As part of my Contiki Thailand tour, we got to take a Thai cooking class at the Baan Hongnual Cookery School in Chiang Mai.

I’d like to think that I am a decent cook, and don’t mind cooking for others. But, for some reason I dislike cooking for myself–weird, I know–and I feared my butchering of the Thai cuisine. So, my expectations for the day were bordering on high maintenance and doubtful (toward my own skill, mostly). Turns out, I had a pretty awesome time and an even better dinner.

Seriously, I could make and eat Pad Thai for days on end.

The day was split into two parts; shopping and gathering ingredients, and then the physical cooking of the meal.

Nong Hoi Market

The class started out with a trip to Nong Hoi Market, where we wandered the stalls and picked out fresh ingredients for our future culinary masterpieces.

As with all markets in Thailand, it was a sensory overload, and slightly overwhelming. Luckily, we had our guide/chef there with us, to lead us through the edible labyrinth and point out exactly what we needed. Easy.

Photos from Non Hoi Market:

Baan Hongnual Cookery

The second part of the class took us to Baan Hongnual itself, where we cleaned up and prepared our stations for some serious cooking. We chopped, slices, minced and crushed all of the ingredients that we had brought with us. Soon enough, we had platefuls of raw goods, ready to be thrown in the wok.

To the precise instructions of our trusty chef, we poured, stirred, simmered and boiled our dishes in impeccably accurate timing to produce plates that looked like they had been created by professionals.

Who knew that I could cook for myself and actually enjoy it?

Photos from Baan Hongnual Cookery:

Ingredients for a delicious Pad Thai

Ingredients for Tom Yum Goong soup

Assembling the spring rolls

My name in Thai (below)

This trip was made possible by Contiki. 
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Visit Chiang Mai on your own Asian Adventure.

Have you ever taken cooking classes abroad?