A visit to the numerous Thai hawker and food court stalls that now commonly dot our little red dot is usually a hit and miss occasion…each time you makan there, it hits you that you miss that last chow frenzy in Bangkok. The sad stuff that fly off the servery at these stalls here come peppered with the excuse that it’s tailored for the gentrified palates of this gentle society – I am talking sweet tom yum soups, lazy fried pad thai and they don’t even bother to stuff the chicken wings anymore, many proudly done by shabbily trained mainland Chinese cooks who can’t tell the difference between tom yum and som tum (unless you point to the picture lightbox menu). That last time someone did that stuffed wings properly and sold it at their little humble coffeeshop stall was the PP Thai couple, but they gave in to high labour cost and instead of “cheating” the food culture (by passing it off non stuffed wings as the real deal) they decided not to sell their har muk (Thai otah) stuffed fried chicken wings. Now, they are not even in the business anymore- exit, bye bye, stage left. Peter and Pook (as in PP Thai) are on a little hiatus and I hope they come back and kick us right on the spot with their yum voon sen again. Little stalls touting big hearted and true to form Thai fare are few and far between these days, unless you dare brave the little nooks and back of building crannies to search out the little Khun Maes (Thai aunites) in the pungent Golden Mile Complex for your fixes.

“Kaima” happily flashing her Pla Neung Manow, Kaima Tau Kua and Yam Ruam Mit Talay, accompanied with a warm friendly spirit with Khun Rat minding the kitchen behind.

Then a gem appeared. I made a few adventurous turns at this hawker centre and this super little stall stared at me with a picture menu of 36 items – the majority of which are the beyond-pad-thai-and-tom-yum items. I was staring at Hoey Jor – a crabmeat and chicken ball fried bean skin dumpling, Khao Pad Nam Lieb (olive fried rice) and even Pla Neung Manow (spicy and sour steamed sea bass). I peered into the stall and peering back at me was Khun Mae Thum, and joy of joy, she was one of the original chefs that helmed Lily Mok’s wildly popular former Her Seafood Palace at Orchard Road in the 80’s. Khun Mae Thum later made her rounds in other Thai makan establishments including a stint at Sukothai Restaurant. “I was a bit jaded and tired” shared this 63 year old maestro, “so here I am, selling what I like and resting whenever I want.”. Assisting her is her long time buddy chef Khun Rat, and together, they had synched up in that tiny kitchen churning out some stunners since late August this year. They took over this little Thai food stall and could not even be bothered to change the old “Thai Experience” signboard, instead, she just pasted a sticker at the bottom that says “Kaima” (godmother in Cantonese), a nickname former younger colleagues gave her. You will happily call her Kaima when you sink into her Tau Kua Kaima, a golf ball sized deep fried tofu shrimp ball with a sweet, spicy and peanutty dip. At $4 for four, and made soft and juicy inside, you begin to get a sense of what she’s capable of. I am not a fan of green curries, but hers do remind me of the rich, coconutty, sweet-spicy versions I get in the land of smiles. Her Yum Voon Sen (glass noddle salad) is sour and stings with bird eye chillies, fish sauce with accents of lemon grass, balanced to make you cringe and salivate at the same time, which I adore. But what I truly had a great time picking on was her Yam Ruam Mit Talay, a crispy fish maw and seafood salad that had all the signature Thai flavours- sour, salty, spicy, sweet and savoury. It had bits of dried shrimps, shreds of sour mango, chillies, sweet cashews with mint and basil leaves and bravely speckled with crispy dried stingray crackers (used much like how the Teochews use teepo- dried fish soles).

Her olive rice is prettily made but was a bit dull for me as I like it saltier and with sweeter meats. But there was one dish, which over the three occasions I was there, eluded me- the Hoey Jor. She hand makes only a few each day and it goes fast each morning- bypassing me everytime. I mean, though I have not tried, how wrong can a respected Thai chef get with fried crabmeat and chicken in wrapped in bean skin. Go early and check if I am wrong. If I am, then sweeten that risk with her mango glutinous rice dessert- a class act for a hawker stall.