Chiva Som Part 3

Over the weekend, my wife and I took a Thai Spa Cuisine cooking class at Chiva-Som. It was, for me, an important part of the research I needed to conduct in order to be able to contribute intelligently to the resort’s forthcoming Thai Spa Cuisine cookbook.

I won’t go too much into the details of the course, nor will I divulge most of the cooking techniques or any recipes here. (For that, you’ll have to buy the book when it hits the shelves in September 2005). But I will say that as someone going into the course a tad sceptical of making Thai food healthy, the course really was an eye-opener.

The food we prepared was delicious, despite being made with close to no salt and sugar, and no oil. In fact, I found that there was a clarity in flavour that is often missing in the Thai cuisine you find in most restaurants.

The one method that I found most interesting was the substitution of cooking oil with vegetable stock, a technique which sounded a little odd at first but worked beautifully with the various dishes we made (pictured throughout this post). We made a clear and spicy mushroom soup, a spicy pomelo salad with prawns, a fish dish (they called it simply fish with Thai sauce), and a beef with red curry.

The only substitution that I am sure some purists would object to might be the swapping of coconut milk for a combination of young coconut juice and skim milk. I thought it worked well but I am sure a lot of others won’t find the taste fatty or authentic enough. Anyway, to make a long post short, the experience was really enlightening and ever since returning to Singapore, my wife and I have been experimenting with some of the techniques learnt at Chiva-Som in order to make our dinners a whole lot healthier. That, of course, doesn’t mean I won’t be indulging in some delicious sinful foods from time to time, just that I can feel less guilty about doing so.

Chiva Som Part 2 – Whole Grain Croissants?

Before coming to Chiva-Som, I don’t think I would have ever considered eating a whole grain croissant. And not especially one made with as little butter as possible. The idea alone is off-putting. It sounds like something a peasant-skirted fem-hippy with unshaven legs and armpit hair would make (um… no offence intended to unshaven fem-hippy readers). It would be hard and tasteless, edible only when soaked in a bucket of wheatgrass juice or herbal tea.

Croissants are supposed to be rich, buttery, and airy. A batch of dough calling for, say, 4 cups of flour usually requires around 1.5 cups of butter. The flour is also important. It should be normal all-purpose flour, milled finely so that the dough comes out smooth. Croissants shouldn’t be made with flour studded with kernels. Who has ever enjoyed a lumpy, grainy croissant?

Amazingly, I can now say I have. Among the many healthy baked goods featured in Chiva-Som’s breakfast spread are these croissants, made with whole grain flour and with very little butter. They are also quite small, less than half the size of the normal croissant. Surprisingly though, they weren’t awful. Far from it. In fact, they were really good. So good I had two each morning, spread with a bit of organic honey and a bit of fruit compote. (The one pictured is with citrus honey and blueberry compote.) They were light and crisp and not a bit oily. And to tell the truth, I really got hooked on them.

Unfortunately, the recipe doesn’t appear in the current Chiva-Som cookbook and since the book I am contributing to is specifically on Thai food, I doubt it will be in there either. My wife is considering asking one of her baker friends to work with her to come up with a recipe for these. If they do, you can bet I’ll post it here. Of course, if any of you have recipes, feel free to email them to me.

Chiva-Som Part 1

Chiva-Som means “haven for life”, and for the well-heeled guests who frequent this gorgeous spa in order to relax, de-stress and detox, that description is perfectly apt. Chiva-Som, located in Hua Hin, Thailand, is one of the world’s most famous spas, and its range of treatments, physical, mental and spiritual are well-reputed. For people seeking to rejuvenate themselves and their bodies, it’s a great place. For a foodie, however, the idea of spending 4 days in a spa, eating “health food”, i.e. close to no salt, sugar, fat, etc, was a little terrifying. On the 2.5 hour car journey to Hua Hin from Bangkok, I kept asking my wife is she didn’t want to consider pulling over for one last greasy but delicious bowl of…well, whatever street food we could find on the way. Her favourite response was a swat with her hand, giving me no more attention than your average pest, which I think she was beginning to think I was.

Chiva-Som’s grounds are beautiful. This picture is taken just past the well-guarded entrance. Further inside, past the villas, are the main facility areas—spa, gym, yoga pavilion, bathing pavilion, and more rooms. The hotel’s pool and Thai restaurant, Taste of Siam, sit closer to the rather attractive white-sand beach. All in all, a rather idyllic setting.

But what about the food, you ask?

Our first meal at Chiva-Som really scared me. Arriving just a bit late for lunch (past 2pm), we were quickly ushered into the Emerald Room, the hotel’s international restaurant, and presented with what has got to be the healthiest buffet spread I have ever seen. Lots of raw and grilled veggies, a few salads—Thai and Western—and some other food items that I am sure would look palatable to a rabbit but not to yours truly. I was really beginning to fear that the next few days, I’d be living on multi-grain muffins and self-pity. Fortunately, my wife asked if there was an a la carte menu. After a couple minutes of twisting our waiter’s arm, we found out that, in fact, lunch came with 2-3 hot dishes made upon request, but because we were late, they were hoping we wouldn’t order them. Of course, we did. And I am so very happy we did. After a few minutes, we were presented with a spinach-ricotta parcel wrapped in philo with a red pepper sauce and a plate of green curry with seafood and brown rice. And both, while incredibly light and healthy, were delicious!

The green curry, especially, impressed me. No oil, no coconut milk, but a ton of flavour. My wife and I had arranged for a Thai Spa Cuisine cooking course the next day, and after tasting this dish, I couldn’t wait to take it and question the chefs on their techniques. (The class I’ll write about in Part 3 of these posts.)