HOT PLATES: DJ Maft Sai & SaNgaa Beef Noodles

Bangkok, Thailand

Once in a blue moon, you meet someone who really knows how to eat. Maft Sai (Nat to his friends) is one of those people. Owner and curator of Studio Lam on Sukhumvit 51, Bangkok, soon led to the opening of specialist record shop Zudrangama on the same street. What may seem like a dream come true to some and a real-life game of monopoly to others, Maft Sai more recently branched out to his other love; food.

SaNgaa Beef Noodles is a Thai – Halal restaurant specialising in beef noodles. The recipe Nat has kindly offered to share with you is a 60-year-old family recipe from Mahachai, Samut Sakhon province.

As the restaurant itself is halal, Nat has carefully curated the accompanying mix of Thai-Muslim music from the Southern part of Thailand.

Ingredients

Kaphrao Nua Tun (Braised beef with basil & chili)

  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Garlic – 1 tsp
  • Chili – 1 tsp
  • Beef stock (or any kind) – 1/4 cup
  • Oyster sauce – 1 tbsp
  • Sugar – 1 tsp
  • Fish Sauce – 1/2 tsp
  • Braised beef (or any kind of meat/seafood/veg but if you are using raw meat you add it in after the chilli and stir-fry until it is cooked then continue with the next step)
  • Thai basil (if you can’t get hold of Thai, any kind of basil will do but the aroma won’t be as nice) N.B. Once you put in the basil, switch off the heat right away as you don’t want your basil to be too limp.

Nampla Prik

In Thailand, we accompany this dish with Nampla Prik (Fish Sauce & Chili). In the same way that salt & pepper is added to everything in the West, we add this sauce to most Thai dishes.

 It’s super easy to make – here’s my version:

  1. Fish Sauce – 2 tbsp
  2. Fresh Lime Juice – 2 tbsp
  3. Sugar – 1/2 tsp
  4. Warm Water – 1 tbsp (stir it until sugar dissolves)
  5. Chop Garlic – to taste
  6. Chop bird’s eye chili (or any kind of chili as long as it’s real spicy) – to taste

Notes

You can pan-fry an egg (get it crispy) to eat with this dish (Thai Style). This dish can also be easily adapted for vegetarians, pescatarians and vegans. Simply change the stock and the protein.

Method

The method for this dish is very quick, very easy and very tasty.

  1. First of all, heat your wok until it is nice and hot
  2. Add the ingredients in the order you see them listed above, whilst stirring constantly
  3. A top tip is to separate them out into the correct measurements before you start cooking, that saves you overcooking or over reducing the liquids

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