The chef who taught Michelle Yeoh to cook Thai

"My mum used to sell rice and curry in the market [in Thailand's Chachoengsao province, where Nooror was born and raised]. She specialised in massaman curry and, as a child, I had to pound the curry paste every day after school. She said it would be therapeutic because I was a naughty girl, so it was a way to keep me quiet. I learned how to make curry paste from her and now I export it to 30 countries. I started to learn how to cook when I was nine years old. I knew I'd cook [for a living] because when I played with friends, I'd pretend to have a restaurant and I'd use lotus leaves as the plate and pretend to stir-fry noodles."

"I followed my brother into hotel management. When we went to the cooking class, it was the first time I made chocolate mousse and my first time tasting chocolate. It tasted a bit bitter, but it made my eyes open wide. These days, when I have meetings in London and Brussels, to keep awake, I have a kilo of chocolate in front of me. I used to be skinny but not any more."

"Karl [Steppe] had an antique shop in Brussels and my brother worked there for extra money. He introduced me to Karl and then we got married in Bangkok and went back to Brussels. My husband had many customers and I would cook for them; they liked it so much they suggested I open a restaurant. So, in 1980, we opened a small place, only 40 seats. After six months we had to expand to 100 seats because we had a long queue outside."

"I like history and food was popular with Thai kings - they wrote many poems about it. King Rama V [reigned 1868-1910] even liked to cook, and he wrote about the history of food. My menu has a bit of history. I have classic dishes, like green curry, and then my own creations because I think food is like fashion - it should be creative. I use products from the Royal Project [an agricultural initiative led by King Bhumibol Adulyadej] in northern Thailand. Thai food is also healthy, as each ingredient has a health benefit. The staples are herbs, chillies, palm sugar and coconut. I also like to tell people that Thai food can be elegant like French cuisine - it's not only street food. Elegance can be in the presentation and the quality of the products. Food should be like a painting on a plate."