Fruits of the sea

Thursday, March 20th, 2008


He renders the menu redundant. Chef Sim Poh Geok at R.E.D. at Radisson MBD takes a personal interest in every client. He cooks according to individual demands and specific requirements. It is no wonder that he is a favourite of clients, and that “Sim’s Seafood Studio” is returning to the restaurant for the third time.

Hailing from Singapore but a Delhiite for five years now, Sim brings his special seafood selection to the table. The menu consists of a wide variety of prawn, crab and fish appetisers, soups and main courses. Yes, the seafood menu offers no options for vegetarians. But Sim will willingly stir up a delicious vegetable and sauté a rice of choice. Or you can just pick from the usual menu. He reveals that it was only after coming to India that he discovered the existence of “vegetarian” cuisine.

Basic spices

Sim’s seafood succeeds in being different yet not exotic. The soft shell crab with salt and pepper is really very good. Sim says that these crabs are tough to find as the crabs have to be caught shortly after they moult their hard shell.

The shell is so tender that it doesn’t need to be removed and instead it provides a subtle crunch. Cooked in basic spices, the flavour of crab remains pristine. The crispy bean curd skin and prawn roll is like a spring roll in a rain coat. The texture is very different from conventional spring rolls. Even the prawn is in a twist as it comes wrapped in a small bit of fish.

This bean curd skin is not available in India and the chef brings it straight from Singapore.

The Thai soup is sharp and wilful. Sim says he likes to experiment with different Asian flavours and this is one such example. The soup brims with ginger and lemongrass shavings. These are for flavour and not meant to be eaten!

For the main course you can plunge into lobsters, oysters or prawns. The seafood clay pot usually contains sea cucumber. But since it’s not popular in India it is replaced with baby corn. The fish and prawn are first fried, and then tossed with sauce. It is cooked in a clay pot till “the flavours run,” explains the chef. A clay pot is used as it best retains the flavours. Sim will cook up fruits or ice cream for dessert. The honey noodles are very good, as they are crunchy without being hard.

NANDINI NAIR
Festival: Sim’s Seafood Studio