Chef May Sonta cooks Thai dishes with family history at Five 81° NE in Portsmouth
PORTSMOUTH — May Sonta, chef and partner with her husband, Ton, of the Five 81° NE was already known in the Seacoast for her cooking before the new Thai restaurant opened on Lafayette Road this summer.
The couple have been chefs and partners at Green Elephant Vegetarian Bistro in downtown Portsmouth since 2015 as well. Now they are doing double duty.
May Sonta welcomed us into the kitchen at Five 81° NE recently for our Taste of Local video series, showing us how she makes Banh Beo Lobster, which are rice cakes, and Som Tum Thai, a spicy papaya salad. The rice cakes are topped with lobster and served with sweet and sour sauce and crispy fried shallots. Som Tum Thai features green papaya, green beans, tomatoes, lime, garlic, chilis, palm sugar and tamarind sauce, served with shrimp and roasted peanuts. She describes it as sweet, sour and tangy all at the same time.
May Sonta said the food she cooks means a lot to her because of its history and childhood memories, crediting her husband's grandmother.
Here's how she responded to our Taste of Local questions:
Where are you from? Chiangmai, Thailand
Do you have a family? Yes
Why did you want to become a chef? I want to share our love of food, As a chef, I can use the power of food to get people to enjoy eating, explore different cultures.
What made you want to work in a restaurant in Portsmouth? As a chef/partner of the Green Elephant vegetarian restaurant, I know I love Portsmouth so much and that is the reason.
Where did you train and for how long? Thailand, 10 years-plus.
What did you learn in your training? Learning all of the cooking skills from the experts around me (my mother, mother-in-law, my husband’s grandmother).
Have you worked in any previous restaurants? If so, where? Green Elephant, Portsmouth.
Is there a fun fact or interesting fact you'd like to share about yourself? To be honest, I am not a chef, no culinary degree. Just an ordinary person who loves and enjoys cooking so much.
Who inspires you? My mother, my aunt, mother-in-law and my husband's grandmother.
More Seacoast chefs featured in Taste of Local videos:
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Chef May Sonta cooks favorite dishes at Five 81° NE in Portsmouth NH
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