Now We're Cooking!

We split up today and had separate adventures for much of the day.  Mack wasn't too happy that Fi and I were headed off to cooking class this morning.  I knew she and Daddy would have fun though.

He shuttled us to our tuk tuk bright and early as class started at 9 at May Kaidee's cooking school in Chiang Mai.  We were both a little nervous about heading off into this crazy city alone but we did it.  

The class had 9 people in it.  People from UK, Reno, and Germany.  They were all super nice and were fun to chat with as we got settled in.  The class was held in her restaurant which she closed for the classes.  All the food we would prepare today was vegan which put Fiona's mind at ease.  She isn't a meat fan really, especially when she has to be around it raw. This was such a good learning and growing experience for her.  

The food was really beautiful and fresh.  It was all prepped and ready for us on the table when we arrived. We got a cookbook with all the recipes we would be making.  I must say, I am a little bit proud of what we did today.  Fiona and I made food that tasted authentic and yummy.  Most times I try to cook something different, I just can't get it right.  This was the perfect way to learn.  

The first thing we made was Tom Yam chili paste.  It was easy and delicious.  We would use it in most of our recipes today.  

Tom Yam Chili Paste

Next, Tom Yam Soup and Tom Kha Soup. These were so good!  I have never had either of them before.  I am not a very experienced Thai food eater because we aren't around it much where we live.  We were able to sit and eat each course as we made them.  I had to hold myself back from eating all of these because I really had to pace myself.  We would be cooking 9-2 and I needed to save room for all the foods.

Tom Yam and Tom Kha Soup

    

Next stop, Thai Peanut Sauce.  Now, I have tried to make this at home and have followed several recipes.  Some are okay.  I liked this one a lot.  Especially because we made the chili paste that went into it also!

 Now, I bet you can guess what we made once our peanut sauce was ready.  Yes, Pad Thai.  Mmmm.  In 5 minutes I had a plate of Pad Thai that tasted like I bought it.  Fi and I were pretty stoked.

Pad Thai

Next stop, curry.  We made two curries today.  We started with Massaman curry which wasn't very spicy because we used our chili paste to make it.  This one was totally delicious and I am not a curry lover.  The next one, Green Thai Curry was even better!  The only part of this dish that confused me a bit was that the green chili paste was already made for us and I can't remember what went into it.  I'll have to see if Fi took good notes in her cookbook! 

Green Thai Curry  and Massaman Curry

Pumpkin hummus came next.  I have never even heard of this!  We used the kabocha pumpkin which is easy to buy.  I love that we made most of our pastes and this dish in a big mortar.  It was so great for Fiona to experience this type of traditional cooking.  She is used to the Vitamix!  

Pumpkin hummus served with rice crackers and cucumber.

We didn't eat the hummus right away.  We set it aside and made our spring rolls next.  This is something I have wanted to perfect and just never do. She gave us paper-thin wheat wrappers instead of the rice wrappers I have seen before.  We filled them with veggies we prepared on our own and drizzled our peanut sauce on them.  She recommended slicing them like sushi for serving but the dull knife just kinda messed mine up a bit.  No matter...they were still yummy!  Fiona couldn't get enough of the spring rolls she made.  She said she wishes she had ranch dressing for hers. 

Spring Rolls

Green Papaya Salad

By this point in my story, you must be wondering how we cooked and ate all this food in one day.  It was a ton of food.  I mentioned before that we paced ourselves and didn't really finish everything.  We brought some of it home.  Don't think we are done though.  We stopped to take a little singing break.  She taught us all a song called, Sap Cooking Song.  We sang for a bit and got ourselves ready to make my favorite one of the day.  Green Papaya Salad.  Oh my word this was tasty.  Yes, this was the first time I have ever had papaya salad.  It was also the first time I have ever sliced and seeded a Serrano chili.  My tummy can't handle spicy food so I avoid it.  I was open to a little spice today but we kept it really mellow.  This salad was made in the mortar again and was so simple to make and yet so complex in flavor.  Once this was ready, we ate the pumpkin hummus, spring rolls, and papaya salad all together.  Let's just say that this salad did not go to waste. 

 The final thing on our menu today was Mango with Sticky Rice.  This is the first time I have had this too.  So good.  
The rice we used was soaked and steamed in tea before we came and it had a lovely periwinkle color to it.  This one was a little tricky to get the rice to cook in the coconut milk just right so it didn't get mushy.  We did pretty good.  It was so tasty.  We (I) at pretty much all of this one.  Barely any room left in my belly at this point.  

Our day ended with some Thai dancing.  Fi and I were a little self-conscious about standing with these strangers and dancing, but we did it and had a great time.  It was a nice ending to a really fun day of cooking.  Fiona was brave today and I am proud of her for being a good sport and trying many new foods.  She found out that she isn't a curry fan.  She also found out that sauces and flavors make vegetables not so bad.  That is one thing I love about our traveling.  It's an education in many ways for the girls.  Today she learned to trust food a little more.  That made me happy.  

You're probably wondering where Mack and Daddy were while we were cooking?  Well, there is no photographic evidence but they were at the fancy hotel down the street enjoying the swimming pool.  He tried to just blend in and swim but they ended up paying the daily fee to swim.  Mack was waterlogged and happy when we returned.  Thanks Daddy for letting Fiona and I have our adventure today!

Tomorrow morn, the Godsill crew says goodbye to Chiang Mai.  We are off to Phuket.  See you soon!