How did you get involved with cooking?
I never trained as a chef. It was a kind of play for me as a child to help my mother and grandmother in the kitchen. When I was studying in the UK, I didn’t have a lot of money, so I had to cook for myself.

We don’t really do recipes in Thai food. We just estimate. Is that how you learned?
When I opened my restaurant in London, I would stand at the wok with my chef beside me, telling me what to do and when. I never measured anything, but learned the importance of timing and process. For example, if you cook the shrimp too long, it becomes hard. If you add the garlic to the oil, and then add the meat later, the meat becomes flavored with garlic.

So was it hard to write precise recipes for your books?
I always say in my books that the recipes are just guidelines. In Thai cooking, different fish sauces have different levels of saltiness. Even with produce, all over the world, they have different tastes.

Not all chefs become cookbook writers. How did you get started?
My customers wanted me to start a school, but that would have been too time-consuming, so I put together a book. In the 1980s, no one in the UK knew anything about Thai food. Even my publishers couldn’t point to Thailand on a map. I wanted to tell people about my country, how people live. They only knew about the sex industry.

How did you research your recipes?
In the old days, I would go to villages and talk to the people. It was very different. People were self-sufficient. They would say, “I don’t need money at all. I have a house, vegetables, chickens.” Even the rice they grew, they would feed their families for the whole year. They sold only the surplus. When they killed a cow, they would divide it among all the houses. These days, it’s different. You might want a phone, television, kids need to go to school. You need money for that. It’s a shame.

Are your recipes suited to Western palate?
Thai people using my recipes might find them a bit light and choose to add more seasonings. One of my earlier books, Thai Kitchen, was for the American market, so the recipes were for bigger portions. It’s not as simple as just doubling the recipe.

The Big Book of Noodles is more international that your previous books. How come?
Noodles really originated in China, and other Asian countries adapted them into their own cuisines. When my publishers suggested a book on Thai noodles, I said it would be better to cover Asian noodles.

What are you working on now?
I set up my own arts and craft homestay in Chiang Mai, called La Bhu Salah. We have pottery, batik, wood-carving and even cooking. Guests can stay in rooms above the workshops. I teach cooking, not like a school; I demonstrate to them.