Heat up the wok!

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Today’s activity - cooking! Last time we were in Thailand we took a cooking class that we loved, so we figured we would pick up some more tips to take home with us.
We met our chef Chai nice and early at the front gate - first stop was the local market. Chai showed us around and pointed out all the major Thai ingredients. We learned about the rice, bottled sauces, fresh fish, local vegetables, local fruits, etc. They have so many things I know are going to be too hard to find at home.

Went back to the hotel, and we had a bit of downtime while Chai got everything set up for us. About 11am, the cooking lesson began. Since it is a bit of an organized kitchen, they had all the ingredients set out for us….which was nice, but a little harder to learn what they all were. Plus, they had already made the curry paste for us - which last time we hammered out ourselves with the mortar and pestle (which I assume we will have to do again once we return home and use these new skills - thank g-d for wedding gifts!)

The menu:
Yam nue yang (grilled beef salad with vegetables and lemon chili dressing) - awesome! A bit of heat in the dressing, but very yummy
Gaeng massaman nue (massaman curry beef) - a favorite dish to order back in Seattle. Came out pretty tasty, but next time need to add a bit more curry paste to raise the flavor.
Keuy tiew phad keemoew talay (wok friend rice noodle seafood with hot basil leaves) - again, awesome! Keemoew are the thin wide rice noodles. I think we have a winner.

After the lesson, we were invited to dine on the fruits of our labor - and despite the few cups of wine, I must say we did pretty damn good. It was quite a filling meal, but definitely worth it.

After lunch we went back to our room and chilled - a bit in the sun, a bit in the shade, a bit in the pool. It was a much relaxing afternoon (I finished Wildfire by Nelson Demille - it was pretty good, kept me interested. But it worries me that the authors can come up with stories like these…perhaps these are the people we should be watching out for 😊 )

After a nice leisurely afternoon, we motivated for dinner. We went to one of the restaurants on the beach - literally right next door to the hotel, just a little walk on the sand. We had delicious tiger prawns and other good stuff. Then called it a night…

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Photos

The local market
You can find everything here!

Becky learning from Chai
he was showing me the different soya sauces and chillis sauces and stuff.

Dried Peppers
for a little spice!

Curry paste
For those in a hurry, you can buy the premade curry paste

Chicken
The feet got me.

Chai teaching Dan
How cutes is my husband

Tada!
All done!

Comments

[dad s]

cooking class....
can't wait to taste......