Embrace and elevate: Chef Pam’s quest to honour her Thai-Chinese roots with Restaurant Potong

In the early 1900s, Pam’s ancestor constructed the building in the heart of Bangkok’s Chinatown, serving as a family home and a pharmacy factory. The area was a hub for Chinese businessmen who had migrated to Thailand to sell their wares. The five-storey Sino-Portuguese-inspired shophouse now houses Restaurant Potong on its first three floors, while award-winning cocktail bar Opium occupies the top two levels.

The historical movement of Chinese people to Thailand in search of a better life often anchored the tales her grandfather recounted. And naturally, their food culture came along too. “When the Chinese immigrants moved to Thailand, they brought their way of cooking but had to adapt to local ingredients,” she recalls.

Take the Pad Thai for instance, a synonymous Thai-Chinese dish with much significance and one that possibly shaped the nation. Invented in the 1930s—a time of political change in Thailand—and named as the national dish of Thailand by former prime minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram, the humble plate was a symbol of unity among the diverse population of Thailand. It combined elements of Thai and Chinese cooking, where rice noodles—a staple in Chinese cuisine—were married with local Thai ingredients of tamarind, fish sauce, preserved radish, and chillies.

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At Potong, the signature Pad Thai starts with a presentation of a brass military camp pot, rich with information about its heritage. Soon, the dish follows but in unorthodox fashion. Pam centres the plump and briny carabinero prawn, layered with familiarities of pickled radish, tofu and tamarind, while a rice noodle textured blanket—painted naturally in the colours of the Thai national flag—is draped over. It is an unfamiliar feast for the eyes yet vividly familiar on the tastebuds.

For the uninitiated, every dish in Potong’s tasting menu redefines traditional Thai-Chinese dishes, with Pam drawing major inspiration from her family’s recipes, childhood memories, and her culinary journey—she honed her chops in the prestigious Jean-Georges, a modern French fine-dining restaurant in New York—for their conception. 

And the creative process wasn’t without blood, sweat and tears. In the beginning, in an attempt to cook differently, Pam went against the grain. “I remember trying to recreate a fish maw dish. But instead of learning the time-tested method first, and despite my mother’s disapproval, I did the opposite. I failed so many times,” she reveals.

On another occasion, before Potong went live, Pam went deep in search of its signature dish. “We knew it had to be a dish that spotlights an ingredient that is easily relatable but also memorable,” she explains. She wagered on duck. During the research and development phase, she skipped the traditional maltose application—a method that gives the Peking duck its shatteringly crisp skin. She even experimented with using turmeric and beetroot juice to give colour to the ducks. The earliest results were unfavourable and much time—six months, to be exact—was lost due to the 14-day dry age process each time.

Finally, egos were set aside. Pam made the conscious decision to follow and learn the traditional recipes by heart. Things turned for the better. “First of all, that taught me that my mother was always right,” she chuckles. Those failures also gave her an epiphany that true innovation can only be possible when one masters, and respects, tradition. Feedback and criticism are commodities in the notoriously fast-paced and unforgiving fine-dining scene. “Good or bad, you can’t walk away from feedback if you want to grow,” she asserts. “You have to address them, as fast as possible, even though they sometimes hurt your feelings.”

Today, that duck proved to be a winning bet. Accented with Thai-Chinese five spices, it is the main attraction, enticing gourmands from all across the world just for a taste. The intentional act of serving it on a lazy susan also evokes memories of family gatherings, bringing diners back to the warmth of home-cooked meals. “Every dish before the duck is very progressive but my intention with this humble yet fulfilling main course is to ground us back to reality,” she believes. It remains her favourite narrative to share with her guests in person.

Storytelling is visceral for Pam and her approach to ground progressive dining experiences in familiar flavours isn’t confined to just creating delicious food. For instance, her contemporary take on Rad Na (a popular Thai-Chinese street food of noodles with gravy), is inspired by her mother’s homecooked version—conveniently one of her father’s favourite dishes, and the peppery kway chaps of Yaowarat. It makes for a riveting series: the broth, thick with white pepper and smoke; the pork, cleverly replaced with a meaty morel and textures of black fungus; and finished with a luxurious scoop of nutty caviar.

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Yet redefining a cuisine with such rich culture and heritage comes with its challenges. “Finding that equilibrium is crucial,” she notes, recalling early struggles with dishes that were too avant-garde for some diners since Potong opened in 2021. “I learnt that what I like doesn’t always resonate with everyone else.” In the spirit of using the entire animal, the duck course in the debut menu included an artillery of offals—think gizzards, heart, liver, and brain—but was met with antipathy from many guests. “We don’t have them (duck heads) anymore, because our bottom line is to satisfy our guests.”

Pam now firmly believes that understanding the past is crucial for moving forward. “Our history tells us a lot about our culinary identity,” she explains. The evolving future for Thai-Chinese cuisine is arguably pioneered by Pam, but she doesn’t allude to single-handedly changing the culinary landscape. “I never thought of myself of changing the cuisine and I don’t think I can,” she humbly states. “Many people have contributed to Thai-Chinese cuisine, especially street food vendors.” 

But in embracing the label of progressive Thai-Chinese, Pam and Potong present diners, not just in Bangkok but globally, with the opportunity to be explorative with their food. “I want people to know that Thailand has so many cuisines, each with its own unique story,” she quips passionately.

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The Thai chef’s culinary ambition also goes beyond the kitchen. Most recently, her commitment to female empowerment within the food industry saw her launch the Women for Women (WFW) initiative. Funds are raised through special dinners, with 100 per cent of proceeds going into offering scholarships to empower young female chefs and internships for qualified female students. “Providing one generation of education indirectly supports the next three,” she emphasises when speaking on the transformative power of education for young women in Thailand.

She has since found her first candidate: a young aspiring female from Phuket with no prior experience in culinary but is hungry to learn a new skill. The one-year full ride scholarship promises monthly remuneration, with meals and accommodation covered. “The programme has to be a full year,” she insists. Pam draws from her own experience spent in New York where she almost threw in the towel in the first three months but persevered through the cultural differences and long hours. “It’s like running in the gym! The first five minutes are the worst. But once you get past the ten-minute mark, you can easily go for an hour.”

For Pam, the culinary legacy she hopes to leave behind is set in motion. Her unwavering commitment to authenticity and innovation without losing sight of her roots is exemplary on the global stage, paving the way for many young aspiring chefs to come—she has even got the co-sign from Marco Pierre White, a legendary British chef-restaurateur. And for that, the culinary world is richer for it.

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