Cooking Class Experience 2

In this week’s vegetarian column, we will take a closer look at the cooking class experience.

Cooking Class Experience 2> View Gallery

by Julia Chinnock

I had the opportunity to participate in two courses, one at May Kaidee’s and the other at Blue Elephant . Here I will acquaint you with what you can look forward to when signing up for these cooking schools.

May Kaidee’s half-day class offers students a crash-course in Thai vegetarian “home cooking,” while Blue Elephant ’s day-long vegetarian course gives participants the opportunity to hone their proficiency in recreating Royal Thai Cuisine at home.

At both schools, the classes typically begin with a trip to a local fresh market, where the instructors guide the class in selecting the freshest herbs, most perfectly ripened vegetables, and lead participants through buying the essentials, like curry pastes, mushroom sauce (a perfect substitute for the ubiquitous Thai fish sauce) and soya protein (TVP). Upon returning from the market, both schools provide recipe books that are used during the class and students can take home with them and refer back to them when they are in their own kitchens.

At Blue Elephant , students get a crash course in theory before they begin, after which the instructor presents a cookery demonstration of the dishes that the students will get to prepare. Each of the instructors at Blue Elephant is a professionally trained chef and students work in a fully equipped kitchen, with state of the art tools and utensils. Each participant is given individual attention by the instructor, as they learn and experience the culinary techniques of Thai cuisine.

Students are taught how to make all of the curry pastes from scratch, which is especially important for vegetarians, since the curry pastes available in the markets or at stores contain shrimp paste. My instructor, owner and master chef, Madame Nooror explained that curry paste can be stored for quite a while, especially if citric powder is added and it is stored in the refrigerator.

Madame Nooror shared some of her wisdom and tips with me. For example, she suggests that soybean, sunflower or rice flower be used in Thai cooking. She added that when cooking with eggplant, it is best to add salt or lime to the eggplant to preserve its color and prevent it from turning brown. When making curry, one way to make it especially beautiful and visually appealing is to add cumin powder and basil.

And, what if a dish accidentally comes out too spicy to eat? Just add some coconut milk, which will cut the kick. When cooking with herbs, it is best to rip them, rather than cut them as this preserves their pungency.

At May Kaidee’s, the recipes are simple (and, I must add, amazingly delicious!) with the most complicated recipe involving just five steps. The ingredients we’d be using in the recipes were already chopped, cut, soaked, and peeled, so the most time consuming work was already done for us. As students, we got to dive into the fun stuff like mixing, frying and boiling.

Here, cooking is more of an art than a science in the sense that there are no measuring cups or spoons and things are deemed ready to eat, not by looking at a clock, but when they “smell good.” Students, who work together in small groups are encouraged to taste, then add a little more of this…..taste, add a little more of that…taste, until it’s just right- and that’s when you know it’s done.

At both schools, the class concludes with a big feast during which students get to eat and enjoy their creations. At Blue Elephant , students taste and enjoy their own culinary creation in an elegant Thai setting, eating in the main restaurant area. At May Kaidee’s, the meal is quite casual and during my class, May cranked some Isaan music and we had a spontaneous dance party during our meal.

For more information about the price of the classes, menus, and schedule, please see last week’s Vegetarian Column.

As an added bonus, I am including here a recipe for vegetarian Green Thai Curry that we prepared during our class at May Kaidee’s. Gin hai aroy!

STEP 1

In the wok put:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon green chili paste

STEP 2

Add:

• 1 kaffir lime leaf crushed
• 1 slice of galangal crushed
• 1 inch of cut lemon grass
• 1 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 handful of vegetables (i.e.: eggplant, green bean, squash, carrot, onion)
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk

Cook until texture is thick

STEP 3

Add:

• 6 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon mixed light and dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Cook for roughly 3 minutes

STEP 4

Add:

• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• Chopped mint or Thai basil (3 or 4 leaves)

Before serving, add 1 tablespoon of coconut milk

Cooking Class Experience 2> View Gallery