When I visited Bangkok back in 2013, @eoj took me on a cooking class date which I really enjoyed. It was fun and I learned to make my favorite Thai dishes, pad thai and som tam (papaya salad).
Now that I'm living in Bangkok, this is one of the activities that we highly recommend for friends visiting the city.
There are a lot of cooking classes in Bangkok, and prices range depending on the experience you are looking for. I've been to many different schools as whenever friends are around I tend to go with them to take these classes myself. So far, I found one that I can recommend above the rest: Amita Thai Cooking Class. Continue reading and you'll see why I love this particular Thai cooking class so much!
The Amita staff picked us up right at our doorstep around 9:00 am in a van and dropped us off at Lek Silom Pier. From the pier, we rode a boat that took us to the river and into the khlongs that wind through Bangkok (khlongs are "canals"in Thai). So you get to see the khlong life before reaching her place, a nice way to begin the day. Amita's place is just near a khlong, in a house with a big garden. We were warmly welcomed by the staff who handed us a basket as we were ushered into the garden where our instructor, Khun Tam was waiting. In the garden Khun Tam familiarized us with different Thai herbs and vegetables. We got to smell, touch, and sample some of the produce while she explained to us what dishes use each different ingredient. All herbs and vegetables were organically grown.
After the garden tour, we were ushered into the cooking hall where we had our cooking lesson.
We were individually given our own cooking table. By the time we got to our table the ingredients were already chopped and prepared.
Khun Tam's cooking table was located in the front center of the hall where everyone can watch her and she uses a microphone so everybody can hear her clearly. In this photo, she was demonstrating to us how to cook one of my favorite Thai desserts, mango sticky rice.
There's also a big mirror above her where you can have the bird's eye view of the dishes while they're being prepared.
Frying some chili which was used for our chicken cashew nut dish.
Me and some American friends cooking pad thai.
After we cooked and plated our yummy dishes, we moved into the gazebo in the center of the garden.
The food we cooked was waiting for us there. The timing was perfect because - it was lunch time!
We sat down and enjoyed the meal, the company, and the ambiance. Since we cooked four types of dishes, we couldn't consume it all at once, so the staff prepared and packed the leftovers and handed it to us as we climbed into the van that took us home. We went home with some wonderful experience and a full happy belly. Plus leftovers for the next day!
To learn more about Amita Thai Cooking School, check out their website:
http://www.amitathaicooking.com/
If you have any questions regarding this Thai cooking class, please feel free to ask me and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have!
If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my recent wrap up of a two week adventure camping in Western Australia with a toddler