Aroy Mak Mak! Talking About Recipes

Table of Contents

 Learning How To Cook With Massaya

I Need a Chef To Teach Me How To Prepare Delicious Dishes

Khao man gai

I enjoy so many Thai dishes. My favourite dishes include khao man gai and massaman gai. Roasted chicken is delicious too. I've tried preparing some Thai dishes at home,  but it has been disastrous. They don't taste good. I think I should ask one of the best chefs to teach me how to prepare my favourite dishes properly. Most importantly, I need to learn the recipes for preparing them. I hope you will enjoy my dishes after I learn from the best chefs. To learn more about Thai recipes, my friend Arnold and I, visited Massaya's stall, at Central Rama 2, or Param song, and asked her to teach us.

Fish Soup at a restaurant in Southern Thailand 

Massaya's Chicken Recipes Are The Best!

On the first day, she taught us about different ways of preparing chicken dishes. "I will talk about different chicken recipes," said Massaya kindly. A recipe is a method of cooking or preparing a dish so that it tastes in a certain way. She also added that, "if you prepare chicken in different ways, it will taste different." We then watched her mix different ingredients. She explained that the two main things that make chicken to taste different are the ingredients and the recipe. We left the stall happy because she gave us tasty grilled chicken.  

How To Make Bread

The next day, we went back to Massaya's stall for more tips. She taught us how to prepare bread and other dishes similar to bread. "When you are making bread, rolls or doughnuts, you need to prepare dough," she explained. My friend Arnold asked a lot of questions about the words Massaya was using. She kindly explained them all. "A dough is a mixture of different ingredients like flour, salt, sugar and butter. It is used to make bread and other bread-like foods," she said. However, she also told us that some people don't use sugar but use honey, which is food made by bees. "Honey is a thick liquid found in beehives. It is very sweet," said Massaya. "So it can be used as a sweetener?" I asked. Massaya explained that honey can indeed be used to make food sweet, just like sugar.

Thai tea with traditional sweet dessert served in Northern Thailand 

Why is Bread so Soft and Fluffy?

"Another important ingredient used in making bread is yeast," Massaya said. She told us that yeast is made up of small organisms called fungus and that these organisms make the dough to rise when you are baking bread making it soft and fluffy. "When you put it in water, it dissolves, just like sugar," she added. 

Southern Thailand cuisine

Mixing Ingredients 

Massaya also told us about the importance of using a towel. "When you are mixing dry ingredients such as flour and sugar, you should dry the bowl," she said. "To do this, you need to use a towel."  She also explained that before putting the dough in the oven, it should be kneaded well. "This is like battering it so that it mixes smoothly," she said. "This sounds like a blend," Arnold said. "You're right, it is also known as a blend," agreed Massaya.  "You can then make a hole or a well in the centre to add more ingredients and continue kneading," she added.

A Good Tip for Massaya

On the second day, we paid Massaya for the bread. We realised that if she kept giving us food for free, she would run a loss. Since she had been so kind in teaching us, we not only paid for the bread, but we also gave her a good tip! She put her hands together and politely said, "Khob kun khaa," which is a Thai expression for "thank you."

Rice and squid dish

Test Yourself.

1. Explain the meaning of the following words to your partner:

• recipe
• dough
• yeast
• honey
• ingredient 
• flour
• dissolve
• towel

2. Can you complete the following sentences? Choose the correct words from the list above.

1. The first step in making bread is to mix the............ with water, salt, and sugar.
2. Some people prefer to use ........... instead of sugar as a natural sweetener.
3. to make bread rise, you need to add ....... to the dough.
4. After washing your hands, use a ........ to dry them before you start preparing food.
5. The...... tells you what ingredients to use and how to prepare the dish.

Now, share your answers with your classmates and ask to see theirs. Are your answers the same? If they are different, discuss why and correct your work if necessary.