Bangkok's Can't-Miss Michelin Star Street Food: Grilled Scallops at Elvis Suki

Bon Appétit

In this edition of Street Eats, Bon Appétit joins chef Lucas Sin at Elvis Suki in Bangkok to try their Michelin-rated street food, from their signature sukiyaki to their famous chargrilled scallops.

Transcript

00:00 (metal clanging)

00:02 We're on the outskirts of Chinatown in Bangkok

00:05 here at Elvis Suki, which is a restaurant

00:07 well known for the Thai style sukiyaki.

00:09 But before we get into that, we're gonna take a look

00:11 at some charcoal grilled scallops in the kitchen.

00:13 This is the scallop station.

00:19 Two charcoal grills, raging hot charcoal

00:22 underneath this custom little scallop plate

00:25 and one of the most delectable things about this restaurant.

00:28 Inside the scallop is a little bit of margarine,

00:31 a little bit of sweet marinated pork

00:33 and a secret green cilantro sauce.

00:36 It's a very central Thai Bangkok flavor

00:38 and that flavor today is going to be sweetness.

00:41 These are the standard scallops that Thai restaurants get.

00:44 These nice small-ish scallops are quite dense

00:47 and sweet in and of their own right,

00:49 but the addition of the margarine and the sweetened pork

00:52 makes a really, really special dish.

00:54 When Western chefs are gonna ask you to cook scallops,

00:57 they're looking for a nice brown sear.

00:58 This is not gonna sear, it's really seething

01:00 in its own juices.

01:02 We're keeping it moist with a little bit

01:04 additional margarine and flipping them

01:06 to get both sides nice and even and cooked.

01:08 A little bit of that margarine is dripped

01:10 directly into the charcoal so it flares up,

01:12 perfuming scallops with that smoky charcoal flavor.

01:16 They're nice and cooked when the scallops

01:18 have begun to shrink.

01:20 The pork is fully cooked, but the inside

01:22 is nice and tender and juicy.

01:25 (speaking in foreign language)

01:28 Gorgeous.

01:29 Look at this.

01:32 That's the flame being licked into the scallop.

01:35 Now, the scallop itself, nice and tight,

01:37 they give you the organ as well,

01:40 as well as the skirt for a little bit of chew,

01:42 so there's a little bit of textural contrast.

01:43 And this pork, a little bit similar to

01:46 the beginnings of Thai sausage.

01:48 It has water in it to pump it up

01:50 and also has a lot of sugar, salt, and MSG.

01:53 And this nam chum seafood here is an amazing dipping sauce.

01:56 Garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, chilies,

01:58 and second of all, the sweet plum sauce.

02:01 It's so sweet.

02:06 It's almost like dessert.

02:08 The spiciness really bounces out,

02:10 but the texture of that scallop is quite perfect.

02:12 The minute you open up one of these scallops,

02:14 you smell the sweetness.

02:16 You get a little bit of that earthiness

02:17 from the organs on the side.

02:19 It's an amazing bite.

02:23 It's a good nectar.

02:24 So good.

02:27 So, those are their famous scallops,

02:30 but that's not what this restaurant is named after.

02:32 What they're known for,

02:34 what they've been well awarded for, is sukiyaki.

02:37 We're just gonna go into the kitchen

02:39 while they're making it.

02:40 Let's go check it out.

02:41 This is actually reminiscent of

02:45 an outdoors Chinese style kitchen.

02:47 All the mise en place is ready.

02:49 Chinese celery, scallion, glass noodles,

02:51 napa cabbage, a little bit of marinated beef.

02:54 All of this comes together with a bowl of suki sauce.

02:57 Eggs with Chinese style fermented tofu.

03:00 And the whole thing is basically stir frying

03:02 with a little bit of suki sauce.

03:04 Suki sauce with the egg, a little bit like an egg drop.

03:11 Let those vegetables begin to soften.

03:14 The meat is already water-velveted and poached.

03:17 The egg and the sukiyaki sauce

03:19 are gonna bind the glass noodles into the vegetable.

03:23 Very quick cook, and it comes together

03:25 in a matter of one or two minutes.

03:27 Here's the dish that this restaurant is named after.

03:31 And the most important part of this, suki sauce.

03:34 This is why we know this is a Chinese dish,

03:36 a Thai-Chinese dish, is the fermented bean curd,

03:39 also known as the fu ruk.

03:40 Beautiful red, also sweet, but deep and savory.

03:45 But that savoriness comes from the fermented bean curd,

03:48 fermented tofu.

03:49 The easiest way to describe it is a type of cheese.

03:51 The chilies are bright, fruity spice.

03:54 The sesame for that little bit of nuttiness.

03:56 And a little bit of that oyster sauce.

03:57 All of those tastes hit.

03:59 They're soaked glass noodles made from mung bean,

04:05 mung bean starch.

04:06 A little bit of a crunch from the napa cabbage.

04:09 The beef is nice and slippery as well.

04:10 Classic Cantonese water-velveting technique.

04:13 A little bit of celery for that herbaceousness.

04:15 Some scallions for that onion herbaceousness.

04:18 And very solid watay.

04:21 As flames come off the sides,

04:23 give it a little bit of that char,

04:24 a little bit of that caramelization.

04:26 Proper wok cooking.

04:28 Here's a little hack, actually, for eating this.

04:30 When you're rendering lard for your cooking,

04:33 which I'm sure they use,

04:34 you add a little bit of water to the bottom of your pan

04:37 or your wok or your pot.

04:38 You start cooking your fat

04:39 until all that fat slowly renders.

04:41 What's left is this, kind of like croutons.

04:44 You can add a little bit more chili, chili flakes.

04:47 That's what this needs.

04:51 So, Thai suki,

04:52 suki is obviously short for the Japanese sukiyaki,

04:55 and sukiyaki is a certain type of hot pot,

04:57 usually with a little bit of soy sauce,

04:59 mirin, sugar, beef, tofu, vegetables.

05:02 Nice, sweet, warming dish.

05:04 This sukiyaki has nothing to do with that.

05:06 In fact, it has a lot more in common with Chinese cooking

05:10 than Japanese cooking.

05:11 And sure, sometimes things are not so pure.

05:13 Sometimes that cultural confusion is just a mix-up.

05:17 But if we let go

05:19 and we embrace things for their deliciousness,

05:20 that's a new type of authenticity

05:22 that has come through time.

05:23 By the way, you know what the actual deal is?

05:28 Salted plum soda and the coconut jelly,

05:32 perfect for a hot day like this.

05:34 So good.

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