Cooking Class in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The cooking class that Josie and I took in Chiang Mai was one of the highlights of our trip. It was really well organized and informational; before we started cooking we went to the market and shopped for our ingredients, learning all about traditional Thai spices and products. This is me shopping at the market:
In the beginning of the class they served us a tasting of tropical fruits: Rambutan, Dragon Fruit, Lychee, Mangosteen, Sugar Cane, and some other random things; mangosteens (the ones in the middle) are my favorite; the corn jelly not so much...

And then we got cookin'. Most of the dishes we made were remarkably easy--mainly based around the concept of throwing ingredients in the wok/pot/pan at different intervals and creating a balance of flavors based on your personal preference. This one was probably the easiest, and most closely resembled a stir-fry I would do with random stuff I have in the fridge at home. The only thing that makes this different is the Thai ingredients. Luckily, in Los Angeles or New York it's really easy to find curry powder/chili paste/fish sauce or other things of the like. The fish sauce is key; almost every dish in Asia incorporates fish sauce in some way, and it really becomes the essence of Oriental food--if you use, like I've done many times, soy sauce in your stir fry and wonder what's missing, it's most likely the fish sauce. (though if you must, soy is a good vegetarian alternative to fish sauce)

These are the dishes I made:

Stir Fried Prawn with Curry Powder100 g prawn
1 tbsp spring onion
1 tbsp Chinese celery
2 tbsp onion
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp soy oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp roasted chili paste

Put the oil in the wok; when the oil is hot, add the garlic and pepper and stir until fragrant
Add prawns, curry powder and chili paste and stir
Add fish sauce and sugar
Add spring onion and chinese celery
Cook to taste, alter with more of certain ingredients if you desire--too fishy, add more sugar or vice versa

Chicken in Coconut Milk 75 g chicken
30 g straw or oyster mushroom
2 cups coconut milk
3 fresh chillies
1/2 onion, quartered
1 tomato, quartered
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 lemongrass, sliced diagonally
2 slices galangal (ginger)
3 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 finely sliced coriander (or cilantro, to taste)
1 finely sliced spring onion

Heat the coconut milk in a pot over a low flame
Put the lemongrass, Siamese ginger (galangal) and kaffir lime leave in the pot (in Thailand, this combination is what's called a "soup packet" and they sell it in bunches together at the market for this purpose)
Add the chicken and wait until it is cooked (which happens pretty fast)
Add the onion, tomato, and mushroom
Add fish sauce, sugar and lime juice according to taste
Serve in a bowl and top with chopped coriander/cilantro, spring onion and chillies (open up the chillies if you like it really spicy)

Our teacher told us to add however many chillies we wanted depending on our spice tolerance; with the smallest, hottest chillies some people could only take 1 or two. I put in three. She told us when she cooks at home, she adds fifteen (15!!)

This was my favorite dish; I plan to cook it all winter long when I seem to routinely enter my soup phase. The flavors of the spices are really bold but not overbearing, and the coconut milk absorbs them really well.

Panaeng Curry with Pork75 g pork, cut 1/2 cm thick
1 tbsp red curry paste (I have a recipe for this paste, ask me if you want it)
1 cup coconut milk
3 kaffir lime leaves, stem torn off
1 tbsp ground roasted peanut
25 g pea eggplant
1 tbsp palm sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp mixed spices powder (Pha-Naeng Powder; see below)
2 sliced red chilli
2 tbsp oil

spice powder:
1/6 tsp cumin
1/6 tsp cardamon
1/6 tsp coriander seed
1/6 tsp clove
1/6 tsp nutmeg
1/6 tsp black pepper
mix together

Heat the wok and pour pour oil into the wok over low heat
Put in the red curry paste and Pha-Naeng powder and stir continuously until fragrant and oil surfaces
Add pork, 1/4 cup of coconut milk and stir until cooked
Add the remaining coconut milk and pea eggplant
Add fish sauce, palm sugar and ground roasted peanut, stir continuously until coconut milk becomes thick and the pork is tender
Pour into the dish, topping with kaffir lime leaves, red chilli and serve with rice

Spring Roll
Filling:100 g glass noodle
100 g bean sprout
50 g minced pork
4 Chinese chives
1 tbsp garlic
4 tbsp oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1.2 cup water

Put the oil in the wok, fry garlic until golden and pungent
Add minced pork, fry until pork is almost cooked
Add fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar
Add glass noodles, bean sprout and spring onion
Stir until the fresh vegetables are cooked, set aside to cool

Prep:
10 spring roll wrappers
1 beaten egg

Place a tablespoonful of filling on a spring roll wrapper
Fold sheet over filling, away from you, until rounded tip is at the middle; fold in the sides and continue rolling away, sealing the sheet closed with the egge
Deep fry in plenty of oil until golden
Serve with a sweet chilli sauce (store bought or ask me for a recipe)

These were really easy and you can make any variation on the filling that you want--veggie only or a different meat etc. Although it's a little bit of work if you're only cooking for yourself; save this one for a bigger group and you can probably make a lot cheaply and everyone will be pretty impressed that you rolled them yourself.

All in all this was really fun and informative. I wish cooking classes were as cheap as they were in Thailand in NYC. For now I will just have to practice in my tiny dorm kitchen...

Welcome Back to California

I'm back in America.....well, I have been for a little bit, but I've had a hard time convincing myself to do anything other than lie and swim and catch up on tv shows, relishing my last few days of summer. That and technology has become a bitch lately, as iPhoto decided it would not cooperate with the hundreds of photos I needed to upload.

Anyways, I spent a few days lounging around my house recovering from jetlag, but my real homecoming came when I went to visit my friend Lara in Newport Beach. She took me to this great new fish joint, Bear Flag Fish Company. Lara just returned from a semester stint in Berlin, so her need for some good SoCal coastal seafare was just as strong as my need for tacos (what else). The result? Fish Tacos, of course. Mmmm these tacos were good. A mild white fish crisp on the outside but moist and flaky on the inside, topped with purple cabbage slaw, salsa fresca, pink sauce, and gotta have that avocado. Nothing makes a fish taco like avocado. One of the best things about the taco was the tortilla--while it technically a soft taco, the tortillas were more than warm. They were cooked a little bit overtime, probably in the slightest amount of oil, so they were slightly crisp. This added a nice texture to the taco as well as providing more support for the overflowing contents inside of it. It was a great touch.

We also split a seared ahi tuna sandwich. Oh man this was good too. The baguette was really nice and fresh--the perfect combination of crispy softness that a baguette should have--and garnished with lettuce, tomatoes, and this nice green and red onion mayo spread that went really well with the ahi. I salted it a little bit, but all in all it was great, fresh flavor (...and who am I kidding, I salt almost everything).

If you're in Newport for a beach day, definitely stop at Bear Flag for lunch. Their fish is top quality, and they have a great variety, from tacos to sandwiches to crab cakes to lobster. Yum.

Bear Flag Fish Co.
407 31st Street
Newport Beach, CA 92663


Nosher


Sorry for the delay...but in the next few days I'll be posting a full account of my Southeast Asian gastronomic adventures. Keep a lookout!