Soi 38 serves up a journey through Thailand
A revamped Asian eatery in the city takes diners on a journey through the foods of different regions, writes Simon Wilkinson
Terry Intarakhamhaeng has squeezed a lot into his life already. As well as being a chef, a Buddhist monk and a bird watcher, he also worked as a tour guide in the mountains of northern Thailand, close to where he was raised. That is how he met partner Daisy Miller, who was performing a similar role with a group of travellers from Australia.
Now, the pair are leading a tour of a different kind, as they take diners on a culinary journey through the country they love at Soi 38.
If you haven’t been to the Thai restaurant across from the Mall for a while, you might be forgiven for thinking you have lobbed in the wrong place. The gritty black walls and chalkboard menu are gone, replaced with more calming tones of pink, beige and terracotta. A series of simple etchings of birds are hung in rows, while wicker cages have been turned into light shades.
More importantly, the cooking style has been tweaked as well, with less emphasis on the thrown-together street food of the hawker stalls found in Thai laneways and a more complex, evolved menu that better reflects the country’s repertoire of regional culinary dialects.
Cooking Thai food from scratch can be complicated at the best of times, but Terry goes to another level. As well as all the curry pastes and sauces, he is doing everything from turning fish guts into a fermented paste (similar to shrimp paste) for an Issan curry to producing his own sriracha chilli condiment to go with spring rolls.
Those rolls, by the way, are filled with lobster meat that his team picks painstakingly from the legs that are left behind when other chefs only want the tail, part of a commitment to using only ingredients that are sustainable and sourced from ethical producers. While the message is serious, its delivery is never heavy-handed.
Daisy, in particular, has such enthusiasm for what Terry and the kitchen are doing it’s hard not to come along for the ride. At the start of the night she explains that each dish is now tagged with its area of origin, so you can immerse yourself, say, in the southern coast with its tropical weather and Muslim influences. The “Feed Me” option, on the other hand, is a tour through three regions, each represented by its own course.
Our night begins in the mountains of northeastern Issan, where the weather is more temperate and coconuts do not grow. So the jungle curry sauce that comes with a fried snapper wing is neither sweet nor creamy, the dark liquid based on fish stock and a paste of fresh and dried chilli, lemongrass, wild ginger and those fermented guts, the result peppery rather than hot, incredibly aromatic, the layers opening up one-after-another like magical doors in a scene from Harry Potter. The bones and cartilage that support the wing contain lobes of glossy white meat that peel away with little effort, while a bowl of house-made rice noodles dressed in vinegar and various pickles sit to one side. It’s a dazzling meal in itself but we’re only getting started!
Also on the table is a larb of duck, from birds raised at Meningie by Barry Sleep, cut into rough pieces rather than minced, a little sinew and some extra chewing compensated by bags of flavour in the meat and a puddle of duck bone broth.
The central course is more snack-sized, with lobster spring rolls and steamed-then-fried chive cakes in a sticky soy and palm sugar reduction. Also representing the region is a grilled eggplant salad, its flesh all soft and pulpy, ideal to scoop up with combinations of chicken mince, prawns, a runny poached egg and shredded herbs.
From the south comes a choo chee curry of kangaroo tail (replacing buffalo) that is grilled, then braised and finally deep fried, so the meat contracts and intensifies, before the segments are plopped into a rich and lingering sauce. A wet and messy stir-fry of squid, chilli jam, salted duck egg, pickled peppercorns and a heap of veg falls flat compared with what has come before.
Ordering dessert is duty more than desire but a traditional preparation of banana and coconut that is mashed, chilled and then given a crème-brulee-style toffee lid is a successful alliance of East and West.
The same can be said of Soi 38. Terry and Daisy combine their first-hand experience and deep understanding of Thai food with a comfortable, contemporary style of setting and service. In doing so, they have created, I reckon, one of the most informed and enjoyable ethnic dining experiences that Adelaide has to offer.
SOI 38
54 Pulteney St, city, 8223 5472, soi38.com.au
OWNERS Terry Intarakhamhaeng, Daisy Miller, Lucy Lamport and Jacki Lim
CHEFS Terry Intarakhamhaeng
FOOD Thai
SMALL $9-$20 LARGER $20-$37
DESSERT $11-$12
DRINKS Carefully curated list of mostly small, local labels, all suited to this style of dining.
OPEN LUNCH Mon-Fri, DINNER Mon-Sat
SCORE 15.5/20