Combining Zhejiang Cuisine Flavors with Thai Ingredients to Meet Diverse Needs
Bangkok, Thailand, September 22, 2025 / TRAVELINDEX / Purple Laurel has recently launched a new autumn menu. Taking inspiration from classic traditional dishes and flavors from various regions of Zhejiang Province, and guided by current ingredient selection and diners’ preferences, the restaurant has updated its dishes to a brand-new version. Meanwhile, by combining high-quality local Thai ingredients with unique Zhejiang seasonings and flavorings, the new autumn dishes are not only full of seasonal characteristics but also cater to the taste preferences of the local clientele.
Tides Rising in the Jiangnan Region | Purple Laurel, the Overseas Debut of Renowned Chef Yu Bin
At the beginning of 2025, Purple Laurel (紫桂轩 Zi Gui Xuan), the first overseas restaurant of the Chinese celebrity chef, the leading representative of refined and creative Jiangnan cuisine, and the head chef of several Michelin and Black Pearl restaurants, Yu Bin, officially opened in Bangkok, Thailand, after meticulous preparation. Located within the luxurious Gaysorn Amarin mall, adjacent to the famous Erawan Shrine, the restaurant has created a modern and elegant Chinese residence, integrating the essence of Cantonese and Jiangnan delicacies to offer international gourmands a taste of up-to-date and stylish Chinese cuisine.
The name Purple Laurel (紫桂轩 Zi Gui Xuan) originates from the hometown of its founder, Yu Bin, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. “Gui” refers to the city flower of Hangzhou, the osmanthus, while “Zi” is taken from Relais & Chateaux Hangzhou Zixuan Resort, where Yu Bin has been serving as the general manager and executive chef since 2005. It is also the R&D base for his creative Jiangnan cuisine and the birthplace of over 6,000 original dishes. The restaurant boasts three Michelin and Black Pearl restaurants with distinct styles.
Yu Bin is acclaimed as a renowned Chinese chef and a leading figure in refined Chinese cuisine. Over the past two decades, he has broken free from the traditional constraints and ingredient limitations of Hangzhou cuisine. By widely absorbing the flavors and cooking techniques of various Chinese cuisines and skillfully incorporating high-quality global ingredients into his new dish development methods, he has created refined Chinese dishes with a strong “Yu-style” signature.
In Search of the Nanyang | Private Courtyard, Modern Jiangnan
To reflect the integration of Nanyang and Chinese cultures, Purple Laurel combines the essence of traditional Jiangnan space with distinctive Nanyang elements, bringing a unique and delicate charm.
The exterior of the restaurant features intricate and exquisite perforated carving designs, condensing the artistic essence of Chinese doors and windows. The main hall is laid out in a symmetrical form, naturally dividing different dining areas with two white pavilions, skillfully creating an elegant atmosphere of a Chinese courtyard. As one moves through the space, the lush greenery and delicate partitions form a visually layered effect, offering diners a leisurely and private dining experience. At the deepest part of the restaurant lies the garden terrace connected to the outdoors. Looking out over the railing, one can see the bustling Bangkok city and the elevated train, creating a sense of an urban oasis.
As a new brand created by Yu Bin for the overseas market, the Purple Laurel team, after thorough research on the local Chinese cuisine market and customer preferences in Bangkok, and considering the current situation of ingredient imports and local substitutes, has designed a menu based on modern Jiangnan cuisine, complemented by Chaoyang and Cantonese dishes. Jiangnan cuisine is the most familiar genre to Yu Bin’s team, so Ziguixuan aims to bring the delicate seasoning and exquisite craftsmanship of their modern Jiangnan cuisine to Bangkok. The addition of Chaoyang and Cantonese dishes is to cater to the local diners’ eating habits and their long-standing love for these cuisines.
In addition to à la carte dishes, after the restaurant’s operations became more stable, Purple Laurel now offers three types of set meals to meet the dining needs of different customer groups. The first is the lunch set, with 60% handmade dim sum, complemented by roasted meats and stir-fries, making it more competitive in terms of per capita cost. The second is the chef’s selection tasting menu for dinner. The third is the single-person set, mainly to cater to the needs of solo travelers dining overseas.
Purple Laurel’s wine list is tailor-made for the restaurant by Lu Yang, the world’s first Chinese Master Sommelier and founder of GuiPu Wine Education & Services and Top Sommelier Studio. It features over a hundred carefully selected fine wines from major classic regions. In addition, Purple Laurel’s meticulously designed tea menu includes 24 types of Chinese teas, ranging from the rock charm of Wuyi Mountain in Fujian to the aged fragrance of old trees in Yunnan, from Taiwan’s high mountain oolong to the honey fragrance of Qimen black tea, with floral, fruity, woody, medicinal, grain, and mushroom aromas intertwining and echoing.
Autumn Charm of Jiangnan | Purple Laurel Launches Autumn Menu to Meet Diverse Dining Needs
Mr. Yu Bin, the head of Purple Laurel, said: “Purple Laurel updates its dishes every quarter, taking the season as a reference, and hopes to reflect the distinct characteristics of the four seasons in the menu. After more than half a year since its opening, our customer groups are very diverse. The local Chinese community in Thailand mostly consumes in private rooms, and they have higher standards and certain requirements for the presentation of dishes. At the same time, tourists in Bangkok are also a major source of customers. Most of them dine in groups of two to four and hope to taste more authentic Chinese dishes from their homeland. There are also a number of foreigners in Bangkok, whose eating habits tend more towards lunch and dim sum, and they have a high repurchase rate. In view of the diverse customer consumption habits and taste preferences, our new dish design will also take these specific needs into consideration.”
Introduction to the New Autumn Dishes
Appetizers
Hua Diao Ice-Infused Chicken
This dish draws inspiration from the yellow rice wine brewing culture in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China, which is rooted in the local abundance of rice. It is a traditional folk dish created by the local people using the brewed yellow rice wine to preserve and process chicken. The dish embodies the sustainable concept of making full use of resources and the “mild intoxication” aesthetic cherished by traditional Chinese literati, elevating it from a home-cooked dish to a refined and elegant representative of Jiangnan culinary culture.
We select free-range chickens from Northern Thailand, about one year old and around 3 pounds each, using only the tender and flavorful leg meat for this dish. The Hua Diao wine used is the five-year-old Shaoxing Guyue Longshan, which not only has a rich and mellow taste but also carries a subtle rice fragrance and a hint of fruity aftertaste. After soaking the chicken in dried scallops water at a low temperature for 30 minutes, it is then cold-soaked in Hua Diao wine before being plated.
Liángxī Crispy Eel
Crispy eel originated in Wuxi at the end of the Qing Dynasty (Wuxi is a city in Jiangsu Province, China, famous for its “sweet and fresh” dishes. It was anciently called “Liangxi,” hence the name). The local people are fascinated by various lake delicacies, and their particular fondness for crispy textures gave birth to this dish.
We select local wild eels from Thailand, weighing about 6 liang each (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 2.3 ounces or 65 grams). The eel’s back meat is taken, washed with salt to remove any remaining mucus, and then blanched before frying. When the oil temperature reaches nearly 60%, the eel segments are added. Once they are set and form a crust, the heat is turned off, and the remaining oil temperature is used to slowly “poach” the eels for 15 minutes. After achieving the desired crispiness, the oil temperature is raised again to 50% heat, and the heat is turned off once more to “poach.” This double operation ensures a long-lasting crispy texture. Finally, the eel segments are deep-fried at a high oil temperature to expel excess oil. The sauce poured over the eels is based on a sweet and salty flavor, coating the eel segments and creating a unique combination of crispy, fragrant, and rich taste and texture. This dish not only demonstrates the chef’s skill but also stands as a classic representation of the “sweet and fresh” flavor in Jiangnan cuisine.
Hot Dishes
Zao Botou Buddha Jumps Over the Wall
“Zao” refers to “Zao Lu糟卤” (Zao brine), which is the soul of this dish. This Zao brine is made from the lees left after brewing Shaoxing yellow rice wine, combined with butter, salt, sugar, Sichuan peppercorns, cassia bark, and other spices to create a complex and richly aromatic liquid with a unique wine fragrance and fermented aroma. In the past, frugal farmers in Jiangnan would not discard the offal (such as pig stomach, lungs, liver, intestines, trotters, etc.) after slaughtering livestock. Although these ingredients are delicious, they have a strong odor and require strong flavors to suppress and harmonize them, which led to the prototype of the “Zao Lu Zao Botou（糟钵头）” dish.
This time, Purple Laurel has selected high-grade seafood ingredients commonly used in Chinese cuisine for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and presented them in the flavor profile of Zao Lu Zao Botou. First, a basic broth is made from chicken, duck, and pork. Then, the essence of this broth is mixed with a small amount of homemade fermented Zao brine to create the Zao Lu juice. The dried ingredients include sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, fish maw, and dried scallops, which are soaked and prepared three days in advance. They are first steamed, then baked, and finally soaked in ice water to ensure full rehydration. Subsequently, the dried ingredients are immersed in the Zao Lu broth base and simmered slowly for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to penetrate. The resulting dish is aromatic, with a light yet rich and flavorful broth that is full of collagen and umami.
Perilla-Braised Yellowfin Grouper
Perilla is an herb with a unique and strong aroma. The aldehyde in perilla is particularly effective in suppressing and neutralizing the fishy smell of fish ingredients. At the same time, its unique fragrance can also penetrate into the fish meat, forming a complex and pleasant flavor. Therefore, perilla is used to cook fish in some Chinese cuisines. The prototype of this perilla-braised fish dish comes from Zhejiang Quzhou’s perilla-braised fish.
「Purple Laurel」selects tiger grouper with plenty of collagen in the skin. After cutting the fish into pieces, it is braised in red sauce from Qiandao Lake in Hangzhou together with perilla, creating a unique flavor.
Salted Fish and Shrimp Mushroom Bone Sauce
The prototype of this dish is the famous crab bone sauce from Ningbo (Ningbo is a coastal city in Zhejiang Province, China, known for its abundant seafood). It is a dish that embodies the people of Jiangnan’s ultimate expression of the flavor of “freshness” in another way. In the past, local fishermen and ordinary people, in order to make full use of resources and create a delicious and rice-complementing dish, would chop the common spider crabs, shell and all, into pieces and stir-fry them with the local specialty bean sauce. If steaming and blanching showcase the “authentic freshness” of seafood, then crab bone sauce is a way of using bold and rich flavors to bring out and highlight the “rich freshness” of seafood.
For this autumn’s new dish at Purple Laurel, we have selected the local Thai Prosperity Shrimp and presented it in the style of crab bone sauce. We choose large-sized Prosperity Shrimp, each weighing about 6 liang (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 2.3 ounces or 65 grams), and cut them into segments about 2 centimeters in size. Then, we steam and fry the local Thai salted perch to replace the bean sauce in the traditional crab bone sauce, highlighting the unique salty and fresh flavor. After pan-frying the shrimp segments, we add broth and salted fish to simmer and flavor them, and then reduce the sauce to complete the dish.
Dried Vegetable and Fermented Black Bean Baked Crab
In September, the large green crabs from the local Thai waters, having lived long-term in the estuary where saltwater and freshwater meet, possess both the succulence of sea crabs and the sweetness of river crabs. Their meat has a delicate fiber and an excellent taste. Therefore, green crabs hold a high status as an ingredient in Thai culinary culture.
The green crabs are cut into pieces and their claws are cracked. They are placed in a baking pot and stir-fried until they change color. After adding a small amount of water, a sauce made from dried plum vegetables and fermented black beans, which the chefs of Ziguixuan specially collected from rural areas in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, is added. The pot is then covered and baked for 3 minutes. The natural sweetness of the crab meat perfectly blends with the salty flavor of the dried plum vegetables, leaving a lingering aroma in the mouth.
Crab Powder Black Tiger Shrimp Balls
The black tiger shrimp is large in size, with firm and delicious meat. Since they grow up in the natural environment and are highly active, the shrimp meat has strong fiber. The taste is fresh and sweet, and the astaxanthin content is also high, bringing a unique sweetness of seafood. In September, the domestic hairy crabs also enter the peak season. Purple Laurel uses cooked crab to manually disassemble the crab powder. After cooking the “three-head size (1 catty for 3 pieces)” local black tiger shrimp from Northern Thailand, the stir-fried crab powder is poured over it. The combination of seafood and lake delicacies creates a fresh taste memory for this autumn.
Autumn Charm Golden Medal Braised Pork
Based on the traditional Zhejiang dish of braised pork, Purple Laurel’s Autumn Charm Golden Medal Braised Pork has been upgraded. It selects the middle part of the pork belly from black-haired pigs from Northern Thailand that weigh over 200 pounds. The meat is rich in flavor, with clear layers of fat and lean meat. Instead of the traditional braising method for braised pork, it uses the Suzhou-style red-braised pork method. During the braising process, a large amount of dried hawthorn is added, which not only increases the fruity acidity but also the citric acid in the hawthorn effectively changes the structure of the pork’s fiber. After slow stewing, it achieves a tender and non-greasy texture, with a bright and tempting color like that of hawthorn red. It is served with small cakes made of chestnuts, which are in season in the autumn, adding to the autumnal charm.
Crab Meat and Shark’s Fin Spring Rolls
Spring roll culture is a food culture of “wrapping everything in a pancake” that has spanned a thousand years. Its earliest predecessor was the spring pancake, where people would use flour to make thin pancakes to wrap vegetables on the day of Start of Spring, calling it “biting the spring.” As times progressed, the culinary cultures of northern and southern China also evolved into different forms and flavors, and the seasons are no longer limited to spring.
Purple Laurel’s new version of spring rolls for this autumn has optimized the filling to be lower. Thai green crab meat, seafood shark’s fin, and Chiang Mai farmer’s mung bean sprouts are stir-fried together and then wrapped in spring roll skins. Fried at 40% oil temperature for about three minutes, they are fragrant and have a rich texture.