Thai Cooking Class

Given my love of Thai food, it was only natural that I take a cooking class while in Thailand. I had hoped that after my class I might be able to replicate at home some of the amazing food I had been eating. What I didn’t account for was that you can never really recreate Thailand at home. Eating in Thailand is an experience unto itself. More than just the food, it’s the location, the people, the sights and sounds, all rolled into one. Even when I eat good Thai food outside of Thailand, it can never totally compare to eating Thai food in Thailand. It’s taken me a while to accept that. Nevertheless, I will continue to try to cook Thai dishes in the hope that I can bring a little piece of my Thai adventure back to life.


The cooking class I took was a wonderful experience and there was certainly no shortage of food. On the menu for the class was:

Hot and Sour Soup
Green Papaya Salad
Pad Thai
Green Thai Curry
Cashew Nut Chicken
Mango Sticky Rice


The class was small, with only 8 people and began with a market tour. There, our Chef introduced us to a number of Thai ingredients, many of which people hadn’t cooked with before and told us a little about each one, including how they might be used in Thai cooking and possible health benefits. We then rode in the infamous tuk-tuks to the cooking school. Each of us were kitted out with an apron, side towels and our own work station with a single gas burner. Then we got down to business and created a veritable feast of all my favourite Thai dishes. After cooking we sat down and ate together and probably had enough food for three times as many people, but none of us were complaining about the excess as it was all just so good!


However, another problem with trying to recreate such awesomeness at home is the lack of authentically Thai ingredients. Just look at the photo for the green curry prep, which consists of snake beans, the cutest little eggplants ever and a kaffir lime leaf. None of those exist at my local supermarket. When I’m in the city I could probably source them out, but the point is, they’re not readily available. And as sad as that makes me, maybe it just means I should start planning another trip to Thailand to get my fix... Just as soon as that lucky lottery ticket turns up or my life sponsor reveals themselves, I will be on the next plane!