Chef Rob Pengson and his team offer Thai food favoring the Pinoy palette


For the time being, their non-traditional Thai cuisine is available only for delivery

The balance between different tastes is what makes a certain dish stand out and leave you wanting more. Thai food meets that criteria — perfectly harmonizing sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavors. And no wonder it made a mark around the world.

The experience of celebrity veteran chef and restaurateur Rob Pengson in France is proof of how Thai cuisine is well received in a country that is considered one of the culinrary capitals of the world. “I was in Paris once and we were eating in a Thai restaurant. It was the fullest restaurant in the whole street. And I was like, what’s going on? It was surprising because it was Asian food but super popular. And then I could hear these children going miam miam, miam miam,” he narrated.

Celebrity chef, culinary mentor, and restaurateur Chef Rob Pengson

Later on, Chef Rob found out that miam means yummy in French. And as they say, children never lie. The word stuck in his mind that every time he eats in a Thai restaurant he would say, "miam, miam, miam." And that is also the reason why he named his new Thai food online delivery venture Miam Miam Thai Chicken. “It sounds Thai, it’s catchy and in a way, we want to make it for the international palate,” said chef Rob.

When we talk about Thai food, what most of us would think of is their popular noodle dish pad Thai. But, there are more interesting dishes that we can savor from this Southeast Asian cuisine. Take it from Miam Miam’s lineup, starting from their chicken offerings gai tod and satay.

Gai Tod, Thai's crispy chicken wings

Their version of this street food chicken wings gai tod has crunchy and chewy skin that compliments the tender juicy and savory flesh. Its taste levels up when dipped in either their sweet chili and sweet vinegar concoction.

Flavourful and tender grilled chicken satay with savory peanut sauce

On the other hand, the aroma alone of their grilled chicken satay gives a hint of its goodness. Enrich with a delicate blend of curry spice and secret herbs, its tender meat is really tasty, especially when layered with its thick peanut sauce.

However, the restaurateur with the help of his team decided to be more creative, thus, they also offer non-traditional Thai food. For instance, they have plant-based, as in no-meat pasta and noodles that cater to health-conscious Filipino customers. Even so, the authentic balance of Thai tastes is still present such as the sweetness and spiciness of gong bao sauce and the sweetness, sourness, and nuttiness of the pad Thai.

Vegetarian pad Thai with authentic Thai's sweet, sour, savory, and nutty flavors

Another dish that carries the DNA of Thai food yet favoring Pinoy’s sweet preference is their bagoong rice. Its sweetness, though light, overpowers the saltiness of the bagoong and the sourness of the finely sliced green mango.

Spicy gong bao pasta and Salty bagoong rice with sweet bias

Other must-try dishes are the appetizers som tam and krupuk. The former is a crunchy shredded fresh green papaya salad bath in tangy and spicy dressing while the latter is a crackling prawn snack powdered with different spices and herbs. The krupuk is so addicting that they are planning to make the crackers available by the bucket.

Also, the meal wouldn’t be complete without signature Thai beverages like Thai milk tea, iced tea, and ginger tea. The lightly sweetened drinks are refreshing, perfect to end a Thai full meal course.

The recipes were well curated by the Aleanza team of Chef Rob, who was up for the challenge to create good food, especially that it is for delivery. Prepared by professional chefs while observing health protocols, the Thai dishes, which are also available in platter choices, are well packed in paper containers. The packaging may look ordinary but when you open it, you’ll be surprised how inviting the presentation is, even if the colors are limited.

Miam Miam, is just one of the many brands that Aleanza's cloud kitchen is developing. Next in line is their Latin American cuisine Mission Wings, which boast of their chicken wings with a touch of kare-kare flavors. “Though we anchor our food from its origin, we still want to put something local, something Filipino,” disclosed Chef Rob.

To try Miam Miam, you may visit its Facebook and Instagram accounts or check them on food delivery apps.