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Thai Farm Cooking School in Chiang Mai Show Notes
Each podcast episode I dive into a specific experience that can be replicated and then give you a how-to guide to make it happen. Today we are getting our fingers dirty and we are talking about experiencing a Thai Cooking Class in Chiang Mai, Thailand. These are the show notes for the Thai Farm Cooking School in Chiang Mai.
Please listen to the episode above or wherever you listen to podcasts.
How I found the Thai Farm Cooking School
6 weeks ago when I was leaving Koh Lipe, Thailand (listen to the last episode if you’re interested in Koh Lipe), I met a family at the Elephant Café and they started giving us their tips for visiting Chiang Mai (which is the 2nd largest city in Thailand located in Northern Thailand). They gave us a full itinerary and they recommended a cooking school in Chiang Mai called The Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School.
I’ve always been the cook in my family. I read cookbooks for fun, but truly homemade Thai cooking has always intimidated me, so thought a Thai cooking class in Thailand would be a great way to be introduced to homemade curry pastes, sticky rice and more.
My Full Day at the Thai Farm Cooking School in Chiang Mai
The Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School was fairly full, but they had one spot for me on the 9 days I was there in Chiang Mai. For you listeners out there, go ahead and book early if you know you’re going to Chiang Mai.
This school offered 2 classes, a half day and the full day. I opted for the full day and was picked up at my hotel in a nice van with about 9 other people.
We first stopped at a market in town (where no other tourists were at) and our teacher, Kim, explained the difference between sticky and non-sticky rice. You can actually see the difference and you use different methods to cook each. Take note to never boil sticky rice, it just won’t work.
Kim also walked through how to make each dish vegetarian and the correct substitutes for fish sauce and oyster sauce.
Life at the Organic Farm
We continued on our drive to the Organic farm where the Thai Farm Cooking School was held. When we got to the farm we all put on straw hats and headed to the field. Kim showed us ingredients I haven’t seen before like Thai Eggplant and dynamite chilis. I took too big of a bite out the dynamite chili I tried, and it was spicy! There wasn’t milk outside either, let’s just say that I made a little bit of a scene!
Going into the farm brought a whole new experience to food. It was to smell and taste each ingredient, bringing in all of the senses.
Back in the kitchen, it was time for us to make our own curry paste. We could choose in between red, green, or yellow. I chose green… it had lots of fresh ingredients and I had to muddle my own curry. It was hard work making my ingredients into a paste. Each time my instructor stopped by, I thought mine was done but she told me to work harder. I have so much respect for people who make their own curry paste!
At the school, we also got to choose a soup to make. I chose Thom Kha soup, a coconut milk based Thai soup and I swear it was the best soup I’ve ever had in my entire life. I could taste each ingredient, and the flavors danced on my tongue. Really everything I ate at this cooking school was my best meal in
Thailand.
We also made a chicken cashew stir fry, spring rolls, mango sticky rice, and we learned how to decorate our curries. We used coconut milk for cooking and coconut cream for the décor. You’ll see that we made fun designs on top of the curry using coconut cream. We ate at many restaurants on our trip in Thailand and no one else plated like the Thai Farm Cooking School.
Why Should You Take a Thai Cooking Class in Chiang Mai?
You will make new friends, plus you’ll be around like-minded people who love to eat and travel too. We came from many different parts of the world including Chile, France, the US and
more. There’s something about bringing people together over delicious food.
What’s great about taking this class is that I was able to recognize ingredients and learn how to eat Thai food when out. Turns out you’re not supposed to dump your bowl of rice into a curry. This class helped me become a better tourist and get to know a culture that much more through food.
How do you get to Chiang Mai?
Chiang Mai is the 2nd largest city in Thailand and once you make it to Asia you can get to Chiang Mai by flying or by train. We were coming from Ko Lipe in the Andaman islands, so we took a boat back to shore, had a 2-hour bus ride, then a 2-hour flight. Flights between Thailand are fairly cheap, ours was about $40 per person.
Where should you stay in Chiang Mai?
We stayed in the Old City which felt like the hub of Chiang Mai. We found a nice 3-star hotel called De Charme for about $50 a night, which also had free breakfast.
How do You Book a Cooking Class in Chiang Mai?
There are many you can choose from, but I loved my experience at the Thai Farm Cooking School. You can book at thaifarmcooking.com.
How Far In Advance Should You Book Your Cooking Class?
I was able to book my class a few days after I got to Chiang Mai, but I did get the last spot for the week I was going to be there. If you’re in Chiang Mai in the busy season like Dec-Feb then I’d suggest booking this Chiang Mai cooking class early.
What is the difference between the half day and the full day cooking class?
Both classes go to the market, experience the farm, but the half day doesn’t make the cashew chicken and that class has less downtime to get to know other classmates.
How Much Does the Full Day Class cost?
The full-day cooking class cost around 1,500 THB, which is about $45 US. Not bad for a full day cooking!
Requirements for the Class:
- Understand English as all of these classes through the Thai Farm Cooking School are taught in English.
- Be at least 12 years old.
- You must come hungry!
What If you are Vegan, Vegetarian, or have other allergies, can you take this Thai Cooking class?
You can substitute vegan and vegetarian ingredients and make the dish to your dietary preferences. The same goes for gluten allergies, shellfish allergies and more.
Which Curry is the Spiciest or Least Spicy: Red, Green, or Yellow
The answer is Your choice! You choose the number of dynamite chilis you want to add to your curry to make it as spicy (or not) as you want!
Now that You’ve Left the Class, where should eat to find delicious food in Chiang Mai?
- Cooking Love ($)
- Dash ($$$)
- Kat’s Kitchen ($)
Those were my favorite places to eat in Chiang Mai (other than my cooking class). The mango curry was especially delicious at Cooking Love.
If You’re Ready to Make Your Own Green Curry at Home, Check out this Green Curry Recipe from the Thai Farm Cooking School!
Recipe Also Can Be Found Here
2-3 green long chilies
1 tbsp. of chopped shallots 1 tsp. of chopped galangal 1/2 tsp. of chopped kaffir lime rind 1 tsp. of chopped garlic 1 tbsp. of chopped lemongrass 1 tbsp. of chopped Thai Ginseng 1/4 tsp. of roasted cumin seeds 1/4 tsp. of roasted coriander seeds 1/4 tsp. of salt ( or 1/2 tsp. of salt if you would like to keep the paste longer ) 1 cup of sliced eggplants ( or other vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli or potato ) 1/4 cup of smaller pea-like eggplants ( MAKHEAU PHUANG ) 1/3 cup of sliced onion 70 grams of sliced chicken 1 tsp. of sugar 1 tbsp. of fish sauce or soya sauce 3 kaffir lime leaves 2 stems of sweet basil ( HORAPAA ) 1 cup of coconut milk 1 cup of waterChicken can be replaced by beef, pork, fishball or tofu.
The taste should be a little bit spicy, creamy, sweet and salty.