Chili Paste Cooking Class

To be clear, we cooked a lot more than just chili paste. In fact we did more than just cook. This was a full day, full Thailand experience worth every minute and penny.

The class is owned and run by Chin in a small river side kitchen that she has an hour outside of Bangkok. Each tour is private and run by her so they are very personalized and should be booked in advance to guarantee availability. It is much more than a class though, it is an experience.

The tour

Our tour started at 8am when we met Chin at a sky train station maybe 15 minutes from where we were staying. She greeted us warmly and handed us a hand painted tote with waters, tissues, recipes for the day, and pins. Then a car pulled around and picked us up.

As we heads out of the city we got to know Chin and she began to ask us questions. The first big decision was markets. We actually ended up going to two.

First we stopped at the train market. This one is famous for being on a train track with vendors moving their awnings and goods when the trains come. We were there to buy some things to bring home so we weren’t worried about the timing and thus missed the train. That said Chin was amazing at helping us pick out great pastes and other things to bring back with us. She also got us a few tasty treats to snack on.

From there we headed to a palm sugar farm. What a neat experience. It wasn’t a touristy stop. A husband and wife run the whole operation and are one of the few remaining pure palm sugar spots left. They grow the coconuts in a unique grove where salt water comes in and flows between the rows. They harvest the nectar from the flowers which itself is a process. Then using a wood flame under a series of four massive woks they boil down the nectar moving it between the various temperatures until the final wok is the desired color and flavor for the customer. Then it is transferred to another wok where it gets stirred until just the right texture before transferring to appropriate containers for hardening. We tasted it at various stages and it was very unique. Sweet with a salty touch, kind of like me.

They let me participate in the process of scooping the liquid to move it around. It was a very hot, slow process. At the end though we got to buy some palm sugar that I made (helped) which is a fun souvenir.

From there we went to the floating market. It was one of the bigger, more touristy ones. However it was a bit more mellow because it was a weekday later in the day. Chin knew exactly where to go to avoid it the tourist traps. We ended up getting some tasty dumplings, mini corn pancakes and amazing noodle soup. Then it was finally time to cook.

By the time we got to Chin’s kitchen it was well past 12. Her assistant had been working to prep stuff all morning so we could jump straight in.

Our first task was to make coconut milk. It is a lot of work to grate the coconut (and not kill yourself), then process it all by hand.

Then we learned to make a chili jam, the base for many of the dishes. Lots of roasting of ingredients, before gradually adding them to the mortar and pestal. It was all worth the effort. While I was doing that Vanessa was toasting the left over coconut meat (no part goes wasted, including the husk) and rice for various toppings.

The first actual dish we made was Tom yum with prawns. It was delicious using our chili jam to spice up the dish.

Then we made a pork and green mango salad, a blanched mushroom salad, and a green mango and fruit salad. This was all enjoyed with some bbq chicken and delicious dipping sauce.

After a short break we continued. We worked on a wing bean salad with prawns and egg nets, a sort of spring roll with a delicate egg lattice wrapper. Finally we made some coconut pancakes as well. By the end we were stuffed!

The last thing was Chin’s neighbor took us for a ride through the canals in a boat. It was a neat, back water experience. It was a chance to see a slice of life in rural Thailand. Riding through the canals as the sun was setting was magical.

Then Chin and the driver took us back to Bangkok and dropped us at the BTS station where we caught a train to our hotel.

Overall this was an amazing experience and I would totally do it again. We didn’t have time to go to the salt farm which was a bummer but it was still a full day. Literally and figuratively. We cooked almost too much food. By the time we got home we couldn’t even eat dinner! I loved how personal the experience was. Really the only thing I would change was better recipes to take home because it was a lot of information to absorb in a short time.

If you find yourself with a day in Bangkok this is a tour I highly recommend.

https://www.foodtoursbangkok.com/floating-market-cooking-class/