Rustling up a delightful Thai meal is up Yong Yos Chimthep’s line. And as sous chef of the Thai kitchen of Hotel Shangri La, he spends most of his waking time at 19 Oriental Avenue, the speciality restaurant serving Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisines.

“Most members of my family in Thailand are culinary experts,” says Chimthep. His own love for wielding the ladle grew by watching his mother toss up sumptuous Thai delicacies. A quick learner, Chimthep turned this passion into his profession. Now he’s been juggling Thai recipes for over 24 years.

“A perfect Thai dish has the right balance of hot, spicy, sour and sweet,” says Chimthep. Fresh ingredients also make all the difference to the taste.

As a rookie, Chimthep worked as an apprentice at a restaurant in Bangkok and then joined Shangri-La, Bangkok in 1985. He’s become a bit of a Shangri-La man over the years, working in hotels of the chain in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, China and Indonesia. Then three years ago he joined Shangri-La in Delhi and became part of the team that launched 19 Oriental Avenue.

Chimthep takes a different route to ensuring that his guests go away happy. Once the order reaches him in the kitchens, he takes a peek at the guests. He then adds the spices depending on whether the guests are Indian or foreigners. “Indians like their curries hot while Europeans prefer to go slow on spices,” says Chimthep.

His signature dishes — like Yam Kae, Choo Chee Kung (tiger prawns in red curry), Massaman Curry (southern style curry with lamb and potatoes), Kung Mangorn Sam Ros (or wok fried lobster with capsicum and chillies) — are huge hits with guests.

He shares some of his recipes with us:

Tom Yam Kung
(Prawn Soup)

Ingredients 120ml water 10gm lemon grass 5gm lime leaves 15gm galangal (blue ginger) 1tbs sugar 1½tbs fish sauce 1tbs lemon juice 1½tbs red chilli paste 1tbs coriander leaves 150gm prawns

Method Take 120ml water or vegetable stock in a pan. To the stock, add lemon grass, lime leaves, galangal and simmer for few seconds. Then add sugar, fish sauce, lemon juice, chilli paste and prawns. Mix well and cook for about 60 seconds till the prawns are tender. Garnish with coriander and serve.

Yam Kae
(Spicy Lamb Salad)

Ingredients 150gm lamb 10gm cucumber 5gm spring onions 1 tomato sliced 5gm sliced onions 5gm celery 2tsp lime juice 2tsp fish sauce 3 fresh chillies, chopped ½tsp sugar

Method Slice the lamb and marinate for four hours and then grill for 30 minutes. In a bowl put the cucumber, spring onions, tomato, sliced onions, celery, lime juice, fish sauce, the freshly chopped chillies and sugar. Mix well and spread them on a plate. Now place the grilled lamb on top of these vegetables and serve.

Massaman Lamb Curry

Ingredients 150gm lamb 3tbs Massaman curry paste 3 cups coconut milk 5 shallots 5 small potatoes 3 bay leaves 5tbs palm sugar 3tbs fish sauce 3tbs tamarind juice 1tbs crushed peanut

Method Sauté the Massaman curry paste for a few seconds. Add coconut milk, lamb, diced potatoes, shallots, palm sugar, fish sauce and simmer for two minutes. Cook the lamb for 10 minutes and add tamarind juice and crushed peanuts into it. Simmer till the lamb turns tender. Serve hot.