Siam Rice Cookery

When I first stepped foot in Thailand, I couldn’t handle an ounce of spice… Much to the amusement of S. Yet a few months in I found myself craving the feeling that spicy food gave and hooked on conquering my chilli limitations.
 

 
So during our time in Chiang Mai, I booked myself on to a cooking course @ Siam Rice Cookery School.
 

 
Siam Rice Cookery School is run by Nancy, a Thai lady whose passion for cooking began during her childhood years and grew with every day she spent in the kitchen with her mother and grandmother.
After being picked up our first stop was to a wet market, where we learnt about the various ingredients that are integral to Thai cooking.
 
 
 
With raw meat, fresh vegetables, coffee stands and fried food being cooked on each corner, the wet market was an assault on the senses, but it was interesting to see how many local businesses could go to one spot and find everything they needed.
 

 
After getting the ingredients we needed, we were taken back to Nancy’s house to learn to cook.
The house was quaint and traditionally Thai and had ben fitted out with a group station of cookers so tat everybody could learn to cook together.
 
 
 
We chose which dishes we were most interested in making and were tutored in small groups on the technique and preparation.
 

 
I made Tom Yum Gai
 

 
Pad Thai
 

 
Khao Soy Gai
 

 
Chicken Salad
 

 
And Mango Sticky Rice.
 

 
It was amazing to see the process behind some of my favourite dishes and I was amazed by how simple most of them were, with the emphasis placed on creating a really good curry paste, and building the dish up from there.
 

 
The people at Siam Rice Cookery School were friendly, courteous and I’d definitely recommend them.
 

 
The pace was slow, fun and the instructions were easy to follow. They even gave us a cookery book filled with recipes and instructions on making curry pastes from scratch…