Among the scores of culinary collaborations, Bangkok’s Nusara 8 hands dinner by Asia’s top chefs was one of the more meaningful ones. Ranked No. 3 on Asia’s 50 Best restaurants 2023, Nusara in the bustling Chinatown area is owned by Chef ThiTid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn and his brother Chaisiri ‘Tam’. This sophisticated establishment is located just opposite the impressive Wat Pho (Wat Phra Chetuphon) or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.
Late last year, Chef Ton invited his chef friends: Han Liguang, Jason Tan and Dej Kewkacha to cook at Nusara – a restaurant that pays homage to his grandmother. Ton had a special bond with his late grandma who raised him and his brother Tam. He has often describe her as “his lifelong culinary inspiration”.
The four chefs themselves have a solid camaraderie too – like a brotherhood of sorts. Various techniques were thoughtfully incorporated into their well-executed creations, largely a mingling of heritage flavours with contemporary elements. We find out what went on behind the scenes when these culinary experts collaborated in one space, and what they’ve learnt from each other over the years of friendship.
ThiTid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn, Le Du and Nusara
Process of the 8 hands collaboration: We started looking at the cooking style of each chef, and then we discussed in terms of the ingredients, the layering, and the sequence of the menu. We know each other’s food very well so we try to combine the uniqueness of our creations into each other’s dishes.
Unique creations at Nusara’s 8 Hands dinner: My new snack was a take on the old recipe of dried fish and watermelon – we added smoked and cured local king mackerel to give more depth of flavour. And we compressed the watermelon and used good quality dried river fish on top, along with local caviar to give more texture and creaminess. My appetiser was the pork intestine stuffed with a mixture of eggs and chicken stock, and served with wing beans and tomatoes. For our collaborative main course, I served an ancient recipe of green curry with grilled eggplant puree and roulade of free-range chicken.
Special locally farmed ingredients used at Nusara: We use horse-shoe crab roe that we get from our local fishermen. It’s kind of like the sea caviar of Thailand with very unique and very nice textures. We also have paddy field crab roe – sourced from an organic rice farm – to make sure there’s no chemical in the crab. Served with aromatic rice, this dish is something we’re very proud of at Nusara.
Dej Kewkacha, Kyo Bar
Please describe your collaborative dishes: Mont Blanc 2.0 was pretty straightforward as Jason does a really good chestnut dessert back in Singapore, so I wanted to collaborate with him to create this dessert. To push to the limit, I offered to bring my Mont Blanc machine over [to Nusara]. Whereas with Han, Pink 1.0 was one of his favourites among my desserts, so we decided to come up with a 2.0 version. It is a mixture of all pink ingredients: pink champagne, pickled watermelon, tomato and hibiscus flower.
Important lessons you’ve learn from each other: It’s more about gaining experience working with different chefs in a kitchen. Also, four of us have different “backgrounds” in our cuisines. In terms of cooking style, Ton focuses on Thai, while Han does Singaporean flavours. And Jason’s techniques are more French. My own style leans more towards Japanese. So working in the same kitchen, we learnt different cooking techniques and also flavour combinations as well as ingredients that we may not be used to working with.
New updates for Kyo Bar in 2024: I just relocated Kyo Bar to a new location (inside my Mont Blanc flagship shop). I will also partner with one of my best friends – a famous chef from Japan to do a dessert concept here in Thailand which I aim to launch by Q1 of 2024. And most importantly, I will be doing a big project with a well-known fashion brand. So stay tuned.
Jason Tan, Restaurant Euphoria
Describe your collaborative dishes: I really enjoy Chef Ton’s gourami fish dish so decided to collaborate with him. I felt that the crispy gourami goes well with my legume-based vin blanc sauce and the crunchy cordyceps.
Nusara is known for its communal main course. So Han, Ton and I put together a collection of mains to go with Singapore-style Hainanese rice. It’s a mix of Thai, Singapore and a little French. I always have soft spot for Mont Blanc and especially love Dej’s Mont Blanc at Kyo Roll En. I have my signature version of Mont Blanc at Euphoria so we each put together few components to create the dessert. We wanted to go ‘big’ and bring the Mont Blanc machine to the 4th floor of Nusara for our guests’ experience. For the Mont Blanc 2.0 dessert, I made eggnog ice cream along with some vegetable elements like roasted parsnip with butter, parsnip chips and parsnip puree. Dej created the chestnut cream with black lemon gel and chestnut tuile.
Your favourite locally farmed ingredient from Thailand: I love honeycomb from Phuket.
Challenges when working on an 8 hands dining experience: We are good friends and have also eaten at each other restaurants many times before. So we have a strong understanding of each other’s cuisine. All challenges are easily resolved. Everyone is busy and constantly travelling so we have to accommodate each other’s hours and sometimes discuss the menu at midnight.
Han Liguang, Labyrinth
Please describe your collaborative dishes: One of our collaborative dishes was the black truffle soon kueh – inspired by one of Ton’s snack, which is actually a dumpling and caviar with a broth. So I decided to do use local caviar and match it with a mini soon kueh; I jazzed up the filling with black truffle and finished it off with tom ka gai soup (which Ton usually serves in his crispy gourami fish broth). For the bak chor mee, I was inspired by dry tom yam noodles that I had in Bangkok. It came with vinegar and chilli, and the flavours really reminded me of bak chor mee but with more dimension. So I thought of using my bak chor mee as a base and incorporated a tom yam sauce to create a collaborative dish.
Unique Thai ingredients you’ve tried: Some of the most memorable ones include Thai caviar – very nice in terms of the gentleness of the briny flavours. Thai wagyu is surprising very fatty and full of flavour. And even local Thai ants that Ton used to serve in one of his dishes at Le Du.
Matching cooking philosophy: For cooking philosophy, I’d say mine is similar to Ton’s in that we tried to replicate the authenticity of the flavours. And we try to go deeper in heritage to understand how they’re made, and try to elevate it using local and sustainably farmed produce. We want to represent dishes that truly encapsulate our heritage and culture of our [respective] countries.
Important lessons you’ve learn from each other: From Jason, I learn about how meticulous he is, from the exact portioning to the exact amount of broth going into each bowl – even it’s during tableside service. And the gentleness and lightness in flavour and his produce knowledge. He’s been around for such a long time and worked in many different restaurants across the world. With Dej, I’ve been inspired by his use of vegetables in desserts. He doesn’t create the typical cream, sugar, chocolate and egg type of desserts. But it’s something that’s more rooted in the terroir, and something that’s clean and not heavy at all. For Ton, our philosophies and characters symbolise our friendship which has dated back about eight years. So hence, this 8 hands dinner was really something that came naturally to all four of us.
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Text: Amy Van
