Oozing Taste Buds...

Since 2014 or so I started to acquire the taste for hot and spicy, so much so that I literally couldn`t eat anything without Tabasco...which slowly but surely changed to chilli in 2015. So you can imagine how excited I was to explore all the different Thai dishes and the heat it comes with. In Chiang Mai I decided to spend half a day doing a Thai cooking course (asiascenic.com), which had been recommended by many travellers and of course Lonely Planet.

It started off with 12 of us meeting and getting a brief on how the day would run on their premises, which included different kitchen areas for the groups. Each of us then decided on which appetizer, curry, curry paste and dessert to make...can you imagine the diversity between the taste buds of 12 people all being taught, syncronised and dishes executed within a few hours. I was slightly concerned to say the least...but be that as it may I chose a chicken and cashew nut stir fry, mango and sticky rice dessert and panang curry / paste (red curry paste with peanuts and a few other lovely ingredients). My taste buds were oozing with enthusiasm!

We then headed off to the local market to learn about different herbs, rice grains, paste ingredients and so on. The variety of colours and food options available were absolutely beautiful. There was everything from fruit / vegetables to spices to meat and things I had never imagined existed all neatly arranged at each vendor, which covered quite a large area. It was such a pleasant atmosphere and I just stood for a moment watching the vendors organise their stations and captured the energy that surrounded each and every one of them. I was in bliss.

We soon made way once the chef had gathered everything we needed back to Asia Scenics herb garden, where we further learnt about other ingredients including tamarin, ginger, gingseng, lemon grass etc. and gathered a few for the dishes. Over the next few hours we learnt  how to prepare our dishes like Jamies 15 minute recipe style.

For the food lovers out there, especially my darling sister, here are the recipes of the dishes tried and tested!

1. Chicken and cashew but stir fry: Fry cashew nuts and dried chilli (remove from heat) Fry chicken and garlic. Add vegetables like baby corn, mushrooms and onion. Add sugar, fish and oyster sauce on high heat for a minute. Then add spring onion, chilli and cashew nut without heat.
2. Panang paste: blend the following the western way - we used a mortar which is a traditional way of preparing ingredients here - gingseng, lemongrass, lime rind, galangal, tumeric, coriander seed, garlic, shallot, red chilli and peanuts. Boil coconut milk over low heat and add curry paste for a minute. Cook chicken and then add coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add sugar and fish sauce. Let it boil until it thickens. Remove from heat and add lime and chilli to serve.
3. Sticky rice with mango: Boil coconut milk, sugar and salt. Add rice and serve with fresh cut slices of mango.

Some of the key ingredients used were fish oil and oyster oil and it was all about how it felt for you as a person when you were pouring the ingredients into the wok...you had to be in touch with the energy of the dish. Well I tried... and it turned out pretty damn tasty.

The flavours of each dish just exploded in my mouth and the recipes / method were surprisingly not too much of a science experiment. I loved it all. Each dish had something different to offer and by the end of the day my taste buds were doing a little cheer leading dance of satisfaction. It was an epic fun filled learning experience that I highly recommend if you have the time. The system of gelling the wide variety of dishes together, monitoring the execution after the demonstration and having us all finish at the same time was impeccable. The team was super friendly, helpful and provided a day to remember (which I will try replicate at home).