After spending nine years in California, USA, Chef Num decided it was time to return to Thailand and do something to support his community. He cooks Thai cuisine in a contemporary way, aiming to preserve the biodiversity and local wisdom of the Udon Thani area.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Do what you love and take care of your family.

What is the purest thing you have ever tasted? Clean water from the forest in Chiang Mai that has been preserved for over 400 years.

What is the best thing you can do with your hands? Cook dishes that are inspired by local wisdom, from local people.

What was your first experience with sustainable eating? Seasonal edible vegetables from the mountains.

What do you love most about what you do? Helping people from villages present dishes that celebrate the local biodiversity, in order to raise awareness about the urgent need to take care of our environment.

What do you consider the most overrated ingredient? Grain-fed beef with a high marbling score.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever been taught? Treat your local ingredients like a precious thing and cook them with love.

Is there anything you don’t particularly care to eat? Foie gras and caviar.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? It would be a Thai person cooking Thai food again.

When was the last time you ate out, and where? Two months ago, in a small village in Chiang Mai. The food was of the home cooking style and one hundred per cent of the ingredients were found in the village.

Are there any mentors or food heroes you would like to thank? I would love to thank Michel Bras, the chef who has celebrated a connection with nature and does incredible things for his hometown. I wish I could work with him!

What are your favourite books or cookbooks? Every classic Thai cookbook.

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing? I would practice Buddhism very far away from people.

How do you like to spend your day off? With my team going somewhere to do restaurant research.

What does success mean to you? All the success and credit that the people I am involved with receive – farmers, foragers, local artists and my team. This means a lot to me.

What is your current obsession, the thing you think about at 3am? What will I see in the morning market today?

What are the qualities you admire most in others? Optimism about how we can make our community better.

Can you tell us something we don’t know about you? I am not good at talking. I love to cook and tell people what I believe through my dishes.

What three words best describe your cooking style? Thai cuisine, full flavour, and local, seasonal ingredients.

If you could eat only one thing today, what would it be? Thai fried rice (with rice from my local organic rice farmer).

What do you see when you think of the cuisine of your own country? Young chefs who work closely with local ingredients. These things shake up our industry in a great way.

Which word or phrases do you most overuse? Local ingredients and local wisdom.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Less emotional while I work in the kitchen.

What do you think the future of food will look like? People will cook food based on their region and think wisely about where those ingredients come from.

Do you have a motto or mantra? “Be humble, be eager to learn, and hustle.” That is all you need.