Chiang Mai, Day 1

We actually came in yesterday to town on the night train, had lunch, walked to our guesthouse, and had a killer lunch. That was enough. We were tired from traveling and a short walk around the area wore us out. I was able to lay in bed and watch a movie to end the day.

Today was a totally different beast. We took an all day cooking course that involved making 6 courses. So that meant... We also ate 6 meals. Whew! It began with a trip to the market to get a lesson on how to buy fresh ingredients and a LOT of information. Our guide was amazing and made it all seem so simple. When we get back to Vegas and I try this stuff out at my own home, we will see how simple it is.

Funny thing is one of the guys in the class was also on the train with us into Chiang Mai. He has an interesting story with the police in Bangkok, so be sure to ask me in person later. But how could that happen? We met up in the same class? There are several different cooking schools and we picked the same one at the same time on the same day. Ben was great to chat with and helped make the cooking even more enjoyable.

Back to the food.

We prepared everything from scratch, even making our own massaman, green, and penang curry. Here is a list of what G+K made:

Massaman Curry Paste, Green Curry Paste, Gaeng Kieow Wan Gai (chicken with green curry), Gad Pad Bai Graphao (stir fried chicken with basil leaves), Somtun (green papaya salad), Pad Thai (fried noodles Thai style), Glooay Tord (fried bananas with thick coconut toffee), Massaman Gai (massaman curry with chicken), Kao Pad Gai (fried rice with chicken), Porpia Tord (spring rolls), Kaew Neow Dum Biag (sticky rice pudding), Gai Pud Met Mar Mooung (stir fried chicken with cashew nuts.)

The whole thing was from 9am - 3:30pm making the day fly by. The food tasted great and the atmosphere was comforting. Another few points for the Thai hospitality!