Bangkok is an amazing city with crazy traffic, chilled-out people, superb massages, and vibrant markets selling absolutely everything from second hand Levi jeans to one of a kind designer furniture. For me, the most exciting element of a visit to Bangkok is the prospect of eating amazing food- the fresh, zingy, spicy, sour and sweet flavours are unsurpassed. Taking a Thai cooking class whilst in Bangkok is a great way to get a real taste of the culture. Food is central to the Thai lifestyle, and the local people are justifiably proud of their cuisine. So, whilst in Bangkok, I decided to try my hand at Thai cooking, in an attempt to unlock the secrets of my favourite dishes.

There are many hotels and cooking schools offering classes in Bangkok, but I decided on Baipai cooking school, rather than a large restaurant chain or flash hotel. I was picked up from my hotel and taken to a beautiful Thai house, set up with a professional outdoor kitchen. Our group consisted of a Dutch couple, an American woman, a Chinese girl, and me. We were welcomed with silver cups of sweet lemongrass tea to aid digestion, in preparation for an afternoon of cooking and feasting!

It was a beautiful day in Bangkok, a generic 30 degrees Celsius which was cooled with a light breeze. Perfect conditions for cooking up a Thai banquet fit for the King (quite literally!). Kitted up in our aprons, we began with the first demonstration of Khao Tang Nah Tang, a culinary delight historically reserved for the taste buds of the King of Thailand. Luckily for us, everyone is now given the opportunity to enjoy this delicious starter of crispy rice crackers topped with a delicious coconut, prawn and pork mixture, garnished with coriander and red chilli. We made our own creations at individual cooking stations, and devoured them shortly after!

The afternoon continued in the same pattern- we would watch a demonstration by Chef Nam, explained in detail by her assistant, then try out our new skills under her watchful eye. Next we made Yam Som-O, a delicious sweet and sour salad made with Pomelo, which is similar to sweet grapefruit. I was surprised at the perfectly balanced flavour we created using coconut flakes, ground dried shrimp, ground peanuts, chilli powder, lime juice and sugar. It immediately became one of my new favourite dishes.

Nam then showed us how to make a Massaman curry paste from scratch by pounding red chilli, coriander root, lemongrass, galangal, shallot, garlic and spices in a mortar and pestle. She made it look so easy, that I vowed never to use ‘out of the jar’ curry paste again! We then transformed it into sweet, creamy, coconut infused curry. The most valuable lesson for me was breaking the process down into simple steps and learning which order to carry them out. I already had a basic understanding of Thai cooking, but had never assembled the flavours in the right way before.

Then it was on to the final dish, and a favourite Thai ‘fast food’ meal- stir fried chicken with holy basil (Pad Ka-Prao Gai). This dish was so quick and easy to prepare- the combination of Thai basil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, chilli and garlic definitely proved to be ‘party in the mouth’ material!
Although most of the ingredients were carefully prepared and measured out and for us, leaving little room for error, I had never enjoyed my own cooking so much before. The fresh ingredients and expert advice resulted in a restaurant-grade Thai feast. If only cooking at home was like that!

Washing down our Thai banquet with an ice cold Singha beer made me wonder- if ordinary Thai people eat like this every day, then a banquet fit for the King must be something truly spectacular.