It’s been a full decade since Vancouver-based Thai chef-slash-educator, Pailin Chongchitnant, released her first cookbook, Hot Thai Kitchen: Demystifying Thai Cuisine with Authentic Recipes to Make at Home. A lot has happened in the space between 2016 and now – personally, in the food scene, and around the world, in general – so when Scout had the opportunity to interview Pailin to coincide with the publication of her cookbook’s updated anniversary edition, we didn’t hesitate to take it.

First of all, for those who aren’t already familiar with you and your endeavours, please tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born and raised in Thailand, and I came to Vancouver in 2003 to attend UBC, and then went on to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco. While pursuing a career as a chef, I noticed that the Thai food that was available abroad did not taste anything like Thai food back home. So I started a YouTube cooking show called Hot Thai Kitchen [currently Pailin’s Kitchen] to show the world what real Thai food tasted like. The show took off, and I’ve now been teaching Thai cooking on YouTube and through my cookbooks for 17 years.

Congratulations on the imminent release of your new anniversary edition cookbook! Reflecting on the past decade, what changes or developments have happened in Thai food/cooking – in the local food & beverage scene, as well as online in the perpetually buzzing social media atmosphere – that you have noticed and been affected by? How have tastes and/or the reception to Thai flavours changed over the past ten years? And how (if at all) have you chosen to address this evolution in how you cook, as well as in the updated cookbook?

Thai food has always been a popular choice for takeout, but when the book first came out, the options most people had were limited. Most Thai restaurants in the US and Canada at the time were cheap-and-cheerful, and most offered nearly identical menu items. The items on offer were mostly dishes restaurants deemed “safe” for foreigners. Today, we’re starting to see more variety, more unusual, little known dishes. I also see many more fine dining options, as well as places that offer innovative, modern dishes. It doesn’t really change how I teach because I’ve always shared both well-known and unknown dishes, but it does help that people are seeing more of what Thai cuisine is all about, and understand that there’s much more to Thai food than pad thai and green curry.

I know that the process of creating the original cookbook produced an epiphany that you still had so much to learn about Thai food and cooking, that you hadn’t “been there, done that” after all. Which leads to my next question: What was the process of revisiting the original cookbook like for you? What did you learn this time around? Or else, what have you learned in the decade between the first and second edition that you feel compelled to pass along?

When we revisited the book, it made me realize how much my cooking has evolved. I had learned more than I realized in the past 10 years, and I’ve also become more practical because during the 10 years I became a mom and my cooking had to become a lot more efficient. So in the new edition, there are various cooking techniques that I have updated to reflect how I now cook. I have also learned more about some ingredients, and that’s also been added to the new edition as well.

“When I retire from teaching, you may find me with a food truck selling nothing but Hot Thai Chicken.”

In the process of updating Hot Thai Kitchen, which recipe (or recipes) in particular were you most excited to revisit with fresh eyes, and which required the most attention/altering?

The curry recipes were the ones I touched the most because my curry and curry paste making techniques have changed. The flavours remain exactly the same, but I have learned a more efficient way to go about them.

As for recipe additions that readers/home cooks can look forward to checking out in the anniversary edition: Please hone in on just one dish from the new “House Specials” section of fan favourites and low key gems to highlight, and tell us what makes it so “Special” to you.

It has to be “Hot Thai Chicken.” It was the first dish that I shared on the YouTube channel that was not an existing traditional dish, but one I created. This was significant because I wanted to convey to people that Thai food isn’t static. It changes, it evolves, new dishes are created constantly, and people should feel free to do the same. The recipe unexpectedly went viral (1.5 million views today) and people have just loved it so much. It’s little pieces of fried chicken tossed in a sweet chili lime sauce. The flavour is out of this world and whenever I make it, I’m surprised how good it is. When I retire from teaching, you may find me with a food truck selling nothing but Hot Thai Chicken.

This time around, you’ve made the choice to include some QR codes in the book, linking out to related videos on your YouTube channel and ultimately bringing together the two separate avenues (digital and analog). That being said, for those who are already familiar with your YouTube videos but haven’t yet experienced the old school printed-and-bound version, what do you think the cookbook brings to the overall Hot Thai Kitchen vision that you can’t get from watching a video?

Because most people interact with my content one video/one recipe at a time. It’s like being handed random puzzle pieces one at a time, and it takes a lot of time before you can piece them all together into a cohesive understanding of Thai cooking. So I wrote this book in order to convey what individual videos can’t do quickly – the big picture, the foundational concepts of Thai cooking that will allow people to cook Thai food with more confidence, and without relying so much on following recipes to a tee. For example, the book talks about Thai curries, soups, salads, and stir fries in general, discussing concepts that apply to all of them, before diving into individual recipes. So the recipes serve as examples for the bigger ideas.

“People may discover chefs they love online, but when we cook we want to hold their cookbooks that they worked so hard to create in our hands. Nothing can replace that experience of flipping through the pages and running our hands over the paper, and the cookbook sales are there to prove it.”

How have cookbooks factored into your personal life and/or professional development? Is there one cookbook in particular that made an impression on you, that you keep returning to?

I first started deep diving into Thai cuisine with a book written by a Thai chef called Chef McDang called The Principles of Thai Cookery. It revolutionized my understanding of Thai food and started me down the rabbit hole of my own cuisine. The book was highly influential and helped me develop my own teaching style.

Going a step further: In the current cultural milieu of an (over)abundance of social media influencers and chefs putting out a non-stop stream of food/cooking content – of which you are one notable, respected participant – why do you think that the cookbook form is still relevant? Why do cookbooks matter?

The rise of online recipes have not replaced old school cookbooks the way we thought they might. When my channel started to get big, people started asking for a cookbook, and at first I did not understand why. I thought what I was offering – recipes with video instructions – was a complete replacement for a cookbook, yet the people were telling me otherwise. I eventually realized that they are not the same. We are physical beings, and no amount of digital interaction can replace a real, physical one. People may discover chefs they love online, but when we cook we want to hold their cookbooks that they worked so hard to create in our hands. Nothing can replace that experience of flipping through the pages and running our hands over the paper, and the cookbook sales are there to prove it.

Spring is just around the corner – yippee! I, for one, couldn’t be more excited to embrace the influx of new seasonal ingredients. Which Spring ingredient are you most stoked about coming into season and getting your hands on and how will you be incorporating it into your cooking?

Mangoes! I wait all year for mangoes to be in season to make all my favourite mango dishes. Of course there’s the classic mango and sticky rice, which is super easy but it is only worth making if you have sweet, ripe mangoes.

I’d love if you can please share a quickie Spring recipe with us, featuring your chosen ingredient – nothing complicated!

An easy recipe is a simple mango and cucumber salad with my “all-purpose” Thai salad dressing. Simply combine 3 parts lime juice, 2 parts fish sauce, and 1.5 parts finely chopped palm sugar or light brown sugar. Add some finely minced Thai chilies to taste, and toss it with chopped cucumber, mangoes and shallots or red onions. Add some chopped cilantro and you’re good to go!

What is your favourite local Thai restaurant, and what is their “best” dish, in your opinion?

The folks at Unchai are my go-to whenever I want Thai food and I don’t want to cook it myself. My favourite dish of theirs is boat noodles. The flavours are just like you’d get in Thailand, which is rare when it comes to Thai food overseas. It’s also complete with all the necessary toppings and condiments. They don’t cut corners, and they are also very kind people so I love to support them.

In the intro to the Hot Thai Kitchen anniversary edition, you call it a memoir of sorts, and mention the stories interwoven into your recipes as being integral elements. With that in mind: Building a menu can also be a kind of storytelling. Please describe your life, so far, in courses.

The 10th anniversary edition of Hot Thai Kitchen: Demystyifing Thai Cuisine (Appetite by Random House) is being released on March 31st, 2026. Find out how to get your hands on a copy here.