on the shelf so I can look it up on the internets when I get home. Nine times out of 10, it’s a wacky preservative cooked up in a lab somewhere. I will not buy that product. In the US (save havens like Whole Foods and Trader Joes) it is increasingly difficult to find products that are simple and not choc-full of preservatives and other crazy things.

And don’t even get me started on the difficulty of being vegetarian, especially since the FDA doesn’t require dairy manufacturers to list whether or not rennet is used (all they require is “enzymes,” which could of course be vegetable, microbial, or animal). Combine that with the desire to eat foods without a million unnecessary ingredients (I mean, come on, who puts gelatin in yoghurt?! That’s just lazy manufacturing) and suddenly my dinner plate gets more empty and/or my grocery bill sky rockets (groceries are actually far cheaper in the UK, believe it or not).

Needless to say, I am feeling happy to be back home. I’m happy to be back in a society where “I’m hungry” translates to heading back home to get dinner started, rather than an immediate need to feed on the closest available snackfood. I generalise heavily I know, but there’s something to be said for it. How can a person have a healthy relationship with food and their body when it’s all based on instant gratification and no knowledge (nor care) of what’s being put into their body?

To be healthy and happy with your body is to have respect for it, and that respect entails an understanding of the foods you eat and a healthy relationship with that food. I think people forget this, and hence comes the inevitable self-loathing in relation to the body, leading then to the roller coaster of fad-diets which again are another example of instant gratification.

I don’t care what the British say about the French; a healthy relationship with food is the one thing they have down pat, and I wish Americans (and also, increasingly, Britains) could somehow follow their lead.