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Hi, I'm Kanika, I was born and raised in Thailand.  Growing up I spent a lot of time in my mom's kitchen.  When I was little my mom used to have a food cart, pushing around the neighborhood selling food she made.  I remember waking up very early every morning around 4 am, me and my mom would hop on a tuk tuk taxi to get to fresh market.  One thing about fresh market, mom alway says to me, "if we get there late the good stuff will be gone"...and she said that every morning.

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My mom taught me how to pick the freshest fruit, vegetables or even live fish.  I'd become mom's shopping buddy.  I had a lot of fun at the market and I learned so much, and at the end of each trip to the market she would buy me some sweet goodies. 

 

When I'm a little older my mom upgraded her food cart to a small restaurant, and I got promoted to be a sous chef and sometimes a head chef - but always also still a waitress and even a dishwasher - and work over time, but I don't mind it.  In the kitchen my mom taught me so much, about food and about life.

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Mom, pretty much made everything from scratch.  We spent a lot of time together in the kitchen.  Mom would teach me how to make curry paste using mortar and pestle, or grated coconut with kitchen tools passed down from her grandma, and we'd make coconut milk together.

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Growing up with my two big sisters, I think I'm mom's favorite one, because I was always in the kitchen with her.

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Since living in the US, sometimes it can be hard to find the right ingredients to make authentic Thai food.  Over time things have become more available and easier to find, if you go to the right places.  Asian stores have almost anything I need; but I still ask my sister to bring back some Thai stuff every single time she visits from Thailand.

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In this blog I'll be talking about how to choose the right ingredients, including what kind of brand and tools you might need.  I always say to students in my cooking class that "you can get the same stuff but different brands and the taste would not be the same.''  Like the words in Thai "same same but different"!

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People all have different tastes in food.  Some like sweeter, others like spicier, and some like more salt.  My recipes are just a guideline that can be modified to your taste.

 

This blog is about my childhood food that I grew up eating, and also things I've learned along the way.  Some are my own creations, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

                                

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Kanika