Phuket Thai Cookery School

On our fourth day in Phuket, Ian, Indhu, Caryn, Giles, and I signed up for a half day cooking class at the Phuket Thai Cookery School. We were picked up from our hotel early in the morning and taken to a beautiful private beach on Sirey Island near Phuket Town. The five hour class consisted entirely of learning to cook and eating six dishes including dessert. It was easily one of my favorite activities from my entire SEA trip.

When we arrived, we met six other students, one of whom had already topped off two or three beers while waiting and was completely wasted at 8:30 in the morning. He introduced himself as Roger from Sweden, and accompanying him was his friend, a non-English speaking Swede who, funny enough, bore a striking resemblance to Robin Williams.

Noi, our instructor, gave us cookery garb (an apron and cap) and led us to the classroom where she presented to us a variety of Thai ingredients which included vegetables, herbs, and sauces. Every time Noi held up a new item to show, Roger would rudely interrupt by loudly telling the class that his friend needed him to translate. So we'd sit in silence and wait for Roger to bring Robin Williams up to speed who, as far as I could tell, looked like he couldn't care less about what was happening. We'd know Roger was finished when he would turn toward Noi, and ironically, position his hands into the mudra of respect and say, in a grave tone, "Respect." Roger's class clown antics continued until the school ran out of beer and he finally passed out half way through the class to everyone's relief.

For each dish we made, Noi first demonstrated the steps at her cooking station while the rest of us studiously watched and took notes (I just sat and salivated). Then we headed to our individual cooking stations and attempted to mimic her culinary awesomeness on our own.

The Venerable Chef - Noi

The first dish we tackled was Kwithiaw Kua Kai, or as we Americans like to call it, saute chicken with rice noodles. Since Indhu, Caryn, and I are vegetarian, we used mock meats and tofu instead (a much better choice I'd say). Despite the fool proof set up and instructions, I managed to screw up at step 3. I minced a clove of garlic, heated some vegetable oil in the wok, and then proceeded to burn the garlic. Well, that created a stir amongst Noi's assistants who scrambled to find me another wok and clove of garlic as I stood helpless with my idle spatula in hand.

Noi walked over to my station to check on all the commotion and clucked when she saw the brown garlic floating shamelessly in the hot oil. With a glint of evil glee in her eye, she lifted the wok off the stove top and asked me, "What is your name?"

Thinking she was going to scold me in front of the entire class, I answered, "Uh... Indhu."

But Noi just took the wok away. I could hear a lot of giggling from the group of assistants standing in the other corner of the room. One of them came over with a new wok and held my hand (in the metaphorical sense) while I tried again. No conflagrations or other culinary mishaps to speak of the second time. And you know what? It was the best freakin' Kwithiaw Kua Kai I've ever tasted, if I should say so myself. Not bad for a "D" student!

We also whipped up:
Som Tam - Papaya salad
Tom Yam Goong - Thai hot and sour prawn (tofu) soup
Kaeng Kiew Wan Kai - Green curry with mock chicken
Pad Pak Ruam - Stir-fried mixed vegetables
Khao Niew Mamuang - Mango with coconut sticky rice!

Papaya Salad

All were delicious (even the ones I made, ok) and it was incredible to be able to distinguish the flavor of each ingredient. By the end, I had so thoroughly stuffed myself with food that I could barely lift myself out of my chair. Now that's a good day.

Chowing down on some tasty Thai goodness