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

Shan-Style Salad of Bamboo Shoots with Fermented Soybean Cake Dressing (หน่อโก้; Naaw Go:H)

Naaw go:h, a Shan-style seasonal salad, is a dish commonly made by the Shan people during the rainy season, using freshly foraged ingredients. Consisting of shredded, cooked bamboo shoots and herbs with a glossy, earthy-like dressing, the salad reflects the moist soil from which the bamboo sprouts after the rains. The use of whole, elongated Vietnamese coriander leaves and sliced, angular young ginger leaves visually mirrors the structure of the bamboo plant. The dressing for this salad is prepared by frying a paste in pork lard or cooking oil; the paste includes roasted dried bird’s eye chilis, roasted garlic, powdered soybean cake and salt and, occasionally, roasted shallots or a small piece of fresh turmeric are incorporated. This mixture bestows a harmonious blend of salty-spicy, rich, and nutty undertones upon the salad, complemented by a subtle yeasty essence.

Shorea Flower Curry (แกงพวงพยอม; gaaeng phuaang pha yaawm)

Shorea Flower Curry, a rare royal Thai dish combining floral notes with dried fish and pork belly. From Maawm Ying Soophaa's 1949 manuscript 'Divine Dishes'.

ขนมจีนซาวน้ำ อย่างท่านผู้หญิงกลีบ มหิธร

กลับจากวัดแล้ว เพลาเที่ยงพอดี ท่านขุนฯ ตั้งโต๊ะเลี้ยงสมาชิกบนเรือน ด้วยการทำ "ขนมจีนซาวน้ำ" ตามคำขอ ช่วงนี้จะทำอาหารอย่างขนมจีน สัก ๒ ตำรับ ให้ได้ชิมกันทั่วเรือนเรา แต่อย่าแค่กระนั้นเลย ขึ้นชื่อว่า ขุนวิเสทเลือดเย็น มีหรือจะทำอาหารไทยให้เหมือนคนอื่น ตำรับของเราต้องเป็นไทยแท้ และเป็นตำรับโบราณแบบที่คนปัจจุบันไม่เคยรู้มาก่อน จะทำให้ลูก ๆ หลาน ๆ ของเรางงกันเป็นไก่ตาแตกเลยทีเดียว....

Northern Thai-style fish laap with crispy aromatics (ลาบหมี่ปลา; laap mee plaa)

Palace-Style Fried Rice (ข้าวผัดชาววัง; khaao phat chaao wang)

Khao phat chao wang, fried rice cooked in the rendered fat of salt-stewed pork with shrimp and egg. From Lady Gleep Mahithaawn, 1949.

“Sang-de-Boeuf Porcelain” Fermented Rice Noodles by Princess Jongjittanom Dissakul (ขนมจีนครามแดง อย่าง หม่อมเจ้าหญิงจงจิตรถนอม ดิศกุล ; khanohm jeen khraam daaeng)

phrik Khing Phukam (พริกขิงภุกาม; phrik khing phoo gaam)

Phrik khing phukam, a crispy phrik khing (พริกขิง) of deep-fried smoke-dried fish and shrimp with lemongrass, bound in a fish sauce glaze. Jeeb Bunnag, 1933.

Sweet Bread and Fried Banana (ขนมปังหวาน; kha nom bpang waan)

Sweet Bread, a traditional Arabian breakfast of crispy Cavendish bananas fried in egg-flour batter and served with sugar-sprinkled bread. From Ibrahim's The Muslim Cook, 1938.

Grilled Rawaaeng Curried Rice Parcels in Banana Leaves (ระแวงขาวปิง; ra waaeng khaao bping)

Ra waaeng khaao bping, rice parcels with duck and coconut cream wrapped in banana leaves and grilled. From Jeeb Bunnag's 1945 Thai appetizer cookbook.

Heritage: Issue 4, Friday, February 6, 2026

This week's folios: - ข้าวเหนียวนึ่งหน้าเนื้อ — Steamed Gelatinous Rice with Beef Topping (Jeeb Bunnak, 1945) - แกงพวงพยอม — Shorea Flower Curry (Maawm Ying Soopha, 1949) - ลูกรอกไส้ไก่ — Egg Sausage in Chicken Intestine (Jeeb Bunnag, 1933) - ยำผิวส้มจีน — Mandarine Orange Peel Salad (Maawm Ying Soophaa, 1949) - แกงจืดฟักเขียวตุ๋น — Steamed Stuffed Winter Melon Clear Soup with Crab, Pork and Egg Sausage (Jeeb Bunnag, 1933) - ยำขนุนอ่อน — Young Jackfruit Salad (Maawm Ying Soophaa, 1949) - แกงเป็ดสวรรค์ — Heavenly Duck Curry (Maawm Ying Soophaa, 1949)

ข้าวซอยไก่

This dish (Khao Soi Recipe) takes us back in time to the mid-19th century. The trade caravans were trailing the jungles of northern Thailand along the ancient routes between India and China. Those long caravans were carrying wealth of exotic goods, leaving rich aroma of spices and the sweet scent of opium as they passed.

The men on this long line of between fifty and one hundred mules would be Yunnanese Muslim Chinese, who dominated the trade routes and began to settle in Chiang Mai and the main towns of north Thailand at that time.

Heritage 32: Issue Thursday, October 22, 2026

This week's folios: - แกงกระเทียมดอง — Pickled Garlic Soup with Pork or Shrimp and Fried Egg (M.R. Tuang Sanitwong, 1935) - พระรามลงสรง — Phra Ram Long Song (Phra Ram Bathing) (Puang Bunnag, 1931) - ยำแตงกวาทรงเครื่อง — Deluxe Cucumber Salad (Princess Jongjittanom Dissakul, 1978) - พล่าปูทะเล — Sea Crab Phlaa with Crisp-Fried Potato (Puang Bunnag, 1931) - ไก่สำออย — Chicken Sam-oi (M.R. Tuang Sanitwong, 1935) - แกงต้มกะทิฟักเหลือง — Pumpkin Simmered in Coconut Milk with Pounded Dried Shrimp and Shrimp Scored to Lie Straight (Jeeb Bunnag (Mrs. Samaknantapol / นาง สมรรคนันทพล), 1933) - ฉู่ฉี่เมืองปราณ — Pran-Style Choo Chee Squid (M.R. Tuang Sanitwong, 1935)

Indian-Style Pickled Vegetables (อาจาดเทศ; aa jaat the:t)

Indian-Style Pickled Vegetables preserved with a complex blend of fenugreek, cardamom, and cloves. From Ibrahim's 1938 Thai-Muslim cookbook.

Angel Visiting the Chamber: A Salad of Pomelo, Pork Skin and Shrimp with Chili Jam Dressing, circa 1920s (ยำนางฟ้าเยี่ยมห้อง; yam naang faa yiiam haawng)

The name of this dish, yam naang faa yiiam haawng (ยำนางฟ้าเยี่ยมห้อง), translates to ‘Angel Visiting the Chamber Salad’ in English. This celestial salad, which originated in the 1920s, is a playful chili jam-based salad that combines the textural gradients of pomelo, with its citrusy bursts, chewy cooked pork skin, and the sweet and slightly resilient cooked shrimp meat. The pomelo’s citrusy notes are further amplified with thinly sliced lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves sliced into hair-thin juliennes. I like to adjust the sourness and sweetness of the chili jam-based dressing based on the acidity of the pomelo. As our aim is to achieve a final sour-salty and sweet flavor profile, a sour-salty dressing is suggested if the pomelo is sweet, while a salty-sweet dressing pairs better with a sour pomelo.

Raang Roong Sour Curry (แกงส้มร่างรุ้ง; gaaeng sohm raang roong)

Gaaeng sohm raang roong, sour curry with giant freshwater prawns on a pounded dried shrimp and shallot base fried in lard. Lady Srithammarat, 1933.

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.

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