For the Love of Craft

My friends and I are a tight bunch. I believe our friendship is built to last because it is bound by our love of food and craftsmanship. 

Our monthly get togethers usually involves cooking elaborate meals. Just when we thought we couldn't outdo our last meal, we prove ourselves so wrong. 

In my kitchen last weekend, we operated like we were running a small scale restaurant of our own.  There's the chef (P'Arm), the pastry chef (P'Kong), the sommelier (Derrek), the line cooks and the busboys (the rest of us). 

P'Arm came to my house with two big bags of ingredients and his own special pots and pans. He made two dishes, typically found on the streets of Thailand - Koa moo dang (Barbecued red pork in sauce with rice) and Koa kha moo (stewed pork leg).

Like a pro, he even whipped up Kao kreab pak mho (steamed rice-skin dumplings). I do not know anyone else on earth who makes this dish from scratch. It's one of those dishes you buy, not make.

P'Kong showed up with THE MOST exquisite cake I've ever seen and had the pleasure to taste. It pained me just to cut the cake because it was just too pretty to eat. He made everything from scratch, including the decorative pieces of meringue and macarons. It's one of those cakes you can't help but drool over when looking through the glass of a fancy pastry shop. I feel so incredibly humble and privileged that someone made it to celebrate my birthday.

I contributed to the evening by making another dessert, Thai sticky rice with coconut milk and egg custard.

Everybody came for lunch, but most of us didn't leave until after dinner (where we cooked a different set of foods). We were crazy and over the top. But that's how we like to operate...to create something we love, with our hands and passion, but without the fear of judgement. In my mind, this is what friendship and craftsmanship are all about. 

p.s. photo credits to Kwanpeemai and P'Kong for some of the pictures on this post. 
p.p.s. Happy birthday Derrek and Yuko
p.p.p.s Congratulations P'Kong and Ed
p.p.p.p.s. Welcome back to London P'Mo
p.p.p.p.p.s Farewell Kwanpeemai and P'Aew. All the best in BKK.