| Your Chef - Yao |
| Half of Yao's life has been spent in the Thai kitchen experience, learning and perfecting the Thai art of cooking. Yao grew up in a small Thai farming village in the North with three brothers, one sister, and his father and mother. Every morning at 5:00am Yao would wake up to help his mother start the daily cooking routine. One of his best childhood memories is when he was young, getting up at sunrise to help his mother cook. |
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| For over ten years Yao put his cooking skills to practice as a trekking guide cooking for his travelers. Most of them said that they loved his Thai food and told him that he should open a Thai restaurant. Thanks to all those travelers and friends who through their praise gave Yao the confidence to continue to cook for all who love Thai food. He is more than pleased to share his cooking skills and knowledge with whomever is interested to learn about Thai cooking, culture, and life. |
| How Thai People Eat Eating in Thailand is a very social event. When a Thai person sits down to eat, s/he is rarely alone. All of the dishes are placed in the center, everyone is given their own plate of rice and their own spoon, and all the food is shared. Thais don’t pile their plate high with food like Westerners. They typically take spoonfuls at a time placing it on the rice and eating together. When we eat we don’t talk. We eat quickly and then relax and chat afterwards. In the North and Northeast, we eat sticky rice. We also eat by hand so our main foods are usually dry - not so much soup but instead dishes that are easy to dip into such as curries and chili sauces. In Central and Southern Thailand they eat steamed rice. Originally they ate by hand (and still do in some villages) but now they use a spoon to eat the same like Westerns. In some guidebooks it tells you not to finish the food on your plate. Maybe in trendy families this is true, but everyone I know has been taught to finish what is on their plate and respect the farmer who grew the food. Many of my travelers ask me how Thai people eat all day and don’t get fat. I tell them that our food is not so fatty and we don’t eat so much meat, but eat more vegetables and rice. We are supposed to eat three meals a day too, like the West, but now the food is available everywhere because of the street vendors. Yao's advice, "Cook every kind of food. Don’t be afraid if the food you cook does not taste good because we all learn from our mistakes. Something important is that you must smile and be happy with what you do." |
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