As he conjures up a salsa, green chili sauce and chili paste using ginger, shallots, limes and garlic, no powders or blenders are called into play. The pestle and mortar never had a stauncher champion. Use them to squeeze out the oil for more flavor. Use salt to draw out excess moisture.
One of the sauces looked a little like Bolognese.
"I think we may have borrowed that from Italy," he quips while attacking a lobster with scissors.
Most chefs live on a diet of stress and screaming at subordinates. Phithaya prefers pop music, politeness and champagne. He likes the simplicity of Jamie Oliver's cooking but is not a fan of Gordon Ramsay's colorful vocab.
With Thai cooking, you are not eating a lot of complex car-bohydrates or processed food. Some of the herbs help your immune system and some of the ingredients - garlic, chili - are aphrodisiacs," he says.
At a glance
Mango Tree, which is owned by Coca Holdings International, has more than 70 outlets worldwide but plans to grow this to 100 within a few years. Mango Tree is targeting global sales of up to $100 million by 2020, according to the company.
Expansions
It opened its first US branch in Washington DC in December and its first in Mumbai, India, in February. It plans to have outlets in seven or eight Chinese cities within three years.
