"Cooking is one of the greatest gifts you can give to those you love"

Hi my name is YUI…

I am originally from Bangkok, Thailand, I come from a strong Thai/Chinese family where cooking and eating have always been at the heart of family life. My parents had always cooked traditional Thai and Chinese dishes throughout my childhood which I helped prepare and cook from about the age of seven. My early childhood memory was being woken up at 4 am to prepare food to feed the monks at my local temple, which we would share after morning prayers.

My mum was the first person to really teach me to cook traditional Thai and Chinese dishes passed on to her from my grandma. My aunt was also very influential in teaching me to cook and driving my passion for food. She worked as a chef in the Thai Royal kitchen so knew how to cook excellent dishes and present them well. When I got married and moved to the UK in 2001, I began to learn to cook more western and British food which I mainly taught myself through cookery books adding my own Asian twist. I have also lived in Australia in the past which has a strong Asian influence in the food.  

My other passion is photography and I love to combine my two passions with travel capturing everyday lives through food and photography.

I have a bachelor’s degree in science Statistics from Bangkok University, Thailand and worked in IT before taking a career break when my son was born. When my son started school, I worked part-time in a teaching environment as a teaching assistant specialising in children with special needs for over 15 years. I really enjoyed my job but had a burning desire to pursue a career in cooking.

In my spare time I combined my passion of food and photography posting pictures of my homemade dishes and recipes on social media which when I first discovered Cookpad. Cookpad is a great platform for like minded people to share recipe ideas and cooking tips which is why I like it so much. I get so much pleasure when I have posted a recipe on Cookpad and other Cookpad authors have used my recipe to recreate the dish in their kitchen.

I am very proud to have followed my heart and passion for authentic Asian cuisine and have even showcased my dishes on BBC’s MasterChef UK  (2019 Quarter Finalist) and Channel 4’s Beat the Chef 2019, beating a Micheline Star Chef to win some money!! I also won a prize for Best Dessert at the national Teflon keen home cook awards.

I am proud to be part of Cookpad community and have found so many ideas and inspirations from other home cooks. I regularly conduct live cooking sessions on my Instagram (@cookingwith_yui) with other Cookpad home cooks sharing ideas and cooking tips. Cookpad is far more than an app for viewing recipes. We are a real home cooking community who love to cook together online or at regular workshops held in the Cookpad kitchen, Bristol.  

We are a growing community of home cooks, a place to share, store and get a bit of inspiration from others recipes. Wether you are sharing everyday recipes or a special recipe that was handed down from past generations, be inspired and get cooking!!!

If you would like to join our community or even cook live with me please contact me at yui-miles@cookpad.com. You can also follow me on Cookpad here. Cookpad making everyday cooking fun!