Darren Chin, chef and owner of Michelin-recognised restaurants, celebrates the authenticity, diversity and flavours of Chiang Mai’s cuisine in a collaboration with Malaysia Airlines
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Thailand’s northern jewel, Chiang Mai, is famed for panoramic mountains, magnificent temples and indigenous handicraft. Located about 700km north of Bangkok, it is Thailand’s second largest city and was once the capital of the ancient Lan Na Kingdom. It’s also home to diverse and vibrant cultures, with many ethnic minority groups and subgroups originating from other parts of Asia settling on its verdant hills.
It was in Chiang Mai that Malaysian chef Darren Chin, met Pachsita “Nana” Kitikornchalowemwong, who grew up in Mae Ai, a village in the hilly province, and is now his wife. It is also where the chef recently embarked on a culinary adventure with Malaysia Airlines to discover Thai cuisine.
Trained in France, Darren is behind the Michelin-starred DC Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, as well as Bref by Darren Chin and Gai by Darren Chin, which are both on the Michelin Guide. But his recent assignment took him out of his comfort zone to play host for Time for Chiang Mai, the four-episode travel series that forms part of his collaboration with Malaysia Airlines.
The series follows Darren as he explores the flavours of the region, from traditional cuisines, street food and modern fare, as well as visit hill tribe villages, cultural sites and an elephant sanctuary. The show, launched in August this year, celebrates the airline’s KL-Chiang Mai route. The northern Thailand city is one of three new destinations – including the Maldives and Da Nang, Vietnam – added to the airline’s international network in the last few months.
Darren had already been seeking to evolve his craft when Malaysia Airlines came knocking. This collaboration was a chance for Darren to really get to know the culture and cuisine of the region – a multi-sensory culinary journey that would allow him a deep dive into the city and province, and its relationship to food.
“There is so much originality here and no pretence; so much subtraction, so much restraint,” says Darren, who found Chiang Mai’s cultural diversity so remarkable. While there, he visited the Mueang Luang Nuea Tai Lue community and the Hmong Doi Pui Village to learn how these communities keep their traditions alive by living off the land. Visitors to the Tai Lue village can experience traditional ways of life first-hand through activities like decorating bags, making desserts and Phaya Luang dolls, while the Hmong village offers a glimpse of its rich heritage through intricate handicraft and agricultural bounty, especially its famous coffees and teas.
“These ethnic micro communities have been cultivating and living off the land for the last 300 years,” he says. “This way of organic living is truly inspiring to witness and experience first-hand. I want to celebrate the biodiversity [that shapes] traditions.” He describes the local cuisine as “a true expression of terroir” – and terroir is vital to Darren; it is the third of the five tenets of his philosophy of culinary excellence, where every dish is a tribute to the land, a celebration of unique and distinct local flavours.
“This is the third cycle of my evolution through my food,” he explains. “This collaboration with Malaysia Airlines played a very important role in this. It is difficult to reinvent yourself when you are good at something. But rather than reinventing, you can evolve.”
Darren was especially taken by the Tai Lue community in Mueang Luang Nuea that live sustainably and in complete harmony with the land, with food cultivated on their own farms cooked using handmade stoves and other traditional methods. “Today we are talking about climate change and environmental issues, but these micro communities have been living this way for a very long time,” he says. “Their adaptation [to] their own food culture is woven into the tapestry of what Chiang Mai food represents.”
An exploration of Chiang Mai’s food scene would not be complete without examining what constitutes modern Thai cuisine. In Time for Chiang Mai, Darren samples the nightlife and street food at the Anusarn Market, famed for its vendors selling everything from clothing to food and souvenirs. He also pops into Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants Magnolia Café and Rasik Local Kitchen to learn their techniques, particularly their reinterpretations of traditional dishes.
For Darren, cooking alongside Rasik’s Chef Waii was particularly fruitful. “He taught me the concept, theory and mindset of his composition of dishes,” he says. “[Chef Waii] makes these dishes very original, but still not so different from the original values they represent.”
Darren also soaked up traditional Lanna music and dance performances while having a khantoke dinner, where kaeng hang lay (traditional curry), pla tabtim todd (fried tilapia with herbs), and other dishes come accompanied by various dips on a small pedestal, at the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Centre. He also made time for the Elephant Freedom Village, a sanctuary that provides ethical elephant experiences such as feeding and interacting with the gentle giants at a waterfall to gain insight into their special place in Karen culture. There he helped bathe elephants, something he’d never done before. “They are magnificent animals,” he gushes. “It was quite mesmerising to get that close to [them].”
For Darren, Chiang Mai’s unique mix of its diverse communities preserving their traditions, along with up-and-coming chefs in the city putting their own spin on those traditions, is what will make Chiang Mai the next food capital of Thailand.
Everything Darren learned in Chiang Mai turned up on the plate at an epic gala dinner dubbed “An Epicurean Journey Through Chiang Mai”, held at M Resort and Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The formal, five-course dinner, held in celebration of the airline’s new KL-Chiang Mai route, gave KL’s travel glitterati, KOLs and celebrities like tv personality Daphne Iking and fashion entrepreneur Christy Ng a taste of the airline’s new destination.
Darren opened the special dinner menu with chicken khao soi gai (egg noodle soup in curry broth) created with the Malaysian palate in mind. The dish was inspired by the khao soi he had in the Hmong village, made by a Muslim cook of Indian heritage – in Darren’s view, hands down the best khao soi in Chiang Mai.
As a second course, he created a northern kingfish larb (meat salad), served with a glutinous rice cracker, a homage to the Tai Lue community’s embrace of every aspect of rice. After a fried banana blossom with marinated shrimp and roasted coconut cream, guests were treated to wild red coral trout in hor mok (steamed curry) stuffing. Darren also used his mastery of French technique to infuse spices with the Songkhla river prawn, served with yellow curry bisque sauce and bue kee salad, as well as the aged duck supreme in northern spice.
Interestingly, bue kee, the variety of wild rice cultivated by the Pakakayor community in Chiang Mai, is traditionally kept within the tribe and is almost never exported out. “Showcasing such a rare variety of rice was a true testament to celebrating biodiversity and enhancing the rich [culinary] heritage of Chiang Mai,” Darren says. The course ended on a high note, with a rich pandan pudding in coconut cream and an egg custard sangkaya (coconut custard).
It’s clear to see how much pride the chef takes in the partnership of shared values – what the airline sums up as Malaysian Hospitality is also how the chef defines world-class service, and the warmth and beauty of its people. It’s a collaboration that has allowed him to discover new things about familiar places. “Working alongside Malaysia Airlines has opened my mind and soul,” Darren says. “This experience has given me the opportunity to see above and beyond my craft. The cross-culinary cultures have broadened my perspectives on sustainable living. Taking time to enjoy these moments is sheer luxury.”
The entire experience in Chiang Mai, from filming the video series and creating a multi-course menu that took guests on a culinary adventure through northern Thailand, reaffirmed for Darren that indeed the only way to learn is to travel. “When you travel, you expose yourself to new things. You taste new things, new flavour combinations; learn new techniques, new ideas. You see the origins of food – how it is grown, how it is sourced and how it is used.”
