Get High on Tea!

The tea drinker vs. the coffee drinker is like a clash of the Titans or a duel between classical and jazz music. Tea drinkers are somehow like the refined-yoga-health-conscious-freaks, whereas the coffee drinkers are the hyper-workaholics-multi-tasking hip group.

With the proliferation of cafes and hangout places around town, these chill-out groupies are offered a lot of choices. Which group out numbers who is not the point but the places to go matters the most. Apparently there is a large group of tea drinkers judging from the afternoon hi-tea hype all over Bangkok. It seems nibbling little cucumber sandwiches and sipping jasmine green tea is one the highly rewarding afternoon activity of the hi-so and trendy crowd.

Recently, worlds collided at the Four Seasons with the conglomeration of 5-star chefs from all over the globe, boosting Bangkok's reputation even more. Two pastry chefs from all over the globe had week-long activities from baking demonstration to fancy afternoon tea menu presentation. Five-star pastry chef, Katrina Kanetani from Sydney, Australia, made offerings of different grades of fine chocolates paired with spices and fruit reductions harmonizing into the desserts. Katrina says, “… a drop of this and a drop of that enhances the tea flavors”. While Nicole Kransinski from San Francisco, California, used local spices to lace up desserts resulting in unexpected flavors.

Afternoon in Bangkok has stepped up a notch higher as 5-star hotels and cafes try to outdo each other. Heading the race is The Four Seasons (155 Rajadamri Road, Bangkok, Tel: 02 2501000) with its traditionally luxurious afternoon tea delight. Maintaining its exquisite choices of savories and sweets, weekend are best spent enjoying tea time at The Lobby, amidst the ornate ceiling and the imposing columns that set the mood to an atmosphere of sheer class (850B/person for weekend tea buffet; 650B/set on weekdays). A wide selection of fine black tea, green tea, fruit tisane and herbal infusion match with foie gras parfait Napoleon or warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream, provide an ideal weekend treat.

The search moves on to one of the first in high tea cultures. The Oriental Hotel (48 Oriental Avenue, Tel:02 659 9000) celebrates its old traditions within the Author’s Lounge, where famous writers once sipped tea. Its setting is a blast from the past designed with white-washed rattan armchairs and white parasols. Munch on scones, pastries and cakes carefully placed on 3 tiered tray for a lazy afternoon amid the tall bamboos and palm trees (880B/tea sets), or order ala carte from the menu.

Feeling a bit fancier? Splurge on an extravagant tea time at lebua lounge (1055/111 Silom Road, Tel: 02 6249999). A refillable set of sandwiches, cakes and savories (1,500B) is served with tea fit for a queen. Overindulge by starting with a bubbly glass of champagne, before gorging on the light snacks that include mini steak sandwiches and itsy-bitsy sweets that can be the highlight of any day (tea set with Champagne, 4,500B).

A view of the river with couples swarming in for an afternoon of ballroom dancing with a live band translates into a lively and quite entertaining weekend at the Shangrila Hotel lobby (89 Soi Wat Suanplu, New Road; Tel: 02 236 7777). The food offered is more like a mini lunch buffet with noodles and Thai treats aside from the usual sandwiches and sweets, which is a tip-off from the traditional high tea (650B/person). What makes it more attractive is the show it offers, it’s up to you if you’d like to be the spectator or the performer.
Smack right in the middle of the busy Sukhumvit area, the Sheraton Grande (250 Sukhumvit Road; Tel: 02 649 8888) offers a refuge from the madding frenzy. The Living Room up to the Library at the mezzanine offers a venue for a quiet weekday afternoon hangout for hi tea fans (470B). On weekends, it transforms into a livelier ambience with its afternoon tea time buffet with jazz music (600B). Guests gather at around 3pm to savor the hefty assortment of tapas, sandwiches and sweets to jazz-up their weekend.
History undeniably attests to the popularity of tea. Although the British are particularly known for their love of tea and drink more tea per capita than any other country in the world, this part of the world is “indeed” catching up. Even the word hi-tea itself connotes elegance in the old world sense; and it has its in vogue appeal, too. I guess sitting on a low table sipping tea daintily holding the cup with one pinkie finger pointing up while savoring finger foods in one of these fine places is really refreshing. Everyone ought to be able to say the least- “been there, done that”.

Sushi Culture

Sushi is one of the most famous, if not the most internationally renowned Japanese food. It has become so hip that it has brought about the sushi bar fad. Fads come and go, but sushi bars are ever expanding; surfing the net for sushi bars, 1,390,000 sites pop up.
From its humble beginnings in 7th century Japan, done to preserve fish by packing it with rice, sushi evolved as innovative Japanese found ways to introduce it as a daily snack. It traces back to 18th century Edo (Tokyo), where vinegar was added to the rice for flavor. It might as well be the first “fast food”; bite-sized pieces eaten by hand or using bamboo toothpicks. The most common forms are: Nigiri-sushi (hand shaped sushi), Oshi-sushi (pressed sushi), Maki-sushi (rolled sushi) and Chirashi-sushi (scattered sushi). Through the years, changes and transformation led to its world-wide appeal; although preparation remains unchanged, the atmosphere where it is served have changed and have reached all corners of the globe.
Sushi is no stranger to the metropolis. Shintaro, an established Japanese restaurant, has one of the finest sushi bars in town (Four Seasons Hotel, Tel: 02-2501000). Celebrating its 10th year, a new menu is introduced and some special creations are available till the end of June. Chef Satoshi Sawada is one of the more bold Japanese chefs daring to challenge the traditional ways.
“Although the look of my dishes looks fancy, the ingredients remain the same”, says Chef Satoshi, a true artist in the sense that color (yellow, red and green) have to always dress up his dish; with freshness as the key criterion. This explains why sushi is usually served in a counter-type restaurant; demonstrating its fresh and artistic preparation.
An assortment of 22 Nigiri-sushi, the origin of the sushi culture, is on the menu. “I want to serve the traditional ones, while challenging myself to create new ones with the seasonal ingredients”. It is evident in Satoshi’s Sushi Pizza (350B), lightly baked combination of dry seaweed, shrimp roe, shrimp and crabstick with cheese. The UFO Wheel (390B), a tuna-salmon-amberjack-sea bass roll, is quite an innovative class of its own; then he teases foodies to take mouthfuls of pan-fried foie gras sushi with garlic (600B).
Anyone who loves sushi has to love sashimi, since it is one of the base ingredients of a good sushi. Often, sashimi grade fish come up in question. Frozen or fresh, the raw fish has to be of the highest quality. A large of selection of 4-piece sashimi set is masterfully executed, varies from: tuna fat belly (1,800B); uni (sea urchin, 1000B); maguro akami (tuna-back cut, 480B); hotategai (scallops, 470B); to tako (octopus, 250B).
Chef Satoshi also conducts cooking classes from time to time. His charisma exudes from his mild-mannered, almost timid way of showing his craft secrets. Here are some tips from the Itamae-san:
Clean and strain 1 kilo rice and add the 1200ml of water and cook until done. Put the cooked rice into a Hangiri (cedar wood rice-cooking tub) or other non-metallic container. Spread it out evenly in a plowing manner (left-right, top-bottom) with a large wooden spoon and while doing so, slowly add the sushi vinegar until the rice sticks together, do not over mix.
Prepare sushi vinegar while rice is cooking, bring to a boil: 300 ml Mitsukan rice vinegar; 200 gm Sugar; 25 gm Salt; and10 gm Konbu (kelp).
For the soy sauce, bring to a boil: 150 ml Yamasa soy sauce; 120 ml Mirin (sweetened cooking sake); 25 ml Sake; 5 gm Konbu; cool down then add 5-7 gm Katsuobushi (shaved bonito flakes). Once the mixture is cool, filter it through a strainer.

Method of rolling and shaping Nigiri sushi:
With your right hand pick up sushi rice of the size of a lime. Very lightly mould into a ball without compacting and squeezing the rice.
Holding the rice in the palm of your right hand, pick up a fish slice with your left hand. With the index and middle finger of your right hand smear the side of fish with wasabi.
Place the rice onto the fish slice and begin to shape the sushi into a rectangular shape using the palm and your thumb.
The sushi must be made quickly as the fish must remain cold and the rice must remain at body temperature.


Recipe for Spicy Tuna roll:

Ingredients (For 1 roll: 6 pieces)
• Sushi rice 100 gm
• Nori (dry seaweed sheet) ½ piece
• Chopped raw tuna
• Chilli powder 10 gm
• Mayonnaise 10 gm
• Aonori (seaweed flake) 3 gm
• Roasted sesame 3 gm
• White Japanese spring onion
Preparation:
1. Mix chopped tuna with chili powder, Japanese onion and mayonnaise.
2. Place a bamboo mat on a chopping board. Lay the cling film on top. Place nori on the bamboo mat.
3. Spread sushi rice to cover the entire nori sheet, turn the sheet over and fill the center portion with the tuna mixture, roll up the sheet with the aid of the bamboo mat to form a square tube; glue it together ends with a grain of cooked rice.
4. Sprinkle the outside part of the roll with aonori and roasted sesame cut in half and then slice into three equal pieces.

Like art, Japanese cuisine continues to evolve and flourish. Shintaro shines with the theme “10 years-10 tastes”, as it presents an array of bright colors, mouthwatering flavors and culinary sensations, defying conventional ways. Even food skeptics can luxuriate themselves in the daring tastes, give in, it’s worth it, indulge!


June Sauer
wherestheparty_jsauer@yahoo.com