After a year off, Aksarapak Chotikasathira (known to everyone as Kay) has recently made a welcome return to the kitchen at The Black Duck Bistro at Wombarra Bowlo.
“I had cancer, and last year I dropped all my work to concentrate on getting well,” she says.
“During that time I focused on eating healthy food myself and completely cutting out processed food. It is something I will continue to do.”
Kay credits this with helping to make her treatment a success, and for making her feel so much healthier than before.
Her own experience has fired up a heightened enthusiasm for cooking authentic Thai food, backed by the Bachelor of Nutrition and Home Economics she obtained before immigrating to Australia in 2006.
“Traditional Thai food is naturally fresh and healthy, and I want to help people discover some different dishes,” she says.
“I am helping to create a specials menu at The Black Duck which focuses on very traditional street food.
“We make it all ourselves, using more spices and ingredients that no one else has.”
Think homemade pork dim sims, mango sticky rice, pad cha, beef noodle soup and crispy fish with three flavours sauce.
The reaction to the new dishes, offered alongside the main menu, has been very positive.
“People rave about the pad cha in particular,” says Kay.
“It is a spicy seafood stirfry with young green peppercorn, gourd and chilli.”
She went straight into cooking when she arrived in Australia, living in Sydney and working at a number of leading Thai restaurants, including Spice I Am in Darlinghurst. She moved to the Illawarra after her marriage in 2012.
Her brother Sam has run The Black Duck for 10 years, and Kay joined him there a couple of years ago after running her own bistros at the Corrimal and Unanderra hotels.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kay back to the kitchen,” says Sam.
“Her strength and determination have brought her back to the team. She’s been greatly missed.”
Kay has missed being there too.
“I love working at the Bowlo as everyone seems like family,” says Kay.
“People are so relaxed when they come here, it is just so nice to see the community get together.
“Locals even supply the kitchen with produce they’ve grown in their gardens – zucchini, cucumbers, herbs and chilli. I love using it.”
While The Black Duck’s menu still offers obligatory burgers and mains with chips and salad, around half of the offerings are Thai classics with duck and seafood as their speciality.
Kay is delighted when some of her old regulars from Corrimal and Unanderra make the trip up the coast to enjoy her cooking.
“Once they get here they can understand why I choose to work here,” she says with a smile.
Those after a mid-week bargain should think about the Thai Curry Mondays ($15 for a Panang, green or red curry) or Noodle Tuesdays ($15 for your choice of four types of noodle with chicken, pork, beef, or tofu and vegetables). Both offer the added bonus of 50 per cent off tap beer and house wines to go with your food.
In other news, the community-run club is planning to a Food and Growers Festival in April next year, which will of course feature The Black Duck’s street food.
The Black Duck is at Wombarra Bowlo, 578 Lawrence Hargrave Drive. Open Mon-Weds: Noon-3.30pm; 4.30-8pm, Thurs: Noon-3.30pm; 4.30-8.30pm, Fri-Sat: Noon-9pm, Sunday: Noon-8.30pm