This is what people are going to think Thai food is, so I better make it authentic.īut as I've kind of gained more confidence in myself, I've relaxed my take a little bit. But once I started to have a big audience, I felt a lot of pressure to make it as authentic as possible because I thought, I am the ambassador of Thai food. In the beginning, I didn't really think much of it. So start by learning about ingredients one at a time and then just start building your knowledge repertoire of what each ingredient does and tastes like, and it'll all seem it'll all fall into place.Īs someone who is often introducing Thai cooking to people for the first time, do you feel pressure to make your recipes feel more quote un-quote "authentic," or rather, to cater to a Western audience? We don't even use the oven-everything happens on the stovetop, more or less quickly. You just have to get to know some of these building blocks a little bit. So when you look at it that way, it's not anything difficult. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. I called her up to dish (pun intended) about the most common misconceptions about Thai cuisine, how food and identity intertwine, and what it means to make your own rules in the culinary world. ![]() "I got really excited about the possibility of being able to do this without anybody's permission." So in 2009, as YouTube was emerging as a more prominent platform, she decided to create a cooking show of her own: "That's kind of when the light bulb went off in my head-I no longer have to wait for someone to discover me so that I can put myself on the map," she said. But despite reveling in a new world of Western cooking, Chongchitnant missed being immersed in Thai food. With that dream on the backburner, she got a degree in Nutritional Science at the University of British Columbia, went on to work in professional kitchens, and eventually attended culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco. Cooking shows hosted by Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson offered her a dream: to one day be the host of her own cooking show.īut as she got older, Chongchitnant realized that there was no clear path for hosting a TV show about a cuisine deemed "niche" by mainstream networks. ![]() That's when she started being able to envision what pursuing a career in food could look like. She grew up in Southern Thailand, and when she was in high school, cable TV became available to her. Chongchitnant's cookbook, Hot Thai Kitchen: Demystifying Thai Cuisine with Authentic Recipes to Make at Home, was published in 2016.īut while her love of food was always a driving force, the road to Chongchitnant's current position had some unexpected turns. (My personal favorite is her recipe for instant pot massaman curry the freshly toasted warm spices and rich curry is more soul-nourishing and flavorful than any bowl I've had at a restaurant).Īnd the videos are resonating widely the channel has more than 1.4 million subscribers worldwide. They also highlight the cultural background of each dish from steaming bowls of tom kha gai to crispy coconut corn fritters, Chongchitnant weaves stories from her own life and childhood into each video. Chongchitnant's recipes (of which there are hundreds, free to access online) aim to offer a deeper understanding of the steps and the ingredients that make Thai cuisine so distinct. Chef and YouTube host Pailin Chongchitnant.įor more than 12 years, Pailin Chongchitnant has hosted the YouTube cooking show Hot Thai Kitchen.
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