Thailand’s finest ingredients travel to the APEC Leaders’ Gala Dinner

All of Thailand’s finest culinary delicacies are being sent to Bangkok for this week’s APEC summit. The gala dinner for APEC leaders will feature food prepared entirely using ingredients from Thailand, according to Chef Chumpol Jangprai. The gala dinner will have “Sustainable Thai” as its theme.

Mr. Chumpol said that the gala dinner will have five dishes of authentic Thai cuisine: an amuse-bouche to start, followed by appetizers, a salad, the main course, and finally dessert. All menus would be halal, and the emphasis would be placed on the usage of 100% Thai raw ingredients.

The 2022 APEC theme of “Open” inspired the meals. Connect. The chef said that in order to “open” the gourmet experience at the gala dinner, 8 different flavors of Thai food would be used; “connect” would come from using raw materials sourced from production sites across the country, including GI-enabled products; and “balance” would come from using sustainability economy principles and adhering to sustainable development.

We’ll start with an amuse-bouche of Doi Inthanon Royal Project sturgeon roe served in a crispy golden cup topped with a cream sauce.

Journalists covering this week’s APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting were treated to appetizers featuring highlight menus from four regions of Thailand, served in bite-sized portions on a map of Thailand backdrop and given the course name “Welcome to Thailand.” The menus featured Khao Soi and Tom Yum from the North, grilled Khorat Wagyu beef from the Northeast, and grilled Betong chicken from the South.

Organic chicken, rainbow lobsters from Phuket, and pickled duck eggs from Suphanburi are just some of the ingredients in the Thai spicy salad served as the salad dish.

Beef is from the well-known Phon Yang Kham cooperative in Sakon Nakhon, and the hybrid groupers are collected off the coast of Phuket province. Hom Mali rice is from the Kula Rong Hai region, and the brown rice mix is a combination of Thai Hom Mali rice and a brown rice mix.

There is a Thai baked custard with passion fruit sorbet for dessert, as well as Darathong, which are chocolates infused with Thai brandy and imported from Chiang Mai; steamed flour filled with coconut; lychee macarons; pandan pudding; and assorted fresh Thai fruits.

The cuisine served during APEC 2022 events will represent the government’s effort to ensure that the event is a boon for the people at large.