The Best Thai Cookery School

Jan and I have been wanting to do a cooking class in Thailand and the guys have agreed to come along.  At the recommendation of a fellow traveler, we have signed up with The Best Thai Cookery School for an evening class.

 We are picked up at our hotel and driven to the school, about 13k out of the city.  We are expecting an air conditioned van and instead are squeezed into a (red-car) tap tap with the other six members of our class.  Not an auspicious start.  Gary and Jan are able to secure seats inside the cab of the truck, so at least they are out of the heat.  

We make a quick stop at a small market where we learn about selecting the ingredients we will need for the various dishes we will be cooking.  We will all make Pad Thai, Papaya Salad and Sweet Sticky rice with mango, but then we get to each select  what soup we want to cook (three choices), which stir-fry (four options) and which curry (also four options).  Everyone gets their own cooking station, so we can each cook something different if we so choose.

 But we need to decide now, because this is where we are picking up provisions.  I choose to make Coconut Milk Soup, Fried Mixed Vegetables and Red Curry.  Jeff will make Hot and Sour Soup (also known as Tom Yam Soup), Green Curry and Chicken with Cashew nuts.  Gary and Jan are cooking Hot and Sour soup, Fried Morning Glory, Chicken with Cashew Nuts, and Panaeg Curry.  And then we have about 10 minutes to poke around the market, shopping and taking photos before continuing on to the school. 

The school itself is located in the countryside with rice paddies all around.  On the grounds are gardens filled with herbs and veggies used on site.  Our classroom is open air and we are able to watch the sun set as we are getting settled in.

 Richie is our teacher and is funny and knowledgeable.  The first thing we do is to get started making the sticky rice.  The rice needs to soak in water for four hours before we can even begin to cook it, and that part of the prep has been done for us already.  So Richie shows us how it is then drained, placed in a cheesecloth lined steamer and set to steam for 15 minutes.  While it is cooking, he demonstrates how to mix up the sweet sauce – coconut milk or cream, sugar and a little salt.  This is boiled together until the sugar has completely dissolved into the cream and everything has become smooth and glossy.  This is stirred into the rice once it is taken out of the steamer and then allowed to rest for two hours.    

He then shows us how to create the various curry powders from scratch and we all get to take a turn pounding the ingredients with a mortar and pestle.  I’m a little alarmed at the number of chilis going into the paste, but am assured I can customize my dish by using as little or as much of the paste as I want.  

 And then we are each dispatched to our own cooking station.  The school already has each station outfitted with a little and a big wok, the various stirring implements we will need, a chopping block and sharp knife and a bowl in which to place our first complete dish.  There are assistants who come around delivering little plates or bowls with the ingredients we will need for each dish as we are ready to cook it.  They also whisk away the dirty dishes, and I’m loving that.

 Richie comes around plopping blobs of curry paste into our woks, each according to the dish they have selected to cook. It looks like an awful lot of paste in my wok, and the lady standing next to me whispers that she has scooped out half of hers and tossed it in her wastebasket, so I do the same and my finished dish is just the right kind of spicy for me. 

 Just for fun, when it comes time to cook our stir-fries, Richie gives us all a demonstration on how to create a dramatic fire-ball in our wok, then asks who wants to give it a try.  Gary is reluctant, but in the end, even he ends up with an inferno in his pan.

I can’t recall the exact order of cooking and eating, but I do recall having Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango before eating our mains.  Dessert first.  I’m liking this school more and more.  We each have our own cookbook to take home with us and I know of at least one dish I will be making in the future!

By the time we leave, we are full to bursting, have had a grand time and learned a few tricks.  Fortunately, the school’s vans are waiting for our return ride back to our hotel, so we’re spirited away in comfort.  We have lots of Asian markets in Minneapolis, so I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to find anything I need when I decide to tackle Thai cooking.  But after a month of Asian food, I think I’ll need some hot dish and Mexican Food before I’m ready to revisit this part of the world.