In researching cooking schools in Chiang Mai, I sought to find the ones which offered five consecutive days of instruction with different menus. Chiang Mai Thai Cookery was the original cooking school in the city and was the only establishment to afford the luxury of 6 dishes daily totaling 30 for the 5 days. They also offered pickup and drop off from my location so that made it an easy choice.
The location of the cooking school was about 20 minutes from the city center in a beautiful serene gated community. The school had a large lot on which the colonial style building sat with its open air dining tables,
bookcases filled with regional cookbooks,
cooking stations for about 100 students and
2 instructional air conditioned classrooms in which the instructors demonstrated the preparation of each dish.
Behind the school was a vast garden,
a large pond with hundreds of koi fish
and an expansive lot which may eventually become a bed and breakfast or hotel of some sort to house the students of the school. Its location was remote, quiet and peaceful and the colonial structure had a restrained elegance and beauty.
What made my experience amazing was Pong, the chef/instructor who became a friend at the end of my time at the school. 
His classes were informative and funny. Pong’s English was as perfect as his culinary expertise. He had each student assist him in demonstrating the preparation of the dishes before we were sent off to cook on our own.
On my second day, I was literally the only student in the school so we had several hours of cooking together so I had the benefit of a one-on-one private cooking class from Pong.
He explained how and why everything needed to be cooked in a certain order and though I accidentally burnt garlic once or twice, which I personally didn’t mind as it gave the dish a smoky flavor, I knew it wasn’t proper technique because of Pong. He also shared how our fingers should be positioned when cutting so that we can cut quickly like those chefs we see on cooking competitions and not cut ourselves in the process.
His methods were very refined which can only come from a great deal of training and practice. He observed each student with a watchful eye and like a choreographer of a ballet, knew when each move should be executed and sometimes helped each student find their way.
I was amazed at how simple and yet intricate Thai cooking actually was. Some dishes required a few ingredients and minimal effort to make
while others were quite labor intensive and required nearly a dozen or more ingredients.
I loved every minute of my time at the school. It was my first foray into an experiential excursion while on vacation.
I learned so much more on this holiday and it definitely enhanced my visit to Chiang Mai.
I have zero hesitation recommending Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School as a Must Do during any trip to Chiang Mai.
The facilities are immaculate, the instruction is A-level quality and the abundance and variety of delicious Thai food makes for a comprehensive and immersive experience.
My last morning of cooking school was bittersweet. It was my last full day in Chiang Mai and I had just gotten used to the routine. I felt like I was finally feeling enmeshed in the local life and its rhythms. I was looking forward to heading to the market and getting my daily sai oua from the petite Thai lady and possibly getting a bag of the coconut custard treats I had for the first time yesterday so my husband could also sample them. Alas, we were only at market for a pickup. I considered jumping out and heading to the vendors but I didn’t want to disrupt the flow. Luckily, Pon knew I would miss my daily routine and brought back a bag of sai oua for me to eat on the ride to the school.
When we arrived, our first task was to carve some vegetables.
Then we proceeded with the day’s menu:
Tom Jued – Clear soup with minced pork
Paw Pla Tord – Spring rolls
Gai Hor Bai Toey – Chicken in pandamus leaves
Gaeng Phed Ped Young – Red curry with roast duck
Gai Phad King – Chicken with ginger
Khao Neow Mamuang – Mango with sticky rice
My companions for my last day of class hailed from Paris, my favorite city. Throughout the day, we chatted about various subjects but at no point until the end of class when we were heading back did we actually exchange names. It’s interesting how much we collaborated, helped each other and exchanged information without needing to know specifics. We just had a friendly trusting symbiosis despite hailing from different parts of the world. I had studied French and they had studied English. Before parting ways, we exchanged contact information as my husband and I are planning on heading to Paris next summer and we wanted to get together during our time in town.
Cooking school was an amazing experience for me. I can’t cook everything I learned but I will definitely incorporate some of the techniques and will be recreating some of my favorite recipes when I get back.
I have zero hesitation recommending this particular cooking school but equally important, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time and getting to know each of my classmates and meeting people from all walks of life, from different parts of the U.S. and the world. What we all had in common is that we were looking to take ourselves out of our comfort zone and expand our horizons despite the challenges. Thank you to my classmates and to Ning but mostly to Pon who watched over my every move and with his special sense of humor and subtle sarcasm, helped me find my way.
Thai Cookery School
I had 3 other cooking schoolmates with me on the 4th day so we started our day at the market. After the introduction to some of the herbs and ingredients our class was going to be using, we ventured off in different directions.
I had tried the sai ua the day prior but I had a hankering for it again today. I first learned about it on Mark Wiens’ episode in Chiang Mai and how relatives in Bangkok considered it rude and disrespectful not to return with the sausage as a gift from the visit up north. Sai ua has a bit of hit with a subtle lemongrass aftertaste. If I lived in Chiang Mai, it would definitely be a daily breakfast treat with eggs and rice.
Another treat caught my eye on this visit to the market. My curiosity was piqued by several YouTube episodes in Chiang Mai. There’s a dessert that has a coconut custardy base with either green onion, cheese or pumpkin. I tried the first and latter at the market, courtesy of our instructor Pon who is friends with the owner of the stand.
He also had us sample what I will call a coconut burrito which was basically a gooey pancake exterior with coconut inside.
After our market visit, we were whisked off to the school where we prepared the following:
Phad Siewe – Fried Big Noodles with Sweet Soy Sauce
Hope Neung Plaa – Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves
Gaeng Gari Gai – Yellow Curry with Chicken
Gai Phad Med Mamuang – Chicken with Cashew Nuts
Plan Goong – Spicy Prawn Salad North Eastern Style
Kluay Buad Chee – Bananas in Coconut Milk
Pon gave the class a few pointers. To loosen up the thick noodles, pour a few tablespoons of oyster sauce with the noodles and manually separate them. With the oil in the wok cooking at high heat, there are only certain types of oils which should be used for Thai cooking. Vegetable, sunflower and peanut oil would suffice.
Also, because of the hot oil, unlike in Italian or even in Chinese cooking where the garlic is the first ingredient in the pan, the meat, be it pork, chicken, beef, shrimp or fish is first dropped into the wok and the garlic placed in shortly thereafter to prevent the burning of the garlic.
I can’t believe that tomorrow will be my last day but this week has definitely been enlightening and enriching. Looking forward to a strong finish!!
Thai Cookery School
Much like Day 1, Day 3 started with a market tour. This time it was with Ning. She took us to the stalls that sold some of the ingredients we would later use in class. After our brief visit, we headed to the school and started on our dishes.
Our menu was as follows:
Tom Kha Gai – chicken in coconut milk soup
Raad Nah Muu – fried big noodles with thick sauce and pork
Gaeng Phed Play – red curry with fish
Phad Hed Ruam Khao Pod Om – fried mixed mushrooms with baby corn
Som Tam – papaya salad
Khanom Kluay – steamed banana cake
Ning taught us to taste and either add sugar or soy sauce to moderate the saltiness or heat of each dish. The best technique that I learned from her was to cook the wide flat noodles in a cold wok with the oil and flatten/fry them like a pancake to give them a smoky texture. Though everything was delicious as always, of today’s menu, I give a two thumbs up to the steamed banana cake. Not being much of a desert person, I appreciated that this was not overly sweet and beautifully presented.
After lunch, we walked around the property which I somehow had not yet done in the past few days.
The grounds are quite expansive and we found out from Ning that some of the herbs and fruit we used are grown on-site.
I once again walked away with leftovers and am looking forward to continuing to learn more about the flavor pairings that make Thai cuisine as unique as it is.
Thai Cookery School
Day 2 brought an unexpected surprise when I arrived at the school.
I was the only student for the entire day which was a complete departure from my first day where there were 30 Australian tweens and teens in addition to our adult group of 6.
Since I was working one-on-one with Pon, I had the benefit of getting personal feedback on my culinary technique and flavoring and texture of each dish.
Our first course of the day was the Panaeng Muu which was red curry with pork.
It included the use of a mortal and pestle to pound down the spices and peppers into a puréed paste before adding the red curry and pork into the wok.
Next on the list was the Plaa Nin Laad Prik Bai Horapa or fried whole fish with chili and basil. The scariest part of this course wasn’t the whole raw fish sitting in the bowl. It was frying the whole thing in a wok full of oil.
Pon taught me to put salt at the bottom of the cooking oil in the wok rather than adding salt to the fish before frying it.
There we’re minimal ingredients to add to the top of the dish giving it just a bit more flavor.
The third course was the Gaeng Hanglay Gai or Chiang Mai chicken with curry. This was by far my favorite dish because the smell and flavor was reminiscent of chicken tikka masala and Thai curry combined.
He taught me the secret technique of placing the seasoned chicken in a cold wok pan and stirring around in the oil for a few minutes coating all sides before turning on the heat in order to prevent the oil from rising to the top and the dish becoming overly greasy.
For the fourth dish, Prad Prio Wan Phak aka sweet and sour stir fry vegetables, I got additional practice on my chopping and cutting skills and was taught how to make heart shaped carrots. Pon explained that the fruits and vegetables had to be cooked last in order for them to remain crisp.
The fifth dish, Yam Wun Sen or spicy glass noodle salad, hardly took any time at all to make. The noodles cook literally in 5 seconds and what takes the most time is cooking up the pork and cutting up the accoutrements.
The dessert dish was the easiest to prepare provided the rice has been previously cooked. The Khao Neow Dam Piak was a black sticky rice pudding which had 3 ingredients and was unbelievably simple and delicious.
We sped through the 6 courses, with me sitting down and finishing my plate of the panaeng curry with pork served with steamed rice. With the rest of the dishes, I had one or two sample bites and just powered through, saving all of the food for my to-go. No need to go out for dinner tonight as essentially Pon and I had prepared a meal for 3 people so I was quite beside myself at this fortuitous chain of events.
What I learned during the first two days is that cooking Thai food doesn’t have to be complicated or a lengthy ordeal. Some of my favorite dishes were so incredibly easy and quick to make.
Tomorrow will sadly not be a private but I’m looking forward to practicing and learning more culinary techniques and shortcuts that I can incorporate in my day-to-day cooking back home. Ready for Day 3!
Thai Cookery School
My first introduction to Thailand was through their food. I was a teen at the time and my dad was in a car accident with a waiter from Original Thai BBQ. I’m not quite sure what the specifics were but the waiter offered to comp our dinner if we visited him at the restaurant in Universal City. We both thought we had nothing to lose so we made the 30 minute trek from West Covina. To say that my mind was blown would be an understatement. The unique savory and sweet combination was utterly delightful. I was hooked!
To this day, my husband’s and my guilty pleasure is ordering delivery from Thai BBQ and enjoying their BBQ chicken, yellow curry with chicken and potatoes, phad woon sen with chicken, chicken sate appetizer and a side of their fried rice which is so addictive that I swear that crack is an ingredient.
I was not really surprised when 23andMe updated my profile which showed that 5.2% of my roots hail from the Thai, Indonesia, Khmer and Myanmar region. I clearly have a natural preference and affinity for their food. In planning our trip to Chiang Mai, I wanted to immerse myself in its very specific northern Thai cuisine.
As much as I love cooking, all of my experience has been self-taught with the help and guidance of Martha Stewart shows and cookbooks as well as similar chefs and recipes from Food Network and Cooking Channel. I have never actually attended a cooking class, let alone a cooking school.
Thai Kitchen Cookery is the first of all cooking schools founded in Chiang Mai and they offer a five day immersive cooking school experience. It was a no-brainer so as soon as our flight and lodgings were arranged, I booked my classes. This particular cooking school includes pickup and drop off so that made it even more particularly attractive.
On day one, I arrived at the lobby 5 minutes earlier than what was indicated on my reservation and was greeted by the driver who was surprisingly also the cooking instructor. He had to pick up another couple at Shangri-la next door but was not allowed to park and wait for them so he picked me up first which explained his early arrival. After he returned for them, we headed off to the market which was about 15-20 minutes from our location. We were joined by 3 other people for the market visit and class.
Having consumed 3 cups of tea, I was in need of facilities. Side note: it costs 3 baht to use them and one should bring your own seat covers and portable toilet paper which I luckily had in my possession.
inside the market was a true food lover and cook’s paradise! In Asia, the Pacific Islands and likely in other parts of the world essentially excluding America, the norm are indoor or outdoor markets like these where produce are stacked in piles alongside other produce and each section is owned and managed by different people.
Next to the produce section are the meat and seafood sections which cause all the scents to intermingle and waft throughout. If one is not used to the smell, it can be a jarring jolt to one’s olfactory system.
After the market, we finally headed off to school. It was northeast from the center of town, further than I expected. It seemed to take another 20 minutes to get there.
The school appeared to be a large sprawling white colonial estate located in a beautiful upscale gated residential area. We entered the school, were shown the facilities, the water, tea and coffee stations and were escorted to our cooking stations. After a 10 minute break, we headed into the classroom. It was wonderfully air conditioned and bright.
The classroom setup had 3 rows of pews with desks and the front of the class had the overhead mirror like at cooking demonstrations. On the table was cookware over one or both burners and small dishes to the side with previously measured and cut ingredients. There was also a cutting board and a chef’s knife.
Our instructor, Pon, was quite the ham and would crack jokes, making the experience much more lighthearted. He explained, however, that there’s a proper order in incorporating and/or pairing the ingredients and what the effects were if protocol wasn’t followed. Pon also shared some of the shortcuts in cutting the vegetables and preparing the ingredients. He allowed each of us to be his helper and demonstrate each dish we would eventually cook on our own so that we could have some practice preparing the dish and also to get a better understanding of technique. The structure of the cooking class was demonstrating one dish at a time, explaining how to prepare it with each student getting a taste and then heading to our cooking stations to prepare each dish on our own with his guidance and sometimes helpful hand in intervening before we omitted ingredients and/or burnt our dishes.
Our first dish was Tom Yam Goong, a hot and sour shrimp soup, which we typically order from Thai BBQ during cold and flu season so me learning how to make it is going to be immediately beneficial in our household. Pon explained how to minimize or enhance the spiciness of the soup by how the chili pepper is prepared.
That was followed by Tord Man Pla (fish cake),
Gaeng Kheo Wan Kai (green curry with chicken)
and Phad Thai with tofu. We ate the last two dishes as a group for lunch.
Laurie and Jeremy from Toronto, the couple we picked up from Shangri-la, left after lunch as they only scheduled a half day cooking class, but Jennifer, her husband from Chicago and Alex from France stayed to finish the rest of the class.
We proceeded to make Tab Tim Grob as a group, in the classroom. The water chestnuts with sugar syrup and coconut milk dessert was surprisingly delicious and easy to make provided you follow the directions exactly. It needs to be devoid of liquid before adding all the ingredients or it will not properly coat them onto the chestnuts.
Our last entree was the Nam Prik Gai or minced chicken northern style which was delicious and very simple.
Thai Kitchen Cookery School is an easy recommend. They provide roundtrip transportation, detailed instruction with helpful hints and techniques, an immaculate, air conditioned professional classroom setting, a clean, well equipped cooking station and varied menu options.
It is also vegan friendly as my classmate Jennifer happily discovered. The meat dishes were substituted with butternut squash which was purchased at the market and the instructor helped her prepare her dish when it came time to cook. As in most Asian countries, coconut milk and coconut cream are used in lieu of dairy so that was helpful for her as well.
At the end of class they send you off with a cookbook of the recipes you’ve prepared and a well-earned apron as a souvenir of your time at their school. I’m happily returning to school 4 more days so more to report and share soon!
Thai Cookery School
Grace Gambin
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