Ciao! February March 2020 CIAO_FebMar2020 | Page 12

inthekitchen
following since opening 20 years ago,
though some may not know the face
behind the food.
Poomrat came to Canada in 1979,
bringing with her a love for cooking and
a top-notch culinary education to back it
up, though, her son and co-owner Mick
Kongmanisvong shares, “It took 21 years
to convince her that maybe Canadians
would love her food.” And love her food
they do. Even high-profile celebrities like
Renée Zellweger and Forest Whitaker
have been spotted enjoying Siam Thai’s
irresistible cuisine. It wasn’t without
it’s challenges. Kongmanisvong says, in
the early years, a lot of time was spent
explaining the food and encouraging
people to t r y u nfa mi l ia r f lavours.
Thanks to this mother and son duo,
Winnipegger’s are much more familiar
representatives flew in at the request of
another restaurant but it did not pass the
certification, so they scoped the city for
other Thai restaurants, landing on Siam
Thai. It’s one of only nine restaurants in
Canada to receive this certification and
Poomrat was f lown to Vancouver to
accept the award, an immensely proud
moment for the chef.
When she first arrived in Canada, she
never imagined people would actually pay
money for her food. Though her culinary
training in Thailand was first rate, the
chef decided to enroll in technical college
to study culinary arts and learn more
about this nation’s food culture. Things
like appetizers were a foreign concept for
her, as back home, all dishes are served
at once. She also learned the French
technique to skim fat off the top of soup
“It took 21 years to convince her that maybe
Canadians would love her food.”
with Thai food now.
Quality ingredients, like certif ied
Angus beef, are also paramount to each
dish and the proper ingredients are never
substituted for cheaper alternatives.
For example, their curries never have
vegetables like carrots or snow peas, but
opt for traditionally prepared bowls filled
with zucchini, bamboo shoots, red and
green peppers as well as Thai eggplants.
These sma l l g reen nig htshades a re
ubiquitous on the menu, noticeable for
their earthy taste when cooked. It’s clear
this chef won’t compromise on f lavour,
even if it means working twice as hard or
spending twice as much.
Her u nwaver i ng pat ience a nd
commitment to authenticity has been
noticed on a national level too. In 2016,
Siam Thai was unexpectedly paid a visit
by representatives of the Vancouver Thai
embassy and assessed for Thai Select
certification, an award that recognizes
restaurants for serving authentic and
t rad it iona l ly prepa red d ishes. T he
10
ciao! / feb/mar / two thousand twenty
broths, a practice she’s adopted in her
kitchen. Blending exotic and familiar
gives an approachability to Siam Thai’s
food that customers respond to.
Finding qualified kitchen staff is an
ongoing struggle for Poomrat, as there
are so many intricacies to Thai cooking
and it’s difficult to teach. This means the
chef is on her feet in the kitchen cooking
every single day, often there before sunrise
prepping curries and sauces. That is, if
her son wasn’t there until early hours of
the morning doing it himself to give his
mom a break. During the busiest time
on weekends, the kitchen pumps out four
giant tubs each (seriously, they’re huge) of
their most popular curries like massaman
and green curry. But the hard work is
worth it. The mother and son dream team
smile as they talk about the families that
have been dining with them since day one.
The kids are all grown up now with young
families of their own, and continue to
come to Siam Thai, sharing a legacy and
taste of tradition.