Thai it – you’ll love it!

We have enjoyed our time is Bangkok despite the sweltering heat. Our condo is awesome with a pool, lots of space and access to everything we need just a short walk or skytrain away.

Once the city tours were finished and the fittings for new suits were done (Oliver), it was time to focus on the foods of Thailand. We love Thai food and feel very lucky to have access to so many great Thai restaurants in Toronto. But you know us…we don’t just like to eat the food –we want to learn how to make it! Throughout South East Asia there are cooking schools everywhere. In fact, there are over 300 cooking schools just in Bangkok – so how can one choose? Thank goodness for TripAdvisor and rankings! After a couple of hours of research we were able to register for a class that would accept kids, cook dishes that we like, and provided access to AC.

We knew we had made the right choice when our teacher showed up and introduced himself as Oliver. From that moment on, the jokes about Oliver 1 (Tall guy) and Oliver 2 (Thai guy) were non-stop.

Chef Oliver 2

Fresh prawns – the letter C

Our class began in a local market where we learned about the different ingredients for Thai cooking.   Some new learning for me was selecting fresh prawns (shrimps). If they are fresh, they will hang in the tight shape of the letter C…as they age, they hang straight.

After seeing the importance of the coconut tree in India, one can also appreciate how Thai people also use the nut for a lot of their cooking. We were able to see a shredder in action and found it pretty amazing!

Coconut Shredder

Lots of Shred!

From there we picked up some fresh chicken and a couple of other wet ingredients. The vegetables and spices were picked up at a market across the street and Oliver 2 explained to us all the different ingredients needed for our meal. Lemongrass, cilantro, ginger, aubergine, and of course chillies were on the menu! Our spice tours in India came in handy, as they use many of the same ones and we were able to identify all of them!

Thai cooking ingredients

Thai chillies!

Veggies for our meal!

We made our way back to the cooking school and were quickly enveloped by the coolness of the AC…yes – this made it worth it!

We donned our aprons and moved back and forth between the prep room, cooking area, and eating room as we finished our dishes. There were over 5 different groups there and it worked like clock work – this school knows what it’s doing!

The woks are ready!

Spices are out.

One of our dishes was a delicious papaya salad that was fast, easy to make and very refreshing. We learned that Thai food has to have all flavor combinations such as sweet, sour, salty and spicy in one dish. Otherwise, Thai people will find it bland.

Papaya salad can be custom ordered in a restaurant according to your preferences. If you prefer it sweeter – just ask for more sugar to be added etc….

Green Papaya Salad

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

1 cup shredded green papaya or green apple

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1 bunch of long green beans cut into 1 inch pieces

3 tomatoes cut into chunks

1 tbsp of dried shrimps

3 tbsp of roasted peanuts

2 chillies

4-5 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 1/4 tbsp lime/lemon juice

1 tbsp tamarind paste

Preparations

1. Pound the garlic, shrimp, chillies, and peanuts in a mortar and use the pestle to pound it, (or place in a blender and chop)

2. Add the green beans and tomatoes to the mixture to get some of their juices

3. Season with lime juice, palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind paste.

4. Pour it into a bowl.

5. Add the papaya and carrots and mix well. Place on serving dishes.

Serve with fresh vegetables and sticky rice.

Cooking class was lots of fun, so stay tuned for more in the next few posts – the girls will share their favourites too!