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Published: July 12th 2013
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After our out of town excursions we decided our time in Chiang Mai was nearly done. We spend Tuesday chilling out and making a small bucket list of things we want to do on our travels which would be an ongoing list for the duration. On Tuesday night we revisited the food market from the previous night and tried out some more local street food most of which was served on skewers dressed with chilli sauce.
On Wednesday (I think, it's very hard keeping track of the days), we booked transport to Pai but we still had two things to do before we left: 1. Attend a Thai cooking school (very popular here), 2. Visit a Wat (temple), of which there are hundreds to choose from.
On Wednesday night we ticked off number 1. The cooking school cost b700 for a 4 hour class with all ingredients plus a cook book included. 4 categories were covered; the compulsory curry paste and curry lesson along two further categories the group choose together. We opted for stir fry and appetiser. Within each category each person choose a dish they wanted to make but the great thing was that we were all
able to see what everyone else was doing. For stir fry Math made Pad thai (obviously) and I went for hot basil, appetiser we both chose spring rolls and for curry Math chose Thai green and me Khaw soi (the local dish). Before we started we first had a tour of their organic garden and were introduced to all the herbs & spices we would come across in the recipies then a tour of the nearby market and explanation of various foods. We went back to the school to start cooking now with a big appetite and were presented with the traditional Thai welcome dish Meang Khum which is said to bring good luck (in our case to not cut or burn ourselves) - an almost magical blend of all types of flavour... sweet, bitter, sour etc. etc. We started on our stir fry each being guided in the preparation of ingredients around one table then a demo by our teacher 'A' on the wok. Each at our own cooking station, an intense but fun few moments over the stove followed and we were very quickly dishing up. We ate together. Math and I were both quick to volunteer for
the next part - cooking the batch of filling for all of our spring rolls (those who chose this menu which was most), side by side we stood at our stoves as 'A' delivered the instructions...Saturday morning kitchen omelette-off eat your heart out! Inside we were taught how to roll perfectly but we knew 'A' wasn't impressed when he instructed us to bring our 'ugly babies' to the cooking area. A minute or so in the bubbling oil, a dip in the sweet chilli sauce and we were muching the super fresh spring rolls. Then onto the curry paste... in small groups we made red, green and panang curry paste over 3 mamouth pestle and mortars, then a few later additions gave us 5 variations of the paste the group would use later in our curries. Again around the stoves and were instructed on the curry making, this time a lot gentler than stir fry. Math and I had both opted for a 10 chilli rating, the same as 'A' eats he said but I felt a bit nervous about this. Adding the coconut milk and curry paste first then various ingredients prepared earlier, a quick taste and i added more palm sugar for sweetness. 'A' tasted all our dishes and a subtle nod was awarded for a good curry and for Math and I a sharp "whoa!" for heat - he approved! We sat and ate again together and swapped a few spoonfuls across the table. My curry was the hottest dishes I have ever eaten, and also, trying to be modest but failing, one of the best, Math's equally hot and delicious.
Today we were off to the wat to complete our Chiang Mai experience. 'A' had told us that if you haven't been to Wat Phrathat, you havent been to Chiang Mai so we were off just out of the city. We hooked up with a Spanish couple to best negotiate a price for the trip there by songtheaw and this was time consuming but worth the haggle. We were dropped at the bottom of the (306) steps leading to the temple and followed the snakes to the top. This wat is culturally renowned for being the most prestigious religious monument in North Thailand and we could see why. Set on the peek of Doi Suthep the temple is host to many many statues, shrines & bells and depicts both the Emerald Buddha and Hindu God Genesh within the main area. The whole place is very bright to look at with many of the monuments being bronze and gold in colour or mirrored reflecting the sun in every angle. A 360 walk around the perimeter has some stunning views over the city of Chiang Mai below and other hills in the distance.
After our descent we had time for one last visit to the latest 'local' and some food from a different cafe and we said good bye to Chaing Mai.
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Janet Griffiths
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Woks and Wats
Cooking School sounds great - looking forward to a thai evening on your return.