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Thai Cooking Class 
Phad Thai 
Chetsada Changmai
The kitchens at the East-West Center dormitories play a significant role in any participant's EWC experience. This Humans of EWC installment highlights a 5-week cooking class put on by accomplished Thai chef, Chetsada "Chest" Changmai (Graduate Degree Fellow, Public Administration). Highlight reels can be viewed on our social media sites, and the extended interview with Chetsada can be accessed below.
1-minute Pad Thai
Extended Interview
Today we’re profiling Chetsada Changmai, an East-West Center fellow who initiated a 5-week Thai cooking class in the Hale Mānoa kitchens. He’s here today to tell us about his EWC experience. Chetsada, can you introduce yourself, please?
My name is Chetsada Changmai, or you can call me “Chest.” I’m originally from Thailand. I Grew up in the northeastern part of Thailand, which is near the Laos and Cambodia border, in a city called Ubon Ratchathani. And my affiliation with the East-West Center is Graduate Degree Fellowship. Currently I’m pursuing a masters degree in Public Administration. This is my second year.
Thanks. It’s good to have you here. Since our main topic today is food, I’m wondering, what are some of your early memories of food, how was it important, or part of your formative experience growing up?
When I was very little, I always watched my dad cooking in the kitchen, because he likes cooking. He was a fisherman himself, and he would cook a lot of fish, seafood. And I just went to the kitchen and would stare at him cooking, I was just like, “How can I cook like him? You know? Like, how can I get all those ingredients in one pot, one pan, and create such an amazing food, such delicious food?” And then I remember, he grabbed me one tilapia, and he said, “can you fry that for me?” And I was like, “Ok, let’s try!” So my dad gave me one tilapia, and I deep fried it. It was over-burned! And that was the first memory of my cooking. But dad said, “oh, we have so many fish, so don’t worry! You can do it again.” So then he gave me the second try, and I did it on the second try. And we made a spicy sauce, you know, to cover the fish up after, and that’s what was my first dish that I made myself, that was taught by my dad.
And also, growing up, I grew up in the northeastern part, so basically I lived with my grandparents and my relatives, so they would cook a lot. And at the same time, we have to cook for ourselves, because they are busy, they have to go to the rice fields early in the morning, and you just throw everything available in the fridge, so just cook yourself!
And then every holiday or vacation, school break, I would go back to Bangkok to visit my dad, and I would help my aunt’s restaurant, so basically she cooks a lot, she had her own shop. And I just observe and learn to cook from her by just watching. And I remember it right away. And I just smell it, the taste, and I know exactly what the ingredients are. I think that’s my passion about food, and kind of like my memory growing up, with dad, and with my aunt, and with the family that forced me to cook for myself in order to have the life skills to equip with me, that I can go anywhere and cook for myself.
So is that the life skill that you’re trying to bring to the community here? What motivated you to put this course together?
I think one of the East-West Center goals is to embrace your culture and also sharing your beautiful culture to the community here in Hawaiʻi, especially in the EWC. So we have such an intimate relationship with the community here. People are very kind and nice and it’s always, been in my mind, like it would be so good to share my beautiful culture, through what I’m good at, what I’m very passionate about, which is food. Because food always reminds me of home, and I’m here in Hawaiʻi. It’s just, you know, sometimes it’s very difficult. Also it’s quite expensive to go out and eat at a Thai restaurant. And I would hear my friends complain about how it’s so expensive, and how the taste is like. So I said, "OK, then I can just teach you how to cook." And then the EWC is just so convenient, especially with these community kitchens. So we have everything in the kitchen, we have all the supplies.
And also, I would say that in Hawaiʻi it’s not very hard to find Asian ingredients. And I just chatted to the group, like ‘let’s go to Chinatown! Let’s grab some ingredients, grab some groceries to make Thai food.’ And then people asked, like, why don’t you make it seriously like, you, like open up the forms and recruit people who are interested to learn how to cook Thai food? And I was like, "that’s a good idea!" So that’s why. I have my personal interests and I got all the encouragement from my friends in the community here. And then you’re just so blessed to see how supportive they are and how eagerly they want to learn my culture. So that’s the reason why I organized this Thai cooking class for the community here.
What is it that would like your students to get out of this class?
I would like for them to learn how to cook Thai food correctly, and then how to use the right ingredients on Thai food, because that’s how we represent Thai food. Also, I want them to learn about my culture through food, how food is very important for us, like food represents sharing community, so you would know in Thailand you would go everywhere, visit the house where people invite you to join their dinner, their breakfast, that’s just how food brings everybody together and they share their stories. And I hope they will like it at the end of the class.
So, clearly, you are this master chef that arrived with all these skills, but I’m also wondering what you have learned from observing other cooks in these shared kitchen spaces here. What’s it like, from a chef’s perspective, to be living in a place like this?
Living on the 12th floor ewa kitchen side, we have diverse backgrounds of participants, like from East Asia, from South Asia, from the mainland, from the Pacific, so it’s just like, you know, when you sit in your room and then open your window, you will smell different things all the time! And I was like, Oh, what kind of food is that? So I just went upstairs to the kitchens to see, oh, what are you cooking? And they say, oh, we’re making some curry, this is from the Pacific, and then this is some stir fry from Nepal. I was like, wow, that is so interesting how people can cook, and also their dish is very delicious as well. And then it just brings a new perspective, like new technique of cooking, you know although we say "stir fry," different countries have different stir fry techniques, and then people might put more spice, or less oil to cook, and it’s just so mind blowing to see how they can make food and how they can cook.
And also what I learned from them is that they say, “oh, when we were back home, we didn’t cook much, we just eat out,” but coming to Hawaiʻi, living in this community, with all the convenience, kitchen supply, they are encouraged to cook by themselves. Because that’s gonna make them save money and also kind of remind them of home by cooking on their own, because that’s always been the things that people miss about home and home cooks so they cook for themselves.
And then another thing I learned is that the kitchens are very important for us here, it’s kind of like the shared space where people get out of their stress zone to come and relax and focus on the joy and the happiness that they would create for themselves to feed themselves and go back to their work.
Though you are positioned as a teacher, I’m wondering what have you yourself have learned in the process of teaching others?
It’s not just about sharing your skills, not just about whether people will like your food. It’s also about like how you bring that leadership perspective to come up with the initiative, like what can you do for the community? And maybe it’s not too academic that everybody would expect to have during their experience here, but I would say that cooking class is some kind of recreational activity that people would remember, and I’m just so grateful that I took a leap in this initiative to teach them, and also that I can learn that I would be able to teach everyone and I would be able to provide another skill for everyone, and also to be able to believe in myself that I can just implement something, initiate something small, but it makes a greater impact to the community that they keep with themselves. And once they go back, they will remind themselves, like “Oh, we have cooked this before and I want to share with my family back home.”
And switching gears, or maybe not switching gears…How do you see this experience tying in to what you want to do with your degree and career?
I mean, Public Administration, as people know, we have to provide service to the public. And it’s not just about like policy perspective, it’s not just about the legislative process where we have to build a policy to satisfy everyone else. At the same time, like, once you become a real worker and are in a real working experience, you would have to make a connection with people. As a public administration connection, it’s very important. And you know, like, by building community or by building connections, you would initiate something, like you invite people to your homes to have dinner, or you can just organize some gathering with the public, and you just make a cook out section or like just host a potluck party so that people can come.
You as a public administrator or as someone representing the government have that friendly approach to invite the public to join so that during the potluck or during the gathering you can have a small talk with the real citizens about what they need, what they want. So it’s just another perspective, not just like sitting in the courthouse or the capitol, like testifying your bills or something. You would provide them service in the future. It would build that trust in your work and your professionalism, that you would represent them well and you would listen to every voice, and then you take it back, take a consideration and implement something that would reflect from their feedback and their requirement to make a better community.
And what kind of community do you feel here at the East-West Center? How has this place impacted your UH Graduate Study experience?
It’s not just the connection or experience that the EWC provides, but also I would say the kind support from the EWC staff is such an amazing thing that you would remember because, I mean, you wouldn’t get people involved when you have an emergency, like during the night or early in the morning, but I feel like the EWC staff is always there, just one call away, one text away. They are ready to help you, to support. And then whatever we need at the community as residents, they take it seriously right away and they take it into consideration. And then the next month or the next semester after they’re just “Ok. Here you go. What you want. And you need to maintain it well, remember we live in a community." If you have anything, they’re just here. And it’s just such an amazing experience to have that kind of support.
In the future I wish I would bring that perspective to implement to the others and also seek the way to engage with the EWC after so that I can be some kind of supportive alumni that can make an impact to the students in the future.
Thai Cooking Class Phad Thai Chetsada Changmai
The kitchens at the East-West Center dormitories play a significant role in any participant's EWC experience. This Humans of EWC installment highlights a 5-week cooking class put on by accomplished Thai chef, Chetsada "Chest" Changmai (Graduate Degree Fellow, Public Administration). Highlight reels can be viewed on our social media sites, and the extended interview with Chetsada can be accessed below.
1-minute Pad Thai
Extended Interview
Today we’re profiling Chetsada Changmai, an East-West Center fellow who initiated a 5-week Thai cooking class in the Hale Mānoa kitchens. He’s here today to tell us about his EWC experience. Chetsada, can you introduce yourself, please?
My name is Chetsada Changmai, or you can call me “Chest.” I’m originally from Thailand. I Grew up in the northeastern part of Thailand, which is near the Laos and Cambodia border, in a city called Ubon Ratchathani. And my affiliation with the East-West Center is Graduate Degree Fellowship. Currently I’m pursuing a masters degree in Public Administration. This is my second year.
Thanks. It’s good to have you here. Since our main topic today is food, I’m wondering, what are some of your early memories of food, how was it important, or part of your formative experience growing up?
When I was very little, I always watched my dad cooking in the kitchen, because he likes cooking. He was a fisherman himself, and he would cook a lot of fish, seafood. And I just went to the kitchen and would stare at him cooking, I was just like, “How can I cook like him? You know? Like, how can I get all those ingredients in one pot, one pan, and create such an amazing food, such delicious food?” And then I remember, he grabbed me one tilapia, and he said, “can you fry that for me?” And I was like, “Ok, let’s try!” So my dad gave me one tilapia, and I deep fried it. It was over-burned! And that was the first memory of my cooking. But dad said, “oh, we have so many fish, so don’t worry! You can do it again.” So then he gave me the second try, and I did it on the second try. And we made a spicy sauce, you know, to cover the fish up after, and that’s what was my first dish that I made myself, that was taught by my dad.
And also, growing up, I grew up in the northeastern part, so basically I lived with my grandparents and my relatives, so they would cook a lot. And at the same time, we have to cook for ourselves, because they are busy, they have to go to the rice fields early in the morning, and you just throw everything available in the fridge, so just cook yourself!
And then every holiday or vacation, school break, I would go back to Bangkok to visit my dad, and I would help my aunt’s restaurant, so basically she cooks a lot, she had her own shop. And I just observe and learn to cook from her by just watching. And I remember it right away. And I just smell it, the taste, and I know exactly what the ingredients are. I think that’s my passion about food, and kind of like my memory growing up, with dad, and with my aunt, and with the family that forced me to cook for myself in order to have the life skills to equip with me, that I can go anywhere and cook for myself.
So is that the life skill that you’re trying to bring to the community here? What motivated you to put this course together?
I think one of the East-West Center goals is to embrace your culture and also sharing your beautiful culture to the community here in Hawaiʻi, especially in the EWC. So we have such an intimate relationship with the community here. People are very kind and nice and it’s always, been in my mind, like it would be so good to share my beautiful culture, through what I’m good at, what I’m very passionate about, which is food. Because food always reminds me of home, and I’m here in Hawaiʻi. It’s just, you know, sometimes it’s very difficult. Also it’s quite expensive to go out and eat at a Thai restaurant. And I would hear my friends complain about how it’s so expensive, and how the taste is like. So I said, "OK, then I can just teach you how to cook." And then the EWC is just so convenient, especially with these community kitchens. So we have everything in the kitchen, we have all the supplies.
And also, I would say that in Hawaiʻi it’s not very hard to find Asian ingredients. And I just chatted to the group, like ‘let’s go to Chinatown! Let’s grab some ingredients, grab some groceries to make Thai food.’ And then people asked, like, why don’t you make it seriously like, you, like open up the forms and recruit people who are interested to learn how to cook Thai food? And I was like, "that’s a good idea!" So that’s why. I have my personal interests and I got all the encouragement from my friends in the community here. And then you’re just so blessed to see how supportive they are and how eagerly they want to learn my culture. So that’s the reason why I organized this Thai cooking class for the community here.
What is it that would like your students to get out of this class?
I would like for them to learn how to cook Thai food correctly, and then how to use the right ingredients on Thai food, because that’s how we represent Thai food. Also, I want them to learn about my culture through food, how food is very important for us, like food represents sharing community, so you would know in Thailand you would go everywhere, visit the house where people invite you to join their dinner, their breakfast, that’s just how food brings everybody together and they share their stories. And I hope they will like it at the end of the class.
So, clearly, you are this master chef that arrived with all these skills, but I’m also wondering what you have learned from observing other cooks in these shared kitchen spaces here. What’s it like, from a chef’s perspective, to be living in a place like this?
Living on the 12th floor ewa kitchen side, we have diverse backgrounds of participants, like from East Asia, from South Asia, from the mainland, from the Pacific, so it’s just like, you know, when you sit in your room and then open your window, you will smell different things all the time! And I was like, Oh, what kind of food is that? So I just went upstairs to the kitchens to see, oh, what are you cooking? And they say, oh, we’re making some curry, this is from the Pacific, and then this is some stir fry from Nepal. I was like, wow, that is so interesting how people can cook, and also their dish is very delicious as well. And then it just brings a new perspective, like new technique of cooking, you know although we say "stir fry," different countries have different stir fry techniques, and then people might put more spice, or less oil to cook, and it’s just so mind blowing to see how they can make food and how they can cook.
And also what I learned from them is that they say, “oh, when we were back home, we didn’t cook much, we just eat out,” but coming to Hawaiʻi, living in this community, with all the convenience, kitchen supply, they are encouraged to cook by themselves. Because that’s gonna make them save money and also kind of remind them of home by cooking on their own, because that’s always been the things that people miss about home and home cooks so they cook for themselves.
And then another thing I learned is that the kitchens are very important for us here, it’s kind of like the shared space where people get out of their stress zone to come and relax and focus on the joy and the happiness that they would create for themselves to feed themselves and go back to their work.
Though you are positioned as a teacher, I’m wondering what have you yourself have learned in the process of teaching others?
It’s not just about sharing your skills, not just about whether people will like your food. It’s also about like how you bring that leadership perspective to come up with the initiative, like what can you do for the community? And maybe it’s not too academic that everybody would expect to have during their experience here, but I would say that cooking class is some kind of recreational activity that people would remember, and I’m just so grateful that I took a leap in this initiative to teach them, and also that I can learn that I would be able to teach everyone and I would be able to provide another skill for everyone, and also to be able to believe in myself that I can just implement something, initiate something small, but it makes a greater impact to the community that they keep with themselves. And once they go back, they will remind themselves, like “Oh, we have cooked this before and I want to share with my family back home.”
And switching gears, or maybe not switching gears…How do you see this experience tying in to what you want to do with your degree and career?
I mean, Public Administration, as people know, we have to provide service to the public. And it’s not just about like policy perspective, it’s not just about the legislative process where we have to build a policy to satisfy everyone else. At the same time, like, once you become a real worker and are in a real working experience, you would have to make a connection with people. As a public administration connection, it’s very important. And you know, like, by building community or by building connections, you would initiate something, like you invite people to your homes to have dinner, or you can just organize some gathering with the public, and you just make a cook out section or like just host a potluck party so that people can come.
You as a public administrator or as someone representing the government have that friendly approach to invite the public to join so that during the potluck or during the gathering you can have a small talk with the real citizens about what they need, what they want. So it’s just another perspective, not just like sitting in the courthouse or the capitol, like testifying your bills or something. You would provide them service in the future. It would build that trust in your work and your professionalism, that you would represent them well and you would listen to every voice, and then you take it back, take a consideration and implement something that would reflect from their feedback and their requirement to make a better community.
And what kind of community do you feel here at the East-West Center? How has this place impacted your UH Graduate Study experience?
It’s not just the connection or experience that the EWC provides, but also I would say the kind support from the EWC staff is such an amazing thing that you would remember because, I mean, you wouldn’t get people involved when you have an emergency, like during the night or early in the morning, but I feel like the EWC staff is always there, just one call away, one text away. They are ready to help you, to support. And then whatever we need at the community as residents, they take it seriously right away and they take it into consideration. And then the next month or the next semester after they’re just “Ok. Here you go. What you want. And you need to maintain it well, remember we live in a community." If you have anything, they’re just here. And it’s just such an amazing experience to have that kind of support.
In the future I wish I would bring that perspective to implement to the others and also seek the way to engage with the EWC after so that I can be some kind of supportive alumni that can make an impact to the students in the future.