Sudsaidee Phonlaphat
Born in 1975 in northern Thailand’s Surin Province, chef Sudsaidee Phonlaphat is better known as “Chef Ah-Ming” in Taiwan, where he has worked for many years. In fact, he has been the executive chef for Sukhothai, the Thai restaurant in the Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel, since 2013.
Chef Ah-Ming left home at the age of 13 to work and study in Bangkok. He spent his early years there working part-time at a series of restaurants, picking up all the techniques used in those kitchens in about 18 months. He recalls going to work two hours early every day to complete his own tasks before anyone else got there. He could then use his actual shift to go from station to station in the kitchen, helping others and learning.
Having spent his youth working in a variety of restaurants, Chef Ah-Ming was hired by the Bangkok Sheraton at age 21, promoted to chef at 25, then recruited to work in Taiwan at 26. When he was 30, he became the Sheraton Grand Hotel Taipei’s youngest chef, and went on to open his own restaurant with his friend Preecha Rumdubsee in 2010. That restaurant, Siam Kitchen, now has a second location.
Chef Ah-Ming keeps his Thai dishes very true to the originals they are based on, adjusting only the levels of spiciness and fattiness to better suit Taiwanese palates. For example, authentic Massaman curry is made by simmering peanuts in coconut milk until they release their fat. The technique gives the dish an intense and sweetish flavor, but also results in a layer of oil at the top. For the version Chef Ah-Ming serves in Taiwan, he shortens the cooking time and adds pumpkin. His blending of the intensity of curry with the sweetness of the pumpkin has given rise to one of his restaurant’s signature dishes: Pumpkin Curry. Similarly, chefs in Thailand serve raw oysters with hot-and-sour sauce drizzled directly onto them. Recognizing that not everyone in Taiwan is comfortable eating raw oysters, Chef Ah-Ming created Hot-and-Sour Fried Oysters, which are lightly dusted in flour and then deep fried. His Taiwanese patrons find the dish more palatable, and it’s still delicious.
(photo courtesy of the Thai Trade Center)