Online Siamese Culinary Masterclasses for Professional Chefs and Thai food enthusiasts

In my masterclasses, for the first time in the English language, I reveal the culinary secrets hidden in old and hard-to-find Siamese cookbooks and recipes dating from the late 19th century to modern days.

Get unlimited access to Thaifoodmaster’s constantly growing library of prime professional masterclasses, articles, recipes and videos on Siamese culinary topics, available nowhere else in English.

Online membership:
Masterclasses, Articles, Recipes, Daily Heritage Translations.
Professional Guides: Siamese Chili Relishes (น้ำพริก และ เครื่องจิ้ม), Thai Curries (แกงไทย), Thai Salads (เรื่องยำๆ) and The art of Siamese old-school menu design (สํารับอาหารไทย).

In-person workshops:
Chiang Mai, 2026. Limited spaces.

Masterclasses

Practical and kitchen-tested recipes with a mix of theory, history, psychology, and Siamese culture tidbits.

Aromatic Primer for Thai Cuisine - Part 1

Curry Paste Permeability

Minced-Bird Style Curries - A Peek Into Traditional Ingredients and Cooking Methods (แกงสับนก; Gaaeng Sap Nohk)

Reflections on the Lifecycle of Heat: Mastering Vibrancy and Maturity in Green Curry (แกงเขียวหวาน)

Patterns – Decoding the Complexity of Siamese Curry Paste: A Multidimensional Exploration

Aromatic Alchemy - The Art and Science of Pounded Curry Pastes

The Story of Gaaeng Buaan (แกงบวน) – The Oldest Siamese Dish?

The Secret Healing Powers of Siamese Curries – A Closer Look at Gaaeng Yaa (แกงยา)

The Art of Siamese Duck Curries - Theory and Practice (แกงเป็ด - ศิลปะ ทฤษฎี และ การปฏิบัติ)

Articles and Recipes

Gaaeng Garee with Coconut Milk or Butter (แกงกะหรี่กะทิหรือน้ำมันเนย; gaaeng ga ree ga thi reuu naam man neeuy)

Gaaeng Garee, a Thai Islamic curry with aromatic spices in either coconut milk or butter base. From Hibrahim Haji Rocheedee Bin Dtwan's 1933 Islamic Cookbook.

Snakehead Fish Curry with Pickled Madan (แกงปลาช่อนมะดันดอง; gaaeng bplaa chaawn ma dan daawng)

Snakehead Fish Curry with Pickled Madan incorporates the fish tail into its curry paste and balances pickled sour cucumber with kaffir lime. From Maawm Ying Soophaa, 1949.

Butter Custard Pudding (ขนมหม้อแกงเนย; khanohm maw gaaeng noei)

Butter Custard Pudding, a saffron-infused coconut bread custard with raisins and almonds. From Ibrahim Haji Roshidin Tuan's 'The Muslim Cook,' 1938.

Exotic Beef Salad (ยำเนื้อวัวพิศดาร; yam neuua wuaa phit daan)

Exotic Beef Salad featuring grilled tenderloin with daikon radish, roasted peanuts, and coconut. From Maawm Ying Soophaa's 1949 Thai royal cuisine manuscript.

Mung Bean khanohm Go (ขนมโก๋ถั่ว; khanohm go thuaa)

Khanohm go thuaa, a molded palace confection of dry-roasted mung bean flour and coarse-grain sugar, scented with jasmine and ylang-ylang. Jeeb Bunnag, 1933.

Whole Roasted Duck (เป็ดอบทั้งตัว; bpet ohp thang dtuaa)

Bpet ohp thang dtuaa, whole duck brandy-rubbed and air-dried before roasting with a nutmeg butter paste. From Jeeb Bunnag, 1933.

ยำขมิ้นขาวกุ้งเค็ม

This dish brings yet another angle to celebrate the essence of Thai cuisine. The Thais dare pairing ingredients, which at first seem to be unmatchable, strong players with opposite characteristics, white turmeric and salted prawns, and guess what? It works beautifully! The pairing actually has the intention to enhance the differences in flavor and texture, creating a playful dish, both in taste and in presentation. The delicate thin cut white turmeric juliennes with its crunchy-apple like texture matched well with the just made salted prawns chunks which still maintain some of their intrinsic sweetness.

Khanohm Jeen Naam Yaa (ขนมจีนน้ำยา) - Fermented Rice Noodles with Minced Fish in Aromatic Coconut Curry

In the Central Plains of the Kingdom, fermented rice noodles are inextricably linked to a dish known as naam yaa. Composed of a dense, coconut-based minced fish curry, the dish is infused with layers of salted fish and possesses the distinctive, invigorating and purifying notes of fingerroot. Typically, naam yaa is served with fresh lemon basil as the herb of choice along with an array of side dishes collectively known as meuuat khanohm jeen (เหมือดขนมจีน). These include blanched bean sprouts seasoned with a touch of turmeric for color, fresh lemon basil leaves, thinly sliced three colored chilies, and ground chili for added heat. More elaborate versions will add blanched Chinese bitter gourd slices, batter-fried young morning glory shoots, and fresh shrimp minced and fried with its tomalley in pork lard, as well as crispy-fried shallots as the finishing touch.

Steamed Cup Cake (ขนมถ้วยฟู; khanohm thuai foo)

Steamed Cup Cake, a fermented rice flour dessert using cuttlefish bone as a natural leavening agent. From Ibrahim Haji Roshidin Tuan's 'The Muslim Cook', 1938.

Roasted Shrimp Paste Relish (เครื่องจิ้ม - กะปิคั่ว; khreuuang jim ga bpi khuaa)

Khreuuang jim ga bpi khuaa, fermented shrimp paste roasted with smoke-dried featherback fish in split coconut cream. Jeeb Bunnag, 1933.

The Ambassador’s House Style Noodle Soup (หมี่น้ำบ้านราชทูต; Mee Naam Baan Raat Thuut)

This soup dish features crispy rice vermicelli noodles, a chicken broth that has a three-flavor profile infused with the aroma of bitter orange, and a plethora of other ingredients such as crispy fried tofu, chicken, pork, crab and pickled garlic. In Thai, the phrase mee naam baan raat thuut refers to a rice vermicelli noodle soup in the style of the Ambassador’s house. The dish was not new when it appeared in the 1956 book Snacks, Tea Nibbles, Hors D’oeuvres and Drinking Food (ตำราอาหารว่าง - เครื่องน้ำชา และ เครื่องเคี้ยว หรือ กับแกล้ม) by Jeeb Bunnag (จีบ บุนนาค), as noodle dishes were often the preferred ingredient for light meals or snacks. In Grandparents Recipes: 100 Years Old Recipes (จานอร่อยจากปู่ย่า สูตรโบราณ 100 ปี), a volume printed in 2014 that highlights recipes from the kitchens of fifteen prominent families, a similar version of the dish is referred to as mee naam baan bpaak naai leert (หมี่น้ำบ้านปาร์คนายเลิศ) and is associated with Nai Lert.

ยำดอกขจร

The first Thai restaurant in London was opened during the 1960's by HRH Princess Jurairat Nasiriman (1910-2000) (พระเจ้าวรวงศ์เธอ พระองค์เจ้าจุไรรัตนศิริมาน), the granddaughter of HRH King Mongkut (Rama IV). Princess Jurairat chose to offer this salad on the menu and named it "Salad of Thai Milkweed Flower". (Other names: Cowslip creeper, Telosma Cordata). This fresh and tasty salad is so vibrant and easy for us to enjoy, it takes in the very basic flavors, sweet, salty, hot and sour and wrap them in a creamy coat of reduced coconut cream. The milkweed flower buds retain their crunchiness and their pleasant fragrance with only a gentle and very quick blanching in sweet boiling water.

History's first-ever recorded recipe for jungle curry by Lady Plean Passakornrawong, circa 1908 (ปลาดุกแกงป่า อย่าง ท่านผู้หญิงเปลี่ยน ภาสกรวงศ์ ตำราแม่ครัวหัวป่าก์; bplaa duuk gaaeng bpaa)

This is a coconut-based jungle curry of catfish featuring fresh green chilies, sand ginger and an upcountry herbal charm.

สูตรทำแกงส้มมอญกระเจี๊ยบกุ้ง

Gaeng som recipe: Sour curries are without doubt one of Thai cuisine all-time favorites, free from foreign influence and with many regional variations they present a complex balance of four flavors while using only few ingredients, all find a pleasing harmony in one dish.

There are the sourness of the tamarind paste, the saltiness of the fermented shrimp paste and fish sauce, the natural sweetness of the prawns and the vegetables and of course the peppery heat from the chilies. This easy curry paste is as rich as it is simple; the flavor offers a world of depth in a truly innovative combination of flavors.

Taro Custard (สังขยาเผือก; sang kha yaa pheuuak)

Sang kha yaa pheuuak, a steamed coconut cream custard with mold-pressed taro slices, from Jeeb Bunnag's 1933 Cookbook of Rice Companion Recipes.

Siamese Culinary Legends of the Rattanakosin period

Siamese cuisine is the accumulated wisdom of cooks at every level of the society – from housewives cooking at home and caring for their families, to cooks in the temple, to the culinary masters who created elaborate dishes behind the palace walls.

In this series of short articles highlighting their lives and work, we salute and pay homage to the most prominent individuals who influenced and shaped the Siamese culinary arts bpaa ga sin (ปากะศิลป์) of the Rattanakosin Era.

These background descriptions will put into perspective the dishes we present and cook here on Thaifoodmaster and will also help you to cook Thai dishes that taste like they have a solid bond to the culture, the land and its people.

The Spice Vault

Here you will find recipes for popular spice mixes that you can make yourself! Homemade spice blends not only taste better and cost less, but you’ll also be able to create unique spice blends based on your personal preferences. As a bonus, you’ll use spices with no preservatives or artificial colors!

For example, members can explore recipes for Chinese five-spice mix, masalas for khao soi and hang lay curries, homemade Thai curry powder, and a variety of the spice blends used in Northern and Muslim Thai cuisines.

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Practical and kitchen-tested recipes with a mix of theory, history, psychology, and Siamese culture tidbits.

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It is truly brilliant with a revolutionary approach introducing aspects and concepts never broached by cookbooks.

Ian Westcott

Sourcing Wines for Discerning Private Clients