Thai and Chinese people share a great similarity in their gastronomic attitude. Whether it was in the olden days or now, we treat food always with high regard and our kitchens are almost identical. Life recently sat with two chefs from mainland China who love Thailand so much they wish to retire here.
LIANG CHAOZHI
Even with the language barrier, an interview with Liang Chaozhi, the Cantonese executive dim sum chef of the Peninsula Bangkok, was to me like a meeting with long-lost relatives from out of town.
Casually held over Liang's specialties — the likes of har gao, shu mai and chung fun — at the hotel's fine dining Chinese restaurant Mei Jiang, the conversation evolved around Liang's impression of Thailand as a place to travel, work and live.
The talk also included much Cantonese culinary jargon familiar to Thai households. That confirmed my belief that the diet rituals of Thais and the people of China's Guangdong province (including that of Teochew and Swatow cities) are very much comparable and related.
A native of Guangdong's capital city Guangzhou, Liang has over 25 years of experience working in the kitchen of several of China's 5-star establishments. In collaboration with culinary authorities, in 2009 he published a poetry book dedicated to Cantonese dim sum.
Liang landed a job in Thailand, the first country he worked outside of China, in 2015.
He had previously visited the country several times and had wished to work here.
"Even before coming to Thailand, I had watched several local TV shows about the country and thought Thailand was such a fun and exciting place compared to China. My friends and relatives also spent their holidays here and liked it very much," said Liang.
"When I got to come here for a vacation I found Thai people were really friendly, welcoming and had a peaceful mind. Such peacefulness is thanks to Buddhism, which also fits with my religious belief."
Working in Thailand has been as pleasurable, he said. Liang has no difficulty working in a Thai environment or with Thai people.
"Although I don't speak Thai and they don't speak Chinese, we have other ways to communicate, especially through our 'food language'," he said.
The only challenge in the workplace for him, however, is trying to raise the quality of his work every day. "I see it as a crucial challenge that keeps me improving and inspired."
Over the past eight years since, Liang has seen a big change in the availability of Chinese ingredients locally.
"In the past, it could take a very long time to get just one Chinese ingredient. Today, many products from China are much more easily found in Bangkok," he said.
"Maybe it is because of the strengthened economic trade between the two countries. Or simply because there are more Chinese people living here so the distributors see the demand."
According to Liang, when it comes to authentic Cantonese cooking, the most important things are dry and wet seasoning. The likes of salt, sugar, herbs and sauces, and vinegar.
He only uses locally produced poultry and meat. But for the sauces and vinegar, he uses only particular products from China.
The availability of his favourite brand of tao jiew (salted soy bean) from China in Thailand very recently has made his life a lot easier.
Although Liang is very precise when it comes to the authenticity of his cuisine, he never stops incorporating new inspirations into the menu to make the dishes more captivating — visually and palatable.
He always listens to the guest comments and carefully takes them into consideration.
As an expat working in Thailand, one of his most memorable moments took place a few years ago on Chinese New Year, now a public holiday in Thailand.
"It touched not just the Chinese-Thai locals but also the Chinese expats. I felt very welcome that the government has such a holiday in respect of the Chinese."
To him, living in Thailand is easy.
"I love the dynamic pace of life, diversity and all the conveniences in Bangkok." He communicates with his children in Guangzhou almost every day via video call.
"And if they want to visit me, it only takes sahm chau-mong [three hours] to fly from Guangzhou to Bangkok. I wish I can retire here," Liang said with a grin.
In terms of food culture, he finds Thais and Cantonese share great similarities.
"In Guangzhou, our diet is mainly based on carbs. There's a common saying, 'joke fun mein fahn', referring to the four daily staples: rice porridge, rice noodles, egg noodles and rice. It's the same here in Thailand," Liang said
To the last question about his all-time favourite Thai dish, the Cantonese dim sum master said he loves the curry crab at a restaurant in the Rama II area, where he's a regular.
MATTHEW GENG
The first time I met Nan Bei's executive chef Matthew Geng was in 2019. During that meeting, I kept saying to him hao cheu, Mandarin for delicious, over and over again.
I could not and still cannot speak Mandarin. In fact, the word is probably one of very few Mandarin phrases I ever uttered. It was just my way of trying to express my personal appreciation to the newly-arrived out-of-town chef.
Geng continued to happily helm the kitchen of Rosewood Bangkok's flagship restaurant as we sat for a casual talk last week.
Almost five years away from his Beijing homeland, Geng said he has grown to love Thailand so much that he plans to buy a house here and bring his wife and child to live.
"Thai people are very nice and very kind. Not just the people that I work with but also the people I see every day on the street," Geng said. "Thailand also has so many beautiful places to visit and Thai food is very tasty."
Bangkok was his first travel destination outside China. He was excited because he had been watching so many TV shows about Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
"For the Chinese people, we have good feelings for Thailand, the place and the people," he said.
During his career at 5-star hotels in Beijing, chef Geng used to work with Thai people and he found it enjoyable.
"Thai people are easy to teach the Chinese cuisine. They quickly understand the concept and the cooking techniques," he said.
"My friends who had worked in Bangkok before told me that I would really like working here. They were right. My Thai crew here is very smart and has a very good attitude. I didn't feel much difference between teaching Thai staff and Chinese staff."
At Nan Bei, which means North South in Mandarin, the cuisine on offer is from those two regions of China. One of the restaurant's specialities is Peking duck, the iconic delicacy from Beijing.
Prepared in a traditional fashion that dates back to the Yuan Dynasty in the year 1330 AD, the duck is carved tableside and served with thin pancakes, granulated sugar, sliced cucumbers, leeks and sweet bean sauce.
His rendition may differ from the various versions of Peking duck available in Bangkok, but Geng said: "There are no correct or incorrect styles."
He explained that even though some local restaurants serve something they call "Peking duck", the dishes were in fact not Peking duck. But he found some of them enjoyable.
"At the end of the day, the delicious taste and customer satisfaction is most important."
From what he observed, Geng said that Thais love pungent food, especially the sour and spicy tastes. So he is always prepared to provide extra sauce on the side for guests upon request.
But to retain the authenticity of his cuisine, he tries to keep the recipes as traditional as possible and would never mix Thai ingredients into the dishes.
For Chinese tastebuds, he said it's hard to pinpoint a typical preference of flavour profile.
"China is so big and different parts of China have their own distinctive cuisines. So the tastebuds of people varies from region to region."
However, according to Geng, there are the same elements held at a very high value in all Chinese cuisines: soy sauce and vinegar and the chef's dexterity in controlling the flame and heat while cooking.
"The heat is a factor in the fragrance of dishes."
As a typical Chinese from the North, Geng said he normally likes salty tastes. But now due to travelling, his palate has matured and developed and spiciness is not a challenge for him anymore.
The Beijing chef's favourite Thai dishes are som tam kai kem and phad kaphrao.
