Cooking Class in Bangkok

This was the best day of my entire trip! I took a cooking class at Chef Leez cooking school. It was way more educational than I expected. Luckily, I was the only student of the day, so I got all the attention! Like yesterday, it started with a market tour. The market was located in a literally hidden place. We went through a small and dark alley and there it was. I wouldn't go in there unless the instructor is with me..

As soon as we got back to the school,  we started to work on one of the many dishes that I was going to make today. I explained to the instructor that I wanted to learn authentic dishes and that I love spicy foods, so I didn't want her to tone down the heat. Did she give me what I asked for? Let's see...

Fresh Kefir lime, I had never seen it. It smelled fantastic! I don't think I can get this in where I am in the US...

We made coconut cream/milk from fresh shredded coconut. I didn't know we could make coconut milk by hand.... This was a great opportunity for me!! The whole coconut, including the brown skin, was shredded (she said the skin has more fat), then poured warm water on it and squeezed the liquid out - that's coconut cream. Then, we added more warm water and squeezed again. That's coconut milk. I thought coconut cream is reduced coconut milk. But the difference is like extra virgin olive oil and second squeezed olive oil. The instructor said the fresh coconut cream/oil tastes so different because there is nothing added, such as preservatives or stabilizers. Also, because it's not heat treated for a long time (like a canning process). I'll explain how different later in this post.

Coconut sugar is added to the fresh coconut cream for later use. I had never seen coconut sugar in this color. It's not widely available in the US, and it's usually dark brown. The sweetness is much more subtle than the cane/beet sugar that we normally use.   

We made base chili paste (chili, garlic and shallot). To taste the paste, she made a chili paste sandwich. That was really delicious!

We made two kinds of Tom Yam Kung, clear and creamy. This explains why the tom yam kung that I had last night at the restaurant was somewhat creamy. I didn't know there were two versions of tom yam, I thought that tom yam is always clear. However, I think I'll make the creamy version from now on because it was just AMAZING!!! I have to say this is one of the best dishes I've ever had!!! They were both quite spicy and very delicious. But the flavor of the creamy tom yam was beyond words. The chili paste and coconut cream I made earlier and shrimp oil (which is made with shrimp head guts) made this something extraordinary.

Tom Kha Gai

Another amazing dish is this Pad Thai. This is definitely the best Pad Thai I've ever had. Many Asian dishes use MSG to boost up the umami. But I know how difficult it is to achieve the same level of umami without using MSG. But the instructor did it with an incredible amount of flavorful ingredients, such as aromatics, shrimp oil, etc. It's supposed to be a noodle dish. But her version had a very small amount of noodles. And this is not the westernized "ketchuppy" Pad Thai!

[Added in Apr 2020 - Pad Thai cooking video with my own personal twists]

Pad Kra-Pao Gai (Chicken with basil)

Ma-sa-man Curry topped with coconut cream

Green curry with chicken topped with coconut cream; she didn't disappoint me on the spiciness. I was sweating like crazy...

I just told the instructor that I had an amazing pomelo salad last night. Upon hearing this, she just decided to make pomelo salad, which was not included in the class, just for me. So nice of her! There was no pork but it was as good as the one I had last night. I have to make this again once I get back to the US!

Som Tom (Green papaya salad), it was pretty spicy again

This is the typical Thai dessert, mango and coconut sticky rice. But I've never been crazy about it, until now... I thought the coconut sauce was weirdly salty and I always wanted to eat the mango and rice separately. But when the coconut sauce is made with the fresh coconut cream, the difference is night and day. The instructor tossed the sticky rice with the coconut sauce, which has the right amount of salt. Now, it totally makes sense to eat the rice and mango together.

In total, I made 9 dishes in one class. I think the actual cooking time was 2.5 hours or so.. I can't believe it. I've never learned this much in such a short amount of time. I would say this is the best cooking class I've ever attended!

I'm leaving Bangkok tonight heading to Tokyo on the red-eye flight.