A Thai Cooking Class

Prior to my trip to Thailand I think my tastebuds were more excited than me at the possibility of tasting some of the world’s best street food. Though it is Bangkok that is generally heralded as one of the best cities for street food, I figured that Chiang Mai’s cuisine was not far behind.

Besides stuffing my face with all the delicious food offerings in the city, I decided to take a cooking class for the first time. After a quick google search, I selected A Lot of Thai. The reviews looked great and they had a pick up and drop off service. Perfect.

I was the first to arrive and was later joined by a very nice family from Taiwan and their very cute four-year-old son. Because it was low season we were the only ones in the class which meant a lot of individual attention. When traveling to Southeast Asia, it is best to go during low season since there are less tourists. During high season the class is usually sold out and host ten people per class.

The teacher, Yui, has a very kind spirit and is full of energy. She is also very knowledgable and well traveled which led to some very interesting discussions.

Pad Thai

The first dish we made was Pad Thai which is actually one of my favorite dishes, though I told myself when I came to Thailand that I would not order it since I can get it at any Thai restaurant across the globe.

I have eaten Pad Thai a million times and had no idea of the entire list of ingredients. The tamarind and palm sugar was a pleasant surprise. Prior to us cooking our meal, Yui went over each of the ingredients and demonstrated the meal. We were then sent to our stations to recreate what we just learned.

My finished product!

Green Curry

The second dish we made was another one of my favorite dishes, Green Curry. What Yui stressed most about this dish was the importance of fresh ingredients, including fresh coconut milk.

My finished product

Tom Yum

The last dish we made was Tom Yum, which I would describe as a simple prawn soup. It was very easy, though I must admit I always hate having to handle anything with a face on it.

Lemongrass, a key ingredient

Yui’s finished product

My finished product

After cooking each dish we were able to sit down and enjoy it while it was hot which allowed for nice breaks between dishes.

Following the last dish we packed up and headed to the market so that we could see all of the wonderful things that Thai agriculture had to offer.

This is a Thai variety of eggplant. It has a bitter taste.

There are NINE types of eggplants in this picture!

Tofu and tofu paste

Rice on rice on rice

All in all I highly recommend the cooking classes at A Lot of Thai. The class was affordable (1200 THB or $33 USD), well taught and the food was DELICIOUS.

Have you ever done a cooking class? In what country?