Cooking - Thai Style

While we were in Chiang Mai, we took a Thai cooking class. The class began in the morning with a trip to the market, where we learned about various vegetables, fruits, spices, and grains widely used in Thai cooking. The outdoor market featured many different kinds of stalls, including those with fresh produce, eggs, noodles, and tofu. After buying a few ingredients at the market, we walked back to the cooking school, which was held in the upstairs area of a Thai vegetarian restaurant nearby, May Kaidee's Vegetarian Restaurant.



After prepping the vegetables (carrots, cabbage, kale, bean sprouts, baby corn, cauliflower, and mushrooms), we learned how to prepare and roast nuts used both in and as a garnish for many Thai dishes. Once we prepared all the ingredients, we began learning our first dish, tom yum soup. This is a very well-known Thai specialty -- the broth is flavored with lemongrass, thin slices of galangal (Thai ginger), and Kaffir lime leaves. When we've sampled this soup in various restaurants throughout Thailand, each has been unique. Some soups are a little spicier than others, while some have emphasized various elements of the dish (like the lemongrass). While tom yum soup often contains shrimp, prawns, and other seafood (one version we had included fresh octopus and squid), the recipe we learned was vegetarian. Once the broth had simmered, we added our vegetables, garlic, and red chilies in oil, along with a few other ingredients. We also made different versions of the soup that had different amounts of coconut milk added along with the other ingredients. The coconut milk was the perfect foil to the spicy, sour, salty taste of the broth.



We also learned how to make spring rolls with peanut sauce, fresh green papaya salad (shredded papaya and carrots served with a very spicy dressing of lime juice, fresh tomatoes and chilies), as well as the ubiquitous Pad Thai, a dish of stir-fried noodles with bean sprouts, scallions, a wedge of lime, and peanuts. Our version included tofu and stir-fried vegetables, but many we've seen often include chicken, pork, or shrimp along with the tofu.



At one point during our cooking class, the restaurant downstairs became so busy that we were asked if we could help cook for the patrons. We then learned two new dishes -- a salad with glass noodles and fried rice with vegetables. We're still waiting to get tipped out...



All in all, we learned how to make 14 different Thai dishes. One of the best parts about the class is that not only did we learn how to make some of our favorite dishes, but we were able to use local produce, learn vegetarian dishes (and actually all the recipes we learned were also vegan), and sample some terrific food that we made ourselves. Next step, invest in a Wok...