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Signature specials

Chef Donny Hemna is on a mission to convert the city's taste buds to his special style of Thai cooking

INNOVATOR Chef Donny Hemma

Chef Donny Hemma is a man with a mission in Bangalore, though he has been here a couple of months. A mission to convert the city's taste buds to his special style of Thai cooking. Rich with the natural goodness, selectively enhanced with the fresh spice of galangal, kaffir lime leaves or perhaps lemongrass. That's evident in the new menu he has put together at Rim Naam, The Oberoi's beautiful open air Thai restaurant.

A sampler lunch convinces us of these natural facts. The porpia thod to begin with, delicate spring rolls that spill over with shredded carrot, cabbage, leek, black mushrooms and glass noodles with every bite. Teamed perfectly teamed with a Thai sweet chilli sauce. As an accompaniment, we try som tom Thai, a fragrant, tender salad of green papaya, tomato and peanuts, dressed with lime and palm sugar.

"My eight brothers and our sister used to help mom in our kitchen at Satun in southern Thailand," says Chef Donny, his gentle eyes shining at the memory. "That was where I really learnt to cook. We even grew our own vegetables and herbs in the garden."

Though he graduated from Satun agricultural college, he responded to the call of the kitchen. So, he joined the Seafood Restaurant at Phuket, en route to the famous Datai Hotel at Langkawi in Malaysia in 1994. That's where his culinary style won over big names such as South Africa's Nelson Mandela, France's Jacques Chirac and Singapore's ex-Premier Goh Cok Thong, besides royalty from Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait.

What wooed them? Perhaps the main courses from our lunch. Such as tender jasmine rice with kaeng phad phed, an exquisite, turmeric and fresh red chilli-based yellow chicken curry. Or the priew wan phak krob, stir-fried crisp bokchoy or Chinese cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli in a tangy, sweet sauce.

The piece de resistance for us was pla jeramet samros. That proved to be whole black pomfret deep fried with cornflour, its crunchy coat revealing its inner tenderness, with a poured-over sauce of coriander root, shallots, garlic and red chilli. A taste of heaven with every bite. Phad Thai remains an ever-popular dish from the cuisine. Chef Donny served it up without too many fussy additions, the rice noodles distinctive against the tongue-tingling tamarind, peanuts, tofu and bean sprouts with — a surprise! — lettuce pickle.

Were all these dishes served to Mandela in Malaysia? Smiling, Chef Donny says: "What he enjoyed best was green curry, papaya salad and tom yam soup." Then, he adds an odd experience: "Some guests, such as the Premier of Rwanda or the King of Brunei, would send their security staff to watch me cooking. That's fine by me. I really like to have feedback from customers. It will help to improve my cooking."

Chef Donny then serves us takoe for dessert. A layered pudding of fresh coconut milk and corn kernels, steamed in green pandanus leaf squares, as seductive to the eye as to the tongue.

Chef Donny's new Rin Naam menu boasts some of his signature dishes — such as deep-fried prawn and crab cakes served with plum sauce, spicy seafood soup with shrimp, crab, calamari and mussels, a spicy green curry with a choice of tenderloin, prawns, vegetables or chicken, or chilli-hot bokchoy and asparagus stir-fried together.

Hungry for more? How about char-grilled pomfret with Thai spices? Or the same seafood steamed with lime, fresh coriander and garlic? With a Thai coconut custard to round it off? Plenty of vegetarian choices are on offer, too.

Thai cuisine is all set to take a distinctive turn with Chef Donny in town. With a little bit of luck, perhaps he will offer classes in Thai cooking, his style, at The Oberoi. Just as he did for residential guests at Datai.

Ambience: Airy, in the lap of nature
Wallet factor: Upper crust
Service: Attentive, with a smile
Specials: Chef Donny's signature dishes

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