Chiang Mai Cooking Class at Sammy’s Organic Thai

Thai cooking lesson at Sammy's Organic Thai Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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One of the things I really wanted to do on my travels was take cooking classes around the world. I love to cook and, at home, am always whipping up something or another for dinner. So the thought of learning to cook the specialty dishes of a country while actually in that country really appealed to me. Determined to make good on my goal, I looked into taking a Chiang Mai cooking class as soon as I arrived back in Thailand. Because Thai food is pretty much my favorite food ever. I can eat noodles all day, every day.

I chose to book Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School because the woman at my guesthouse recommended it and it was a) cheaper than a lot of the other offerings b) was hands-on with a variety of menu choices and c) held out on an organic farm so I’d get to see a little bit outside of the city. I was sold.

The day of my Thai cooking class started out with a little market tour where we saw how coconut milk was made and learned the difference between varieties of rice.

And then we headed off, about half an hour outside of the city, to the little farm cooking school where the class would be held.

There were six of us in the class: a couple from Washington state, two French guys, and a girl from Germany. It was about half the size of a full-capacity class and that made it nice. Just enough people to engage with but just few enough to make it more intimate and hands on. We all sat around the table and learned about and smelled and tasted some of the different ingredients, staples, that we’d be cooking with.

And then the cooking began!

We got to choose what we would be making from lists in five categories: curry, soup, main, appetizer, and dessert. I chose to make green curry, Tom Yum Goong, Phad Thai, Chicken In Pandanus Leaves, and pumpkin custard. Here’s a look at all the yummy food!

What I cooked at my Chiang Mai Thai cooking class:

 

Green Curry with Chicken

(Gaeng Kiew Waan Gai)

A green curry with chicken and eggplants that combined a homemade paste of chillies, lemongrass, shallow, garlic, kaffir lime, coriander, cumin and other spices for creamy bowl that combined spicy and sweet.

 

Hot and Sour Prawn Soup

(Tom Yum Goong)

A spicy and sour shrimp soup with strong flavors of lemongrass, galangal (a spice similar to ginger), chillies, and lime.

 

Thai Fried Noodles

(Phad Thai)

A popular street food in Thailand, the phad thai recipe mixed rice noodles and tofu in a tamarind-based sauce.

 

Chicken In Pandanus Leaves

(Gai Hor Bai Toey)

Small chunks of sesame and soy marinated chicken were carefully wrapped in pandanus leaves, deep fried, and served with a sweet chili sauce for dipping.

 

Pumpkin Custard

(Sung Khaya Fak Thong)

A dessert of sweet custards combining egg, coconut milk, and palm sugar steamed with pieces of pumpkin.

 

And then we ate!

 

Everything we made at this organic Thai cooking school was amazingly delicious! One of my favorite dishes was the green curry. It’s amazing how actually simple it was to make (well, besides all the grinding my weak little arm had to do to make the curry paste.) And the Phad Thai was so good and it will be nice to make it every so often instead of always ordering it from down the block at home. The Chicken In Pandanus Leaves were tasty little bits of chicken, but I think a lot of work for such small little bites!

My day learning to cook Thai food at Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School really was a fun, and different, way to spend my day in Chiang Mai and I can’t wait to cook some of these recipes again for everyone when I get home!

Whenever that will be…

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Want to learn to cook Thai food in Chiang Mai, Thailand? Check out Sammy’s Organic Thai Cooking School (65 Moonmuang Rd., Chiang Mai, Thailand).

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