Thai Cooking School

I attended a cooking school about 30 minutes from my cottage today. However, prior to arriving, one of the teachers and I went to a local market to buy the ingredients. Similar to large local markets in Korea, this market had everything from seasonings, pastes, vegetables, dairy, meat, fish, pre-cooked food, and desserts to clothing items. It ws nice to walk around and see the various ingredients Thai markets sell and what food items are popular here.

The school was next to my teacher's house. The kitchen was an open pavilion with a demonstration stove and counter at the front, seats in the middle, and cooking stations on either side. The workers would prep our stations while we would watch each demonstration. We made many dishes:

Dtom Yum Goong: Swwet & Sour Prawn with Lemongrass soup
Ingredients: Shrimp, garlic, shallots, galangals, lime leaves, lemongrass, mushrooms, tomato, coriander leaves

Por Pia Towd: Deep fried spring roll
Ingredients: Spring roll wrappers, oil, egg, garlic, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and glass noodles

Gaeng Kheo Waan Gai: Thai Green Curry with Chicken
Ingredients: Chicken, coconut milk, coconut cream, green curry paste, lime leaves, basil leaves, red chili, eggplant (Thai and pea), palm sugar, fish sauce

Som Tam Malagor: Green Papaya Salad
Ingredients: Green papaya, garlic, chilies, green beans, tomatoes, dried shrimp, other desired vegetables, fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar, roasted peanuts

Khao Neow Mmuang: Sweet Sticky Rice with Ripe Mango
Ingredients: Sticky rice, white sugar, coconut milk, salt, rice flour, roasted sesame seeds, mango

Nam Prik Gaeng Kheo Waan: Green Curry Paste
Ingredients: Coriander seeds, cumin seeds, white peppercorns, salt, green chilies, Chinese Key, galangal, turmeric, lime zest, lemongrass, coriander, garlic, shrimp paste, shallots

All the seasons were pounded together using a morter and pestal (or however you spell that). We would sit down in front of the demonstration area to watch, then cook, then go to a nearby picnic area to eat, and repeat the process over again. Oh, and there were some random buffalo around, so I went to feed them some banana, but they just slowly walked away.

After class, Nong picked me up at a random street corner that a transport van dropped me off at. This was semi-disconcerning because I didn't have Nong's contact info or speak Thai in the event that she didn't show up. Eh, well! She took me to see silk being made and walk around the downtown "handicraft" area, where all goods were locally made and super-cheap! I bought a large bag to carry my winter stuff in while traveling and something nice to give the Day's when I get to Nepal. At "home," Nong's cook made me dinner (jasmine rice, stir-fried veggies, and tofu).