Lumpini Sukiyaki
November 18th, 2008
Lumpini Dinner Market on Ratchadamri in Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand – After darkness sets in, the neon lights and wok fires light up at the northwest corner of Lumpini Park on Ratchadamri Road near Sarasin Road. Vendors sell a variety of street foods found elsewhere – gai tort (fried chicken), som tom (papaya salad), laab (ground meat salad) and pad see ew (fried noodles with soy sauce) – but what stands out here are the steaming clay pots set over glowing embers on many tables. Groups of locals hunch over their tables to share hot pot, an interactive method of cooking where a pot of simmering broth is kept warm in the center of the table and ingredients, typically thinly sliced meats and vegetables, are cooked at the table.
Thai hot pot is called sukiyaki, though its savory broth bears more resemblance to that of shabu shabu than the sweeter sukiyaki broth, and was said to have been popularized in Thailand by the country’s large Chinese immigrant community. You can choose from a wide list of ingredients, often including thinly sliced beef, pork, or chicken, tofu, fish balls, mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, and much more. The Thai style is distinctive in the addition of, surprise surprise, a spicy sauce, both used in the broth and on the side. The dish is popular enough that there is a chain, MK Restaurants, that serves Thai sukiyaki throughout the country.
Although I’ve sampled Thai sukiyaki within MK’s somewhat sterile walls, my first experience with the dish was also my first home-cooked meal in Thailand hosted at a friend’s guesthouse on a warm, peaceful night in Chiang Mai. Our host set out a brilliant spread of shredded carrots, cabbage, fish cakes, dark greens, enoki mushrooms and asparagus rolled in fish that we dipped into the pot of bubbling broth, while pieces of chicken were grilled on the burner around the edges of the pot. Each of us individualized our tomato-based chile sauce with garlic, chilies and lime juice and sat late into that August night laughing and talking. Thai sukiyaki is a group meal of necessity, both because the quantity of food and the cooking method. Alone the preparation would be a lot of work and eating tedious, but among friends preparation is fun with everyone pitching in and eating is an excuse to linger and chat. It’s easy to see why the tables at the northwest corner of Lumpini are bustling every night.
Thai Sukiyaki at Lumpini Park in Bangkok
Hotpot at Elliebum in Chiang Mai
Thai Sukiyaki Ingredients at Elliebum in Chiang Mai
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