幾個星期前我們很幸運地認識了一位港人陳生與他正在積極協助開辦新泰國菜館的老闆娘Khun Nok （泰文、翻譯為「鳥」-一個頗普遍的泰語別名）。由於我年輕時曾居留在泰國工作6年，對泰語及泰國文化有一定的認識及懷緬，每當有泰國菜店家要求參與我們系統的demo時，我一定會抽時間赴約出席，用我剩餘的簡單社交泰語與店家打個招呼以示尊重，這次也不例外！這家命名為「泰廚」的餐廳位於堅尼地城厚和街38號持平大厦地下C-D號舖，亦是在iCHEF計劃重點擴張的一區域之內。這天我們團隊出席demo的有Walter，Rocky同我，進程非常順利，其實Khun Nok的廣東話真的講得不錯，發音亦算頗純正，但與我用泰語交談她感到特別親切，告訴了我很多她與家人30多年來在港謀生的經歷，聽得我津津樂道！最高興的是當天晚上Walter已經獲陳生通知，決定採用iCHEF系統。
A few weeks ago, we were fortunate to meet a Hongkonger, Mr. Chan, who is actively assisting the owner, Khun Nok (which translates to “bird” in Thai—a quite common nickname), in opening a new Thai restaurant. Having lived and worked in Thailand for six years when I was much younger, I have a fond familiarity with the Thai language and culture. Whenever a Thai restaurant requests to participate in our system demo, I always take the opportunity of attending to greet the restaurant owners in my limited social Thai language as a sign of respect. This time was no exception! The restaurant, named “Krua Thai (directly translated to “Thai Chef”), is located at Shop C-D, G/F, Chi Ping Building, 38 Hau Wo Street, Kennedy Town, which is within an area of focus for the iCHEF expansion plan. On the day of the demo, our team comprised Walter, Rocky, and myself. The process went very smoothly; in fact, Khun Nok speaks Cantonese quite well, with decent pronunciation. However, she felt especially warm when I spoke to her in Thai, sharing many stories about her family’s experiences of making a living in Hong Kong for over 30 years, which I found fascinating! The highlight of the day was when Walter received a notification in the evening from Mr. Chan that they decided to adopt the iCHEF system.
原來30多年前，Khun Nok與泰籍丈夫Khun Anan初到香港就認識了陳生，開始了在香港仔協作經營泰國菜餐廳。今天的組合，真有點開枝散葉的感覺：兩夫婦夫唱婦隨，Khun Anan是行政總廚，Khun Nok管理樓面，好友陳生繼續全力支持他們，兩位公子已長大成人，一同在店擔任廚師，兩人都已婚，兩位媳婦在店工作，兩對年輕夫婦各養育一兒子。今天我們四人（Rocky、芯、King與我）一同回訪陳生及Khun Nok時，就巧合地遇上了全家的成員，非常熱鬧！小朋友年紀輕輕，很趣緻可愛，應該已入學，放學後來到餐廳，性格自律，絕不會喧嘩影響他人。
今天我們點了想品嚐的菜式，都是我最喜歡的普通選擇，包括酸辣鳳爪、椰汁雞湯、泰式炸蝦餅及泰式蝦膏炒飯，Khun Nok就為我們親自配上泰式凍奶茶（走糖），椰汁千層糕及芒果糯米飯。這些本來是很平凡的菜式，但經大廚們的獨特烹調方法得出意想不到效果，尤其是椰汁雞湯的椰汁濃度剛好而辣味適中，蝦膏炒飯水準遠超其他試過的香港泰國餐廳，夠蝦膏味而不膩，兩味菜都值得一讚！
It turns out that over 30 years ago, Khun Nok and her Thai husband, Khun Anan, arrived in Hong Kong and got to know Mr Chan. They began collaborating to run a Thai restaurant in Aberdeen. The current setup feels like a blossoming family tree: the couple works in harmony, with Khun Anan as the executive chef and Khun Nok managing the floor. Their close friend, Mr. Chan continues to support them wholeheartedly, and their two sons are now grown, working as chefs in the restaurant. Both sons are married, and their wives also work at the restaurant, with each young couple raising a son. During our visit with Mr. Chan and Khun Nok, the four of us (including Sum, King, Rocky and myself) coincidentally encountered the entire family, which was lively! The young children, already in school, came to the restaurant after classes, fun, energetic but displaying a disciplined demeanor and never causing a ruckus. For this visit, we ordered dishes that we wanted to try, all of which are my favorite standard choices, including spicy chicken feet, coconut chicken soup, Thai-style shrimp cakes, and shrimp paste fried rice. Khun Nok personally prepared Thai iced milk tea (without sugar), coconut layer cake, and mango sticky rice to accompany our choices. While these dishes are generally ordinary, the chefs’ unique cooking methods resulted in unexpectedly delightful flavors, particularly the coconut chicken soup, which had the perfect coconut richness and moderate spiciness and the shrimp paste fried rice surpassing that of other Thai restaurants in Hong Kong, rich in shrimp paste flavor without being greasy. Both dishes deserve praise!
今次回訪進一步讓我們提升與店家互相認識，希望不久將來會再回去拜訪，儘量加強店家對採用系統的信心。
This visit further strengthened our relationship with the restaurant. We hope to return soon to reinforce their confidence in adopting our system.
