but I’ll get to cooking eventually.
First let’s talk about the plane ride from Bali to Bangkok. Did you know that an advertised 3.5 hour flight could really be 4.5 hours with time change? Seems to me that Asia Air needs to recheck their math on that one. Second, Did you know that Asia Air doesn’t serve any meals, snacks or beverages, even water for the entire duration of the flight? Who knew?!?!
Then in addition to not serving even water except for pre-paid meals, Air Asia has this yummy looking gourmet magazine called Eatery with articles like “Tasty Sure!” and pictures of "Homemade stir-fried krapao with rice” and other recipes. I’m not hating on Air Asia completely for this minor torture, it was the cheapest direct ticket after all. We "were traveling like kings" as we snuck into the 1st class section to take over an empty row and nap. (What would you do if there was no water for 4 hours?) But enough of the hating, I’m just saying that it comes with no warning about "no food, no water" other than “you cannot bring your own food or beverages on the flight”.
So I read the copy of Eatery twice during this flight (4.5 hours to read, right?) and I was thrilled by the Foreward on page 2:
"How much do you think food plays a role in your closest memories? Close your eyes and think of the best meals your mother cooked, or that special one you shared with someone you love. Think of the food you create by yourself, from start to finish…. Every meal. Every memory. They are valuable moments you cherish for life.”
That’s kinda how I think we’re going to remember Thailand, in part, is from the food (did you read earlier about Ace's 50 cent streeet cart pad thai delight?) I’m not sure if we’ll "cherish" the memories per se, but I have to say this cooking class we took was particularly impressive and will be memorable for a long time.
First, imagine a woman wearing a lacy formal dress with a blue Ms. America/Ms. Universe-like-sash and "Miss May Kaidee” in pretty cursive across her torso instead of an apron. Now imagine the look on Ace’s face at the end of the course when she turns on some music and has us stand in a line to “shake those sexy hips” and get a little synchronized exercise to work off the frequent tastings of our mini-meals.
A priceless lifetime "Eatery” memory moment for me.
Yes, you may think it's a little kitchy at first but how can a class that involves learning a new Thai song and singing while you cook not be anything but AWESOME! Miss May Kaidee’s vegetarian and vegan thai cooking class is one of the biggest highlights of Thailand for me so far.
The recipes:
Green and Red Chili paste from scratch plus her “secret” Tom Yum Chili Paste
Tom Yam Soup
Pad Thai
Peanut Sauce
MassamanCurry
Spring Rolls (with Thai wrappers instead of the Vietnamese style rice wrappers)
Pumpkin Hummus
Green Thai Curry
Green Papaya Salad
Mango with Sticky Rice
So just how are we able to learn and cook so many recipes in only 4 hours? AND still learn the Sap Cooking Song and do a little dancing?
The genius behind the teaching:
Everything was prepared ahead of time and many of the ingredients were already measured out. She had a junior chef review the recipes and introduce us to the ingredients very quickly.
Her course website claims to “not waste time” taking people to a market or cutting ingredients themselves. She also choose recipes with ingreedients she believes we will easily be able to find at home so we can do our “homework” and practice cooking for our family and friends.
After the tutorial we made a few dishes together (there were 4 students including Ace and I). Then we were given step by step instructions to practice making our own, allowing us to take notes and ask questions and then just practice! We took several breaks to have tastings, socialize, and eat "mini-meals" of our own creations. Essentially having everything prepared ahead of time allowed us to just practice things like timing, heat variance, technique, and a little bit of measuring.
The food & kitchen:
May has her own organic garden where some of the ingredients come from. Others like the rice, come from her mother and father’s farm outside of the city. I felt like a Master Chef using her high quality equipment. individual work stations had premium gas burners and top of the line tools. I’m not sure we’ll be able to recreate these delicious lessons without a bit of a kitchen makeove, but we shall try none-the less.
But can vegetarian food be authentic without the fish sauce or chicken? May’s unique recipes were created to be vegetarian but still have that certain umami taste, with sour, sweet, and salty that are so loved by many. May calls it the 5 S’s - Salty, Sweet, Savory, Sour, and Smiles
A few new (to me) tips for Thai Cooking:
You may already know this but I was happy to learn this cooking tip. Don’t cook the lime juice! If a recipe calls for lime juice it can be added on low heat for no more than 1 minute. Anything longer than 1 minute makes the flavour too bitter. May suggests turning off the heat and adding it at the end of the recipe, or if you plan to save the leftovers, omit the lime and add it just before you reheat it.
Clearly I could talk about Thai food and this cooking class for pages and pages but I’ll end it here and upload a few photos for your enjoyment. We can’t wait to practice our new recipes and share with you guys! Missing you all a bunch!
