Stallholder-chef, 62-year-old Khun Buachan Pamakham, known to her customers as “Jane”, now runs 𝗡𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗶 𝟵, a smallish but very popular Thai food kiosk inside a food court at Tampines Round Market & Food Centre. Jane has been operating here since 20 July 2023, but she has been in the food business for more than 35 years now.
Khun Buachan, a Chiang Mai native, used to run the uber-popular 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶 at the infamous Orchard Towers, Singapore’s 𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰 red-light district. 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶’s target market then were the Thai “ladies of the night”, ladyboys, masseuses and other miscellaneous sex workers. But Jane’s reputation for serving authentic Thai food soon caught the attention of foodies, who flocked there for the food instead of the flesh trade.
I never did find out from Khun Buachan why she chose “Jane” as her business name there. But I did manage to ask her what her Thai nickname was, as all Thais have one. She said, “Porn”.
OK, so I guess registering “Jane” for her food business there made good sense.
Nowadays, Khun Buachan Pamakham’s new place is more accessible, as she plies her offerings to a more family-friendly general public at Tampines’ busy Round Market and Food Centre.
Our lunch spread here:
- Tod mun koong - Thai-style deep-fried prawn cakes, made on the spot upon order by Jane. Her prawn cakes are roughly-chopped prawns, mixed with fish-paste, squid-meat, egg, fresh coriander sprigs, Ros Dee seasoning mix, plus sugar/salt. She coat the donut-like cakes in panko crumbs before deep-frying.
Served fresh from the wok, Jane’s tod mun koong were light, crisp, greaseless, and absolutely delicious.
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Pla sam rot - this was a whole seabass, crisp-fried on the outside, but still moist on the inside. It’s coated with a sweet-sour-spicy sauce. Jane’s version had a light touch when it comes to the sauce, letting the freshness and natural flavors from the fish shine through.
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𝘔𝘰𝘰 𝘬𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘮 - stir-fried pork with golden-crisp garlic crumbs. This dish was a disappointment, as the pork strips didn’t have the tender and moist texture we were looking for in this dish. Taste-wise, it was fine - garlicky and with a touch of light soy sauce.
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𝘠𝘶𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯 - glass noodles salad with minced pork, squid and prawns, in sour-spicy dressing. Very popular with my dining companions. I was looking for something more “porky”, i.e. use of more fatty minced pork, and perhaps the addition of toasted peanuts which was absent from Jane’s rendition.
- 𝘚𝘢𝘪 𝘶𝘢 - Northern Thai pork sausage. Its name in Thai comes from 𝙨𝙖𝙞 (“intestine”) and 𝙪𝙖 (“to stuff”).
Taste-wise, this was absolutely stupendous - don’t miss ordering it.
- 𝘗𝘢𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘪 - Thai-style fried noodles, flavoured with tamarind and palm sugar, and garnished with beansprouts, chives, shrimps, tofu and crushed peanuts. The version here was excellent - one of the best I’d had in Singapore.
Overall, one of the best casual Thai dining options in town at the moment. It’s really worth a trek to Tampines to have a taste of Jane’s cooking.
Address
Nimman Soi 9 Thai Food
Block 139 Tampines Street 11, #01-08, Singapore 521139
Tel: +65 8032 0887
Opening hours: 11am to 9.30pm daily
