Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The Thai life: John Chantarasak on how to create delicious Asian flavours with UK produce

Anglo-Thai chef John Chantarasak
Anglo-Thai chef John Chantarasak

Thai cuisine is built on a complex combination of salty, sweet, spicy and sour flavours but, according to acclaimed chef John Chantarasak, bringing that delicate balance to life on the plate shouldn’t mean relying solely on exotic ingredients flown halfway around the world.

Whether cooking fragrant curries or fresh warm salads, Chantarasak insists both traditional and contemporary South-east Asian dishes can be just as delicious when made with produce found in the UK.

“I became disillusioned when I was cooking Thai food in restaurants in London, watching Styrofoam parcels coming into the kitchen and fresh ingredients getting unboxed with ice packs,” explained the chef, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Bangkok before joining the team at Nahm, one of the most highly regarded Thai restaurants in the world. “I just thought to myself, ‘This is completely wrong. It doesn’t make any sense’.

“It was actually my grandmother who said to me she wouldn’t use ingredients from Thailand when cooking in the UK because that’s not the point. The point is to define those Thai flavour profiles and then find the ingredients that correspond with that. That was a wake-up call for me.”

With both Thai and British heritage – he was born in Liverpool to a Thai father and an English mother then raised in Wales – Chantarasak has dedicated his career to showcasing the best of both cultures, creating a fusion style of cooking called Anglo-Thai. Both at home and in the kitchen of his new restaurant, named after his fusion cuisine, he strives to use as many British ingredients as possible, creating both familiar and unusual flavours for guests and diners.

“It’s quite an interesting way to present this cuisine and Thai food,” he said, “because people read the ingredients on the menu and they know what it is – then the dish comes out and they’re like, ‘Wow, I could never have imagined cooking these ingredients in this style’.

“It’s a little like ABC equals Z, which is exciting for me. I’ve found my groove in what I’m doing and people seem to resonate with it, which is really wonderful and touching.”

Chantarasak’s next move to bring Anglo-Thai to the masses saw him penning his first cookbook in the second national lockdown, a process he described as organic and cathartic. Published last week, Kin Thai: Modern Thai Recipes To Cook At Home boasts 60 innovative recipes that highlight popular Thai classics as well as lesser-known dishes, and includes a detailed exploration of the origins of the Western ingredients and how they can find their place in Thai cuisine.

Dishes range from citrus-cured tuna (koi pla Isaan) and Thai omelette (kai jiaw) to black pepper pork (mu hong) and roast celeriac curry (gaeng tay po), with each recipe filled with flavour.

“I remember being in culinary school and it was like salt, butter and maybe a grind of pepper – that was it,” said Chantarasak with a smile. “When I went on to cook in Thai kitchens, I was just blown away by the complete spectrum of ingredients that were at our disposal.

“With this book, but also very much with the restaurant, I try to break down some of the stigma that other cuisine can’t be held in the same esteem as some big Western styles, like French and Italian. That’s a mini personal mission for me, to try and push Thai and South-east Asian cuisine style into the top sphere.

“The flavour profiles are a kaleidoscope compared to some of the more classic-style techniques. It also adds a variety into your diet, a variety into your lifestyle.”

This delicious spectrum, says Chantarasak, is most apparent in curries, including his own spin on the classic massaman, the most labour-intensive recipe in Kin-Thai, that’s worth every moment in the kitchen.

He added: “For me, curries are always the most complex of all the dishes. It’s the section you work your way up to in Thai kitchens. It’s quite a prestigious section to end up at – and for good reason. It’s very complex and there’s upmost technique and layers of flavour that go into each dish.

“It’s quite surprising as a Westerner to go into a Thai kitchen and suddenly realise ‘Oh, it’s not just banging a curry paste in with a tin of coconut cream’. It’s got many more layers.”

He added: “The massaman curry is one of my favourites but it can take a few days to get right. Open a bottle of wine and chill out with the recipe for a weekend.”


Kin Thai: Modern Thai Recipes To Cook At Home, Hardie Grant, £22, is out now