, Keri Matwick , Comments Off on Thai Cooking Class in Phuket, Thailand
Salty, spicy, sour, sweet. These are the four essential flavors of Thai cuisine, I was told at Blue Elephant Restaurant and Cooking School in Phuket, Thailand. During a 4-hour class, I chopped, smelled, smashed, sauteed, and tasted my way to learning the ingredients and key flavors of Thai food. Lemongrass, galangal, ginger, Thai basil, coriander, shallots, red chilis, garlic, and kaffir lime provided much of the base flavors for the 4 dishes we made: red curry with beef and pumpkin (kaeng phed nua fak thong), green papaya salad (som tam), stir-fried Thai rice noodles with prawns (phad thai koong sod), sour & spicy prawn soup (tom yam koong).
Blue Elephant Restaurant and Cooking Class, beautiful Peranakan mansion in Old Phuket Town
Demo kitchen where Chef Molly would demonstrate one dish at a time, answering our questions along the way.
Chef Molly starts with making the red curry paste, the base for the rest of the dishes!
Ingredients for the red chili paste and also the first dish, Red Curry with Beef and Eggplant: tamarind paste, fish sauce, shallots, garlic, galangal, red chili, kaffir lime leaf, salt, cumin, coriander, coconut sugar, oil, soy sauce… hope I didn’t forget anything!
Grinding up the ingredients for the red curry paste. Mash, mash!
Comparing two red curries, from the jar and made by hand! Doing it by hand, we couldn’t get the smoothness as a store-bought paste but the flavors were so fragrant and fresh!
Now, it’s our turn to cook! Class kitchen studio in the building over with individual stoves. Took a class with an Israeli father and son. Like our Blue Elephant aprons?
My turn to make red curry with beef and eggplant. So nice having all the ingredients and equipment ready!
Dish 1: Red curry with beef and eggplant. Yum!
On to Dish 2: Tom Yam Koong, or Sour & Spicy Prawn Soup
Made it! Dish 2: Sour & Spicy Prawn Soup, my favorite!! The tiger prawns were sooo good! The broth started out with a chicken stock to which we added smashed coriander root, galangal, kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass. Adjusting it for my flavors, I decreased the chilis, which made it just right.
Having a great time cooking! Note the al fresco kitchen in tropical Phuket.
On to Dish 3: Green Papaya Salad. Chef Molly shows us how to make the shreds with a julienne peeler.
Dish 3: Green Papaya Salad- fresh, crunchy, refreshing
Dish 4: Pad Thai, but of course! Prawns, 1 egg, rice noodles, oil, garlic, shallot, tofu, ground roasted peanuts, dried shrimp powder, spring onion, bean sprouts; and for the seasoning: sugar, fish sauce, rice vinegar, tamarind juice, lime juice, and chili powder.
Made it! Dish 4: Pad Thai
The four dishes we made during class. Time to eat!
Served in the elegant dining room with jasmine rice and black rice
Terrific experience! Small class, great instructors, high quality ingredients, clean, lots of hands-on practice!
Even a certificate!Sour & Spicy Prawn SoupRed Curry with Beef & PumpkinPad Thai with PrawnsGreen Papaya SaladThai Ingredients
