Learning to Make Thai Food in Chiang Mai

Mr. Selfish and I have attempted to make pad thai on a few occasions. Each time, we failed miserably. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the recipes we had used may have included ketchup. As a result, I knew that we would take a cooking class in Thailand and learn the proper way to make pad thai.

Since we had a week in Chiang Mai, we decided to take the cooking class there. Chiang Mai has so many cooking schools available that it is a bit daunting to choose a class. I ended up choosing Oriental Cuisine Thai Cooking School, because we had the option to make pad thai, as well as a curry paste.

We took a quick trip to the market to buy the ingredients and then headed to the chef’s home to start cooking. Our chef was knowledgeable and funny. She also took a shining to Mr. Selfish after he said that he liked spicy food. Of course, his food was crazy spicy by the end of the day.

Mr. Selfish and I made pad thai and pad si eew, which is made with soy sauce and broad rice noodles. The pad thai was surprisingly simple and did not include any ketchup. My parents have already demanded that we make pad thai for them when we return to the States.

The most interesting thing that we learned to cook was the curry paste. Mr. Selfish and I had never made curry paste from scratch before. Suffice it to say, it requires a lot of fresh ingredients and a great deal of exertion with the mortar and pestle. Mr. Selfish made massaman curry, and I made panang curry. Both were delicious, but Mr. Selfish’s massaman was very spicy!

We also made tom yum soup with shrimp, fried spring rolls, fish cakes, and prawns with curry powder.

It was all delicious. I was having such a good time that I failed to take that many photos of us cooking or eating. I highly recommend Oriental Cuisine Thai Cooking School if you want to learn to make Thai cuisine.