Thai Cooking Class @ ChiangMai 招牌传统泰国菜肴 (Pt 1)

Green Curry, Tom Yum Koong (Hot & sour prawn soup) and Brown Rice
绿咖喱鸡,冬阴功(酸辣海鲜汤)

One of the popular activities while in Chiang Mai is to learn how to cook Thai food. There are many cooking courses around, either cook in town or cook at farm.

The course started with a Thai welcome snack (Meang Kum), we learnt the right way how to eat it.

Firstly, fold the betel leaf as a cup (with glossy side out). Put all ingredients in the betel leaf cup, then top with the sweet syrup.

Eat the whole betel leaf cup in one bite, chew it slowly, and you will touch all flavors at one time.

Visiting an organic kitchen garden and local market tour to see and taste the spices, vegetables and herbs you will be using during the class can be a fun and unique experience.

Organic Herb/Kitchen Garden

Lemongrass 柠檬香茅 (1)

Lemongrass 柠檬香茅 (2)

Can you differentiate these two lemongrass (柠檬香茅) ?
Yup, the first one is commonly found in our surrounding (white colour). The second one is a bit purple colour.


The usage of the two are different. First one is widely used as herb for cooking or drinks, and the second one is commonly used for insects / mosquitoes repellent.

Local Market

Fresh Mushroom 新鲜的草蘑菇

Egg Plant 茄子

Spices 香料

Various Thai Rice 各种泰国米

 After the market tour, we go back to our cooking class.

Cooking Area

One Person, One Wok

For a half-day course, you will pick one noodle or rice from 'Stir Fried' menu, one soup, one curry paste and curry.

Ingredients for Pad Thai (kuey teow)

Ingredients for Stir Fried Hot Basil with Chicken (Pad Kra Proaw)

Oyster & Fish Sauce  蚝油&鱼露
(Commonly used in stir fried)

Ingredients for Stir Fried Noodle in Chinese Style (Pad See Uw)



Pad Thai (Fried Kuey Teow / Flat Noodle)



Hot Basil Stir Fried

Thai Desserts & Fruits @ Chiang Mai

Look Choop / Luk Chup Candy (Dessert)

Fresh Orange + Passion Fruits Juice

Bees also enjoying fresh juice

Fruit Stalls everywhere

Mixed Fruits

Pure Passion Fruit Juice

Thai Bananas - nice for BBQ & Fried too

Waffle

Refreshing Herbs & Fruit Juices

Finding Nemo ~ Cartoon Fish Cake

Thai Durian Mooncake

Make Your Own Favorite Sponge Cake With Just 5 Ingredients (简单的海綿蛋糕食谱)

~ 5 ingredients ~

There are many methods to make the layered cake, to make the cake base simpler, just using the plain sponge mix flour. This method also very suitable to those beginner. Try to practice making this sponge cake, once you can make a perfect sponge cake, then you can use it for your favorite layered cake or even tiramisu.

You may substitute the water portion with milk or other juices to create your own favorite.

The preparation for this cake is less than 15 minutes.

~ Utensils ~

Here is the recipe for the sponge cake:

Ingredients:

1. Sponge Mix Flour (Plain)           330 gm
2. Eggs (size A or biggest)             5  (around 300 gm without shell)
3. Water                                         70 ml
4. Flavor Essence / Paste              1 teaspoon
5. Vegetable or Light Olive Oil       75 ml

Steps:

1. No need to grease the tin, just line the bottom of a 9” round cake tin with baking paper. Preheat oven with 175’C.
2. Beat the eggs at low speed for 1 minute. Then add in the flour, water and essence. Continue to beat the mixture at high speed until light and creamy (around 8-10 minutes, the volume is almost double).
3. Turn to low speed and add in the oil. Beat for another 1 minute.
4. Pour the mixture to the tin and transfer to preheated oven immediately, bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
5. Invert the cake tin to cool slightly before removing cake and placing it on a wire rack to cool completely.
6. To make the layered cake, cut the cake layer with serrated knife.

Here is the sponge cake, smooth and spongy, try to use you finger to press the cake, it will bounce back immediately.

You will never fail with this simple recipe. Happy baking!