It’s not been long since I engaged here in the spirit of my many cooking posts, with my love of Thai cuisine and my experiences with Thai cooking, something I’ve been writing about for years, and which culminated in a marvelous coming together in a day of cooking school in Northern Thailand five years ago this week. The fact that much of the rest of the visit went South (this is my white privilege speaking, no idea what the politically correct term is anymore) is immaterial. It was one of the best days of my life, as was the day that I discovered Green Papaya Salad in a roadside shack redolent with the stink of motorcycle fumes and run by several (apparently related) aged, mostly toothless, crones. TBC, I expect they were in their late 30s, early 40s. Life in Thailand is rough for women who haven’t married Thai men at an appropriate age, and who are subsequently considered past their sell-by date by the footloose and fancy-free Elderly Western Gentlemen they’ve been looking to for succor and rescue, and who–after checking out the wares–don’t come through or who simply depart for points elsewhere when it suits them:
I’ve been searching out the perfect Green Papaya Salad on this side of the pond ever since that day, with varying degrees of success. So far, the one on offer at Maenam Thai is the best I’ve found at a restaurant within striking distance.
But.
Move over, commercial propositions!
I have discovered Pailin Chongchitnant’s Hot Thai Kitchen YouTube channel. Best YouTube channel ever!
Those of you who are reading this and who are incentivized to look further into the matter merely due to the “hot” adjective, please don’t bother. She’s an absolutely lovely young lady, but I’m pretty sure she’s talking about the heat level in the cooking, not that of her considerable personal attractions. Also, knives.
As an old lady (albeit one with decades of IT creds to back her up), I don’t know if Pai is what the youth of today would call an “influencer,” or if she’d even want to be associated with that term. (In my experience, “influencers” tend to be narcissistic freaks, and I don’t want anything to do with them. But that’s just me.)
What I do know is that she’s a magnificent cook, a charming personality, an informative guide, a gifted teacher, and that spending the ten or fifteen minutes that she dedicates to the preparation–in the video–of each recipe on her channel places me closer to my Thai cooking school experience than I would have otherwise thought possible. I love her. And it.
(You can read about my IRL Thai cooking school experience with the lovely Suwanee and my friend at the time, right here. Suwanee herself has a pretty nice website, with recipes included, but she doesn’t do–yet–the YouTube stuff. You can find her here.)
Yesterday, I launched into Pai’s recipe for Green Papaya Salad.
Albeit I overdid it a bit on the red peppers. (Unusual, if you’re me, since I think I could win prizes for eating hot food. But–in about 30 minutes–when I try the next iteration, I’ll cut down on them.)
Here’s the prep. (Sorry, missing the green beans. I took half-a-dozen sections of French green beans, tore them into two-inch lengths, and blanched them for a couple of minutes in boiling water, since I don’t have ready access to the yard-long, thinner, Asian green beans ideally called for in the recipe. Note to self: 2024 gardening challenge!):
The yellow mat under the items is one of those flexible chopping boards that I find so helpful. I’ve used them for years, and given many to friends who always find them useful. You can chop or slice on them, and then bend them to shape and dump the results into the bowls or skillets or pans. No mess, no fuss. Similar can be found here on Amazon.
Here’s the result:
Absolutely delicious. Best since Chiang Rai, five years ago this week.
Right now, I’m remembering a movie I watched a few years ago called Julie and Julia, in which an impoverished and dissatisfied New Yorker (I am none of the three) decided to make a name for herself (I don’t care about my legacy) by cooking her way through every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It was an appealing movie, with appealing stars.
I’m not a star, nor do I care how appealing you may think me, or how appealing I actually am. But I know that I do love the food. And Lordy, I’m thinking (seriously) about working my way through the hundreds of recipes on on Pai’s Hot Thai Kitchen site, from the first to the last.
Don’t count me out.
Watch this space.
