Bangkok's Can't-Miss Michelin Star Street Food: Grilled Scallops at Elvis Suki

[food sizzles]

We're on the outskirts of Chinatown in Bangkok,

here at Elvis Suki, which is a restaurant well known

for their Thai-style Sukiyaki.

But before we get into that,

we're gonna take a look at some charcoal-grilled scallops

in the kitchen.

Oh, excuse me.

This is the Scallop Station.

Two charcoal grills, raging hot charcoal,

underneath this custom little scallop plate,

and one of the most delectable things about this restaurant.

Inside the scallop is a little bit of margarine,

a little bit of sweet marinated pork,

and a secret green cilantro sauce.

It's a very central Thai-Bangkok flavor,

and that flavor today is going to be sweetness.

These are the standard scallops that Thai restaurants get.

These nice, smallish scallops are quite dense

and sweet in and of their own right,

but the addition of the margarine

and the sweetened pork makes a really, really special dish.

When western chefs are gonna ask you to cook scallops,

they're looking for a nice brown sear.

This is not gonna sear,

it's really seething in its own juices.

But keeping it moist with a little bit additional margarine

and flipping them to get both sides nice

and even and cooked.

A little bit of that margarine is dripped directly

into the charcoal so it flares up,

perfuming the scallops with that smoky charcoal flavor.

They're nice and cooked

when the scallops have begun to shrink,

the pork is fully cooked,

but the inside is nice and tender and juicy.

[Lucas speaks foreign language]

Gorgeous, look at this,

that's the flame being licked into the scallop.

Now, the scallop itself, nice and tight.

They give you the organ as well,

as well as the skirt for a little bit of chew,

so there's a little bit of textural contrast,

and this pork, a little bit similar

to the beginnings of Thai sausage.

It has water in it to plump it up,

and also has a lot of sugar, salt and MSG.

And this NAM JIM SEAFOOD here,

is an amazing dipping sauce,

garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, chilies,

and second of all, this sweet plum sauce.

It's so sweet.

It's almost like dessert.

The spiciness really balances out,

but the texture of that scallop is quite perfect.

The minute you open up one of these scallops,

you smell the sweetness.

You get a little bit of that earthiness

from the organs on the side.

It's an amazing bite.

It's like a nectar.

So good.

So those are their famous scallops,

but that's not what this restaurant is named after.

What they're known for,

what they've been well-awarded for, is Suki Hang.

Order's gonna go into the kitchen.

While they're making it, let's go check it out.

[crowd chattering]

This is actually reminiscent

of an outdoors Chinese-style kitchen.

All the mise en place is ready.

Chinese celery, scallion, glass noodles,

Napa cabbage, a little bit of marinated beef,

all of this comes together with a bowl of suki sauce,

eggs with Chinese-style fermented tofu.

And the whole thing is basically stir fried

with a little bit of oyster sauce.

[food sizzles]

Suki sauce with the egg, a little bit like an egg drop.

Let those vegetables begin to soften.

The meat is already butter velveted and poached.

The egg and the sukiyaki sauce,

are gonna bind the glass noodles into the vegetable.

Very quick cook.

Everything comes together in a matter of one or two minutes.

Here's the dish that this restaurant is named after,

and the most important part of this, Suki sauce.

This is why we know this is a Chinese dish,

a Thai-Chinese dish,

it is the fermented bean curd also known as a furu.

Beautiful red.

Also sweet, but deep and savory.

But that savoriness comes from the fermented bean curd,

fermented tofu.

The easiest way to describe it is a type of cheese.

The chilies are bright for the spice.

There's sesame for that little bit of nuttiness

and a little bit of that oyster sauce.

All of those tastes hit.

They're soaked with glass noodles

made from mung bean, mung bean starch.

A little bit of a crunch from that Napa cabbage.

The beef is nice and slippery as well.

Classic Cantonese water velveting technique.

Little bit of celery for that herbaceousness,

some scallions for that onion, herbaceousness,

and very solid [indistinct].

As flames come off the sides,

giving it a little bit of that char,

a little bit of that caramelization, proper wok cooking.

Here's a little hack actually for eating this.

When you're rendering lard for your cooking,

which I'm sure they use,

you add a little bit of water

to the bottom of your pan or your wok or your pot,

you start cooking your fat until all

that fat slowly renders.

What's left is this, kinda like croutons.

You can add a little bit more chili flakes.

That's what this needs.

So Thai Suki, Suki is obviously short

for the Japanese Sukiyaki.

And Sukiyaki is a certain type of hot pot,

usually with a little bit of soy sauce,

mirin, sugar, beef, tofu, vegetables,

nice sweet, warming dish.

This Sukiyaki has nothing to do with that.

In fact, it has a lot more in common with Chinese cooking

than Japanese cooking.

And sure, sometimes things are not so pure.

Sometimes that cultural confusion is just a mix up.

But if we let go and we embrace things

for their deliciousness,

that's a new type of authenticity

that has come through time.

By the way, you know what the actual deal is?

Salted plum soda [Lucas sighs]

and the coconut jelly.

Perfect for a hot day like this.

So good. [car engine roars]