Tom Yum Melodies with Khlong Toey Music Program

Tom Yum Melodies with Khlong Toey Music Program

The kitchen is a special classroom, where students can be given the power to create, collaborate, and thrive! We believe this to the core, we preach it, and try to live by it. But we are also quick to admit the kitchen isn’t the only place children can express themselves, and learn new skills. In a recent Saturday cooking and jam session, our Courageous Kitchen students welcomed children from the Khlong Toey Music Program (KTMP) for a memorable afternoon.

Khlong Toey Music Program Motto: “Playing for Change”

If you’re unfamiliar, the KTMP music program is named for one the most infamous slums in Bangkok, Khlong Toey. Despite the rough surroundings, there’s important work happening in their community, and KTMP is part of the change that’s happening in this overlooked area of Bangkok. With a similar ethos to Courageous Kitchen, KTMP believes children deserve a safe place to learn, especially because of the pernicious nature of the cycle of poverty. Instead of proselytizing the way of the wok and other culinary arts like us, their program teaches guitar, drums, and several other instruments, adding English and other extracurriculars as often as possible. Each time the students have an opportunity to perform, they earn new fans across the city of Bangkok and online!

Still kids, even the ones gaining fans each week through their music on facebook and youtube, get nervous meeting other children. For this reason, we didn’t jump right into learning to play music when our two student groups came together. First we had to get to know each other. So to kick things off, we began the day with fun ice breaking games. The games required the students to interact with one another, learning each other’s names, and teaming up to identify vocabulary words faster than other teams.

The kids begin learning about the instruments they’re most interested in playing from students their own age.

The instruments made an appearance after we got to know each other and whoa did it get noisy! The students and teachers dispersed themselves around the room teaching the same melody, with a different instrument in each group. There was an entire section dedicated to our mini percussionists, the singers and ukulele players claimed the center of the room, and the electric and acoustic guitar fans filled the gap on the other side. I’d compare the sound and fury of the activity to having a baby elephant dancing in your kitchen. But despite what it did to our eardrums, looking around at the excitement on all the children’s faces as the instrument workshop began, was incredibly rewarding.

Low thuds, random strings, and excited voices filled the room as the students began to get the hang of the instruments. The KTMP teachers encouraged the children to change groups once they had the melody down, much to the excitement of the girls torn between playing the drums, and switching into guitar hero mode on KTMP’s shiny electric guitars. Knowing the kids would be working up an appetite, our kitchen team was rendering the fat off a kilo of shrimp. They would go on to use the fatty oils from cooking the shrimp, to toss egg noodles before serving.

The guitars were the most popular instruments of the day!
These crinkly yellow noodles are popular with everyone in Thailand!
If you love tom yum soup, you should try it with a shrimp laced instant noodles!

Days before this event, we held meetings to debate what to serve our new friends at KTMP. On such a fun day, we wanted to serve familiar food that the kids would gobble down, but with a Courageous Kitchen twist. Cooking up ‘mama’ noodles easily won by popular vote. Named for the most popular brand of instant noodles in Thailand, mama noodles are popular in the low key street food stalls all over the country. The noodles are well known as a nostalgic childhood snack. However, instead of making a broth full of the msg filled flavoring packets, we made our own giant pot of creamy tom yum broth to serve our hungry little musicians.

As the scent of shrimp tinged egg noodles, and lemongrass broth began to fill the house, full bars of notes were beginning to tumble out as well. The practice was paying off, and the students were becoming more confident playing the song. Soon they would play it together, Thai, refugee, and migrant kids, all strumming to the same rhythm. For the finale, the KTMP youth performed a few more songs, before everyone agreed it was time to eat. The noodles were ready to eat, but the kids quickly organized into teams, some making spring rolls to eat with their noodles, while the others were ready for a cooling dessert snack.

Courageous Kitchen meet KTMP in Bangkok, Thailand
Thank you for visiting us Khlong Toey Music Program!

There’s more you should know about the special students from KTMP. They didn’t just show up for tom yum noodles. They have been hearing about Courageous Kitchen for weeks, selecting us as the charity they most wanted interact with and help. In the lead up to meeting each other, they used the power of their music, performing and spreading awareness to raise money for us. In a few short weeks the students, supported by their tireless teachers, raised and donated nearly 14,000 baht (about $440) to help children in our program!

Our entire team feels really privileged to find such a great organization with a similar mission. You can visit Khlong Toey Music Program on their website, and donate to fund more fun future collaborations. We hope they enjoyed our harmonizing in the kitchen, as much as we enjoyed jamming with their instruments!

A Simple Recipe for Cooking Thai Coconut Pancakes with Kids!

A Simple Recipe for Cooking Thai Coconut Pancakes with Kids!

Happy 2019 everyone! We finished 2018 on a high, hosting a record number of families in our kids cooking class. So we want to continue to encourage people to get into the kitchen as a family throughout 2019, starting with the first holiday on the calendar, Thai Children’s Day!

Happy Children’s Day!

For the occasion we’re sharing a special recipe that’s easy for kids, tasty for adults, and doesn’t create too much of a mess in the kitchen. The tasty recipe we chose is Thai Coconut Pancakes!

We have been making this simple recipes in our cooking classes, and recently took St. Andrews school, to teach 8-11 year old students in the Eco-Beasts program, while discussing eco-friendly food and packaging.

We’ve got to get more young people thinking about sustainability to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals!

Now it’s your turn to make this simple Thai recipe! There are only 5 ingredients. Share these tasty treats by cooking and eating them with your family. If you love them, remember to support Courageous Kitchen with a donation to help us provide food and education to marginalized youth in Bangkok!

Ingredients

This recipes makes 12-15 silver dollar sized pancakes.

  • 2 cups of sticky rice flour
  • 2 cups of shredded coconut
  • 1 cup of coconut milk
  • 1/3 cup of rice flour
  • 1/3 cup of white sugar
Let’s get more young people in the kitchen in 2019, no matter their age!
Teaching students to make Thai coconut pancakes and banana leaf container trays.

Thai Coconut Pancake Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add a tap of extra coconut milk if it doesn’t whisk smoothly.
  2. Put a non-stick pan on medium heat, pouring the batter carefully.
  3. When you begin to see bubbles in your pancakes, flip them until they’ve been suitably browned on each side. If your pan is warm enough, this should take only 2-3 minutes on each side.
  4. Allow to cool and serve the hot Thai pancakes on banana leaf instead of plastic or styrofoam!
Jub learning to make butterfly pea, coconut, and corn pancakes!

Can I use other fruit in the pancake instead of coconut?

This isn’t a great recipe if you’re not a fan of coconut, because it includes both shredded coconut and coconut milk. However, you can substitute the 2 cups of shredded coconut with 2 bananas, and make the very banana flavored version. The students we met at St. Andrews recently couldn’t decide which version they liked best!

Why does it seem like so much sugar?

When mixing the batter it can seem that you’re using a lot of sugar. However remember that you’re also getting sweetness from your shredded coconut. The pancakes should ideally be sweet enough that you do not need to add any syrup or butter, making them a significantly healthier snack or breakfast choice than traditional western pancakes.

thai coconut pancake recipe-2
These medallion sized Thai coconut pancakes are kids sized by default, and don’t need butter or syrup to be enjoyed!

Do street food vendors sell these coconut pancakes?

You can find these coconut pancakes at the street food vendors in Bangkok, however, they will be a different style. The type featured in this Children’s Day recipe is called paengji (แป้งจี่), but the type you see more commonly on the street is kanom babin (บ้าบิ่น). You can differentiate them easily because kanom babin is usually smaller and a variety of colors from including taro or pandan. If you spot them have a try, they are equally delicious!

If you enjoyed these recipes and info, don’t forget you can support us by joining a kids cooking class, or donating to our efforts to help people in the need!

3 Ways to Support Courageous Kitchen This Holiday!

3 Ways to Support Courageous Kitchen This Holiday!

special pre-sale

courageous Aprons

Our supporters can finally sport the Courageous Kitchen logo in their own kitchen!

3 ways to give back!

01

Pre-Order Aprons

Be the first to get your hands on a Courageous Kitchen apron!

02

Download Recipes

Download 5 of our most popular recipes and help us fund our first cookbook. 

03

Take A Cooking Class

Book an authentic cooking class for you and your friends!

our top food experiences

Thai Cooking Class in Bangkok

Try Sri Lankan Cooking in Trincomalee

Thai Cooking Demo and Dinner in San Diego

Bangkok Street Food Tour

Courageous recipes 2019

Download 5 of our most popular recipes, including pad thai and mango and sticky rice! When you make a donation with your download, it will help us fund a larger cookbook of 20+ Thai recipes!

☆☆☆☆☆

5 star Reviews

“This was a really fun experience for our whole family. Also wonderful to know our tourism dollars we’re helping local people. Highly recommended."

Elijah

Guest, October 2018

"Amazing cooking class. Lily, Nisha and Dwight were wonderful. I enjoyed the class immensely, and what a great organization!"

Liting

Guest, November 2019

"If you are in Bangkok you MUST visit Courageous Kitchen! Dwight and everyone gave us a top notch cooking experience. The food is SO good and you feel like you’re at home with family and friends while you’re there. I will return every chance that I get."

James

Guest, October 2018

Micro-Giving This Holiday with Amazon Smile

Don’t forget if you’re shopping with Amazon, this holiday you can select Courageous Kitchen as your charity of choice with Amazon Smile.

As your designated charity Amazon donates a small fraction of the proceeds of each sale back to our charity!

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Meet the Talented Stars Behind Our Soul Sunday Fundraiser!

Meet the Talented Stars Behind Our Soul Sunday Fundraiser!

This Sunday in Bangkok we’re helping to host a funky get together of some of Bangkok’s most soulful musicians!

The fun evening includes performances by international and local artists, a special guest mixologist, and delicious food at local bar and creative space, Whiteline.  Proceeds from ticket sales, and a portion of bar sales, will be donated toward providing food, hygiene products, and financial assistance to the children and families languishing in detention.

Tickets can be purchased for Soul Sunday on eventbrite, and the event starts at 5pm. Ready to hear more about the musicians and cast of friends helping put together this great charity benefit? Read below!

Meet the Performers:

Tere’ Howard aka Soul Mama

Tere Howard, a.k.a. Soul Mama, is a phenomenal singer and the creator of Soul Sunday. By the time her travels brought her to Bangkok, she was already no stranger to community organizing and charity work. In her hometown of Philadelphia, she started an organization bringing independent artists together to uplift communities, and create positive social change through the arts. Soul Sunday was born when Soul Mama personally saw the need to provide resources like food, toiletries and other resources to families in immigration jail, saying, “I realize it takes all of us working together to help those with the greatest needs in our community. No one person can do it alone.”

Singer Natalie Van Der Walt

“I have a song within me that continues to pour out.” Natalie’s songs are described as personal, raw, but bold enough to be shared with anyone.

Jazz Vocalist Nicki Kidd

International Jazz Vocalist Nikki Kidd has a palatable passion for music. Her musical style is the embodiment of classic and current jazz and her voice has the ability to transport you to the days of speakeasies. Nikki has worked with acclaimed artists such as Gloria Estefan, Michael Bublé, and KC and the Sunshine Band.

She has also performed with the Florida Grand Opera in their production of the Opera “Aida” at the Arscht Center and records for Emilio Estefan at Crescent Moon Studio. Nikki continues to make a name for herself not only in her hometown, but also abroad where she has a residency at the Mandarin Oriental’s Bamboo Bar in Bangkok, Thailand.

Willard Dyson

Willard Dyson grew up in Oakland California and is at home in a myriad of musical genres including Jazz, R&B, African, Latin and Brazilian music. He received a degree in Percussion Performance from CSU Hayward and a Master of Music degree in Jazz and Commercial Music from the Manhattan School of Music. Willard has toured and recorded with many artists, as well as being a featured percussion soloist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra.

Demi Nova

Demi Nova hails from Atlanta, GA where she’s danced with Tina Turner, and danced for Coretta Scott King. In addition to performing all over the US and internationally, Demi is a playwright, author, doctor of pharmacy. Her captivating energy will blow you away!

Paddy Benzy

Paddy Benzy is a Pan-African rap artist originating from Ghana. Paddy is the founder of SKG Records  and a multi talented artist who creates his own beats, writes and raps in his eclectic Afropop style. He has just released his first single called Erimma.

Joy Howard

Joy Howard is a singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur who seeks to unify people in music and fashion. She has been singing and performing all over Thailand since 2012. She started her “I Am Beautique” apparel company in 2017. The brand was designed to bring urban and traditional styles together, seeking to give identity and recognization to voices unheard.

DJ Kinky D

Establishing herself as a DJ back in 1994, Kinky D’s ever-growing reputation and continuing success has seen her become a solid contender upon the global music scene.  Kinky D has worked alongside some of the top names within the industry, including 50 Cent, Todd Terry, The Supremes, The Temptations, Kelis, Mark Ronson and Black Coffee.

Coco Rouzier

Coco Rouzier is an American vocalist, recording artist, songwriter and performance coach. You may have seen her performing the past year at the Sukhothai Bangkok Hotel, and is now preparing for her 6th tour of Southeast Asia.

Wombat Band

This music duo joins with a strong love of groove and melody. When they take the stage, they bring a mix of soul, funk, and reggae that they call Wombat sound.

Rapper MavenP

MavenP Aka MC Verssace is a true Veteran in the nightlife scene around Asia, cofounding Party Republik. He is known for his versatility with the ability to excel at songwriting, singing, rapping and at event hosting.

DJ Master D

One of the hottest DJs in Thailand, playing at clubs from Phuket to Bangkok. His mixture of afro beats, hip hop and more will keep any party lit!

There are so many others we have to thank for helping to make this event a success, including venue sponsor Oliver Wolfson of Whiteline, guest mixologist Sarah Madritsch, and photographer Sabrina Boyett. Thank you all!

Tickets are 300 baht on Eventbrite, or 400 baht at the door. Appetizers will be provided freely to guests (while they last) by our Courageous Kitchen team.

Charitable Smoothie Bar and Five Kitchen Tour in Downtown Bangkok

We’re happy to share some photos with you from a recent Courageous Kitchen activity. A few of our students were invited to setup a fruit smoothie bar in the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) headquarters in downtown Bangkok. The students woke up early and traveled more than an hour to get to the hotel. There the staff welcomed us into their office, where they planned to have a special lunch to kickoff the IHG Foundation Week, which aims to promote charities in the region and get their staff around the world thinking about giving back.intercontinental bangkok kitchen tour-3

For our students, many of whom have never eaten in a restaurant or stayed in a hotel, this was a special experience. The staff welcomed them with new t-shirts, notebooks, and a quick briefing on the day’s plans. They were tasked with setting up a smoothie bar in the office’s break room area overlooking Bangkok. They quickly organized themselves into two stations, with specific tasks like collecting money, running the blenders, or asking their “customers” which fruit they preferred to have in their drinks.

intercontinental bangkok kitchen tour-2
intercontinental bangkok kitchen tour-4

The smoothie bar was a fun challenge for the students and since everyone who had a smoothie gave a small donation, they also raised some funds too. However, that wasn’t all IHG had planned for them. Led by two of the staff, Ben and Elena, the students then filed in to travel back to the hotel lobby where someone special was waiting. When the group exited the elevators into the grand lobby, they were met by Executive Chef Rolando. Chef Rolando is in charge of all of the kitchen for both the Intercontinental Hotel and next door sister hotel, Holiday Inn.

intercontinental bangkok kitchen tour-1
intercontinental bangkok kitchen tour-7
intercontinental bangkok kitchen tour-6

After a quick introduction, we followed the chef first into the room service area of the kitchen. The look behind the scenes wowed the students and the size of the production was massive. From room service we entered another area responsible for catering for up to 1000 or more guests at one time. To put this in context, Chef Rolando walked the students into one of the behemoth banquet rooms and talked about the giant numbers of staff and things we take for granted like eggs that the hotel uses in one day.

From the chocolate statues in the buffet line, to breathtaking views on the 37th floor, and the exclusive areas of their fine dining restaurants, the students loved their kitchen tour. In the end we visited about 5 kitchens, looking both in the dining area and behind the scenes. The experience was enthralling for our students and we believed will help them to imagine a grand future for themselves in the kitchen or doing food related services.

intercontinental bangkok kitchen tour-8

Thank you to everyone who supports us, allowing us to do inspirational activities like this one. A special thank you to Ben, Elena, and Bangkok’s IHG office.

If you’re new to Courageous Kitchen, you can help by giving a small monthly donation so we can continue to serve youth in Bangkok and give them them skills and inspiration to last a lifetime!

All photos courtesy of volunteer photographer Kelly Miller.