Photos: Maenam's Thai food evolves in Vancouver

The history of Thai cuisine in Vancouver can be divided into two periods: before Maenam and after Maenam. If you think that's an overstatement, remember that it wasn't so long ago that nobody thought twice about eating pad Thai made with ketchup. Many Vancouverites won't stand for that these days, and Maenam is a large reason why.

It's been five years since chef Angus An opened his Thai restaurant in 2009 and raised the bar for Thai food in Vancouver. The following year, he was voted the best chef in Vancouver by his peers during the Georgia Straight’s 13^th annual Golden Plate Awards.

Since then, An has opened a second, more casual eatery, Longtail Kitchen, and Maenam's menu has evolved. As a guest at a recent Kitsilano media dinner, I got a taste of what's new and chatted with An about how things have changed. Here's a look.

Maenam focuses on local ingredients, highlighting them as long as the Thai flavours of a dish ring true. In a hot-and-sour clam matsutake soup, for example, An marries pine mushrooms (instead of Thai straw mushrooms) with Thai holy basil, and the flavours work beautifully together.

However, in the first year or so of running Maenam, An found that some of his suppliers' produce just didn't offer the same flavour as in Thailand. For example, Mexican lemongrass is more fibrous and woody than the sweeter, more tender Thai version. So he started importing veggies straight from Thailand, including fresh baby corn (above--yes, it does grow on tiny cobs!). He now uses a combination of suppliers and imports up to 150 pounds of Thai produce per week.

An uses local seafood like this humboldt squid, which works well in Thai salads. The sour green mango here contrasts nicely with the confit cashews bathed in duck fat.

Things change, but they also stay the same. According to An, dishes like Penang curry (opening photo, above) are still very popular at the restaurant. Some people still aren't very adventurous; for example, a couple dining that night wanted only pad Thai--so they ordered two, one for each person. That's fine with An, even though a typical Thai meal would consist of many dishes served family-style.

However, there are also many diners who are interested in trying new dishes. So about a year and a half after the restaurant opened, An introduced a changing chef's set menu ($35 per person), in which he exercises more creativity. "It enables us to do a lot more adventurous things," he explains. For example, this southern-style curry (above) is rich and complex with lamb belly and perfectly soft eggs.

Last year, Maenam introduced live fish tanks and now offers whole fish, crab, and lobster if customers call to order in advance.

This lobster is a creative take on miang kham, a traditional leaf-packet snack that diners assemble themselves with ingredients like peanuts, fried shallots, and dried shrimp. In this deluxe version, An offers betal leaves as a base for a mixture of poached lobster, ginger, and lime with a toasted galangal dressing.

This black-pepper crab is a customer favourite; it must be ordered in advance.

I'm not generally a fan of Thai desserts, but Maenam has some lovely ones. This steamed jackfruit custard is pleasantly scented with pandan leaves.

See Maenam's menu for more of what's currently on offer.