Besides riding elephants and playing with big cats, the other cool thing I did in Chiang Mai was take an all day Thai cooking class. I’ve been cooking Thai food pretty much every week for the past 18 months. Assuming I don’t get hit on the head and forget everything I’ve learned, my Thai cooking skills will be even better when I return to Seattle.
The day started out with a trip to the market. There wemet up with our instructor and got an introudction to curry and rice. We also and saw a machine used to extract coconut cream and milk. Then we drove out to the Thai cooking school, which was on an organic farm. Our instructor walked us around the garden and showed us the different plants that we would be adding to our Thai cooking.
The Thai cooking class was a 6 course event. We made our own curry paste and then a dish using that curry. In addition, we made a soup and astir fry. The class had a choice between pad thai and spring rolls. I picked pad thai. We finished with a desert (pumpkin soup for me).
I highly recommend the Thai Cooking Class. It was fun and we got to eat our own cooking. We even had leftovers to takehome.
Photo Gallery for Thai Cooking Class and Market Trip
Photos taken with the Canon 30D by Nick
TigerAl
Nov 29, 2009 — 7:01 pm
Cooking class in Thailand, a definite “yes” for me when I get there (unlike the elephant training). Pad Thai is one of my favorite foods so I’ll get some tips from you when you get back.
Charlie @ Best Hotel Bangkok
Nov 29, 2009 — 9:35 pm
We did a cooking class while staying in Chiang Mai. There are plenty of places that do it, and if nothing else it will certainly make you appreciate all the hard work that goes into making the food. My arms were aching after using the pestle and mortar for an hour or so!
MAS
Nov 30, 2009 — 2:49 am
Will do. Once I return, I plan to practice what I learned. Maybe I can host a Pad Thai Drivel?
TigerAl
Nov 30, 2009 — 9:17 am
Sounds good and Will could definitely use the cooking experience 🙂
Lauren - Ephemerratic
Dec 1, 2009 — 11:44 am
Taking a cooking class was one of the highlights of my time in Chiang Mai too. I love your photo showing the tanks of cooking gas.
Looks like your class was really large! I lucked out with a very intimate class of just three people.
Here’s my Chiang Mai cooking class story: Be Not Afraid of Fermented Fish.
MAS
Dec 3, 2009 — 6:49 am
Great site Lauren!
norris hall
Dec 3, 2009 — 8:25 am
If you like learning to cook thai food, take a look at this website
http://www.thaifoodtonight.com/thaifoodtonight/recipes.htm