Day 225 – Pai, Thailand

September 19^th, 2019

Today we signed up for a cooking class with two of our slow boat friends.  I have been wanting to do a cooking class since we started in Asia but it is so strange because it is like the only activity that isn’t priced proportionately here.  Everything is pretty cheap in Asia but for some reason the cooking classes will still range from $60-$80!  But we found one in Pai that was a half day for only $23.  It was five hours, and you start by going to the local market to get your ingredients.  It was so much fun!  Thailand is also ‘hands down’ the best food we have had on our trip, so we thought this was the place to do a cooking class if we are going to do one.  I am so glad we did!  The lady who does it was very sweet, super knowledgeable, and an amazing cook! 

We went to her shop at 9:30am where we had coffee and fried bananas.  She then took us to the market and went into detail about many traditional Thai ingredients. 

Once we got back, we started our first dish.  I chose to cook pad Thai, and Brendan, cashew nut chicken.  They both were delicious and that was the first course we sat down together to eat. 

Throughout the class we made desert of mango sticky rice, appetizer of spring rolls, green curry and yellow curry, sweet and sour stir fry, and a chicken coconut soup.  It seriously was all so delicious! 

We also got fresh fruit smoothies and by 2:30pm, we were so stuffed we could barely walk home.  I think the favorite thing that we made was the curry dishes, but they were also the most complicated.  When we first started making it, I thought to myself there is no way I can make this at home because it requires so many ingredients and a lot of work.  But once I tasted it, in the end I knew I definitely have to try to recreate it at home for people.  I am hoping I can find all the ingredients, and cannot wait to host a Thai themed dinner party (once I get a job and a house…).

I thoroughly enjoyed the class and all the food.  The woman who teaches that class was the first one to start a cooking class in Pai, and has been doing it for 17 years.  She was really great and we got a cookbook in the end to go home with.  After the class we all needed to go back to our rooms and rest from being in a food coma.  Brendan and I didn’t go back out until dinner time, but we were still full and actually skipped dinner.  We walked around and met up with our slow boat friends who now are all here. We were back to our original group of six plus some extras we met along the way.  We went out to a bar in some rice fields and spent the evening there ending with their fire dancing show. 

Another really fun day with great food and good company!