Thai Cooking For Thais

[Saan]

I know there are many Thai cooking schools in Chiang Mai but the ones I have looked up are aimed, mainly, at tourists. What I want to find out is if there are cooking schools for Thais. My partner, who is challenged operating a microwave, has finally capitulated and wants to learn to cook. It would be much easier for her to learn in a school where Thai is spoken. Anyone out there know of such a school?

[Semper]

Thai food is not made in a microwave. Normally, they have learned to cook at home from their mothers or older sisters.

[shepsel]

There is a cooking course given in Thai language at the Humanites V department of Chiang Mai University. It is open to the students attending CMU, but I believe that they have one or two courses open to Thais who are not students at the university.

[Saan]

Thai food is not made in a microwave. Normally, they have learned to cook at home from their mothers or older sisters.

Thanks for that useful information but the lessons were not forthcoming or I wouldn't be asking

[Saan]

There is a cooking course given in Thai language at the Humanites V department of Chiang Mai University. It is open to the students attending CMU, but I believe that they have one or two courses open to Thais who are not students at the university.

Thanks Shepsi. We will make enquiries at the university.

[CMSteve]

Also check out Chiang Mai Polytechnic(Huay Kaew Road). they offer free classes to Thai's in vocational skills. Massage, musical instruments, hair dressing/cutting, etc etc.... Believe they also have cooking.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Not arguing against the above, but it seems so easy to just pick up by watching, as so many Thai restaurants and food stalls cook food right in front of you. That's how I learned it anyway. And then for specific things that are just a little bit harder there is Youtube, also from Thai language cooking shows.

When I make something new that I never did before than I Google a bunch of recipes, watch a couple Youtube vids and then average it out and come up with something sensible given what products are easily available. This always works, especially if know what the end result should taste like.

[billd766]

My wife learnt to cook at the age of 8 or 9 as she was the only girl in the family and had to cook mornings and evenings while she was at school.

I am not sure if her Mum was there or not.

She has also run a couple of restaurants but she is retired and living in the country but closed her last place due to customers promises.

Can I buy now and I promise to pay you on payday.

[cooked]

This is a good question, my wife cooks competently enough but after a month or so it becomes a bit monotonous. She doesn't use coconut milk for instance although we have plenty. She loves to learn so I am on the same path as the OP, planning to do any Farang cuisine myself so we can learn from each other.

[Semper]

She doesn't use coconut milk for instance although we have plenty

There's a TV-commercial running on NBT just before the six o'clock news. They have some tips how she can use it.

[eyecatcher]

Thai food is not made in a microwave. Normally, they have learned to cook at home from their mothers or older sisters.

You are living long in the past mate....you should know kids of today (this generation) and particularly all those at Uni, dont even have the ability to boil an egg or make edible toast.

you may be lucky and they have the skill to make somtam, but that no good for man or beast.

hope you find Thai cookery school,i have someone to send also

[WinnieTheKhwai]

This is a good question, my wife cooks competently enough but after a month or so it becomes a bit monotonous. She doesn't use coconut milk for instance although we have plenty.

Coconut milk is mostly used in curries and soups. (And in sweets, though those are more difficult)

For curry:

* Fry onions, garlic, some meat.

* Add vegetables if you like, such as eggplant, baby corn, mushrooms.. Anything not leafy.

* Stir in some curry paste (Either supermarket bought like Lobo brand, or from a regular fresh market). Pick one you like; green curry, red, massaman, whatever.

* Big splash of cocnut milk. (Small carton)

* Bring to a boil, stir, when everything is reasonably cooked check if it needs some soy sauce, fish sauce or some sugar. A splash of Worcestershire sauce (or something else a tad soury) can also help to balance tastes.

* Put in a bowl and sprinkle some coriander leaves on top even though everyone hates them.

Done. Serve with rice. Or roti, I suppose.

[eyecatcher]

Not arguing against the above, but it seems so easy to just pick up by watching, as so many Thai restaurants and food stalls cook food right in front of you. That's how I learned it anyway. And then for specific things that are just a little bit harder there is Youtube, also from Thai language cooking shows.

When I make something new that I never did before than I Google a bunch of recipes, watch a couple Youtube vids and then average it out and come up with something sensible given what products are easily available. This always works, especially if know what the end result should taste like.

Would you fly with me if I told you i had watched top gun several times, played the arcade games and watched some you tube vids-I guess not; cooking like all other professions is an acquired skill, and needs the right advice and tuition surely?

[Semper]

You are living long in the past mate....you should know kids of today

Could be, but I'm not married to a kid as some members seem to be.

[cooked]

Not arguing against the above, but it seems so easy to just pick up by watching, as so many Thai restaurants and food stalls cook food right in front of you. That's how I learned it anyway. And then for specific things that are just a little bit harder there is Youtube, also from Thai language cooking shows.

When I make something new that I never did before than I Google a bunch of recipes, watch a couple Youtube vids and then average it out and come up with something sensible given what products are easily available. This always works, especially if know what the end result should taste like.

I love street food, never had any problems eating it. I found out recently that many or most buy their cooking oil from third class restaurants that have thrown it out, who maybe bought it from a first class restaurant initially. Cooking shouldn't just be about making yummy stuff, health and environment issues should be discussed also. As I say, I never had any problems with street food, but the basic concepts of food hygiene don't seem to be very well known on Sukhumvit. I notice however that some vendors seem to be avoided by the Thais.

Google: yes. Maybe they just tell you to cook rice 20 minutes. I have a rice here that needs 45 minutes, my wife recognises immediately which rice she will like, she avoids rice that comes from a twice yearly cropping for instance -- this is all stuff that you can indeed find on internet but not on the cooking website itself generally.

I myself am not someone that whinges about not being able to find the Farang junk I got used to as a child so I make it myself, usually works.

[billd766]

This is a good question, my wife cooks competently enough but after a month or so it becomes a bit monotonous. She doesn't use coconut milk for instance although we have plenty.

Coconut milk is mostly used in curries and soups. (And in sweets, though those are more difficult)

For curry:

* Fry onions, garlic, some meat.

* Add vegetables if you like, such as eggplant, baby corn, mushrooms.. Anything not leafy.

* Stir in some curry paste (Either supermarket bought like Lobo brand, or from a regular fresh market). Pick one you like; green curry, red, massaman, whatever.

* Big splash of cocnut milk. (Small carton)

* Bring to a boil, stir, when everything is reasonably cooked check if it needs some soy sauce, fish sauce or some sugar. A splash of Worcestershire sauce (or something else a tad soury) can also help to balance tastes.

* Put in a bowl and sprinkle some coriander leaves on top even though everyone hates them.

Done. Serve with rice. Or roti, I suppose.

I do a masaman or panang curry in a similar way except after the meat is fried and curry paste and coconut milk is added with onions, garlic, a potato then I put it into a slow crockpot for a couple of hours or so until it tastes OK but nobody else gets a taste cos it's MINE

[tolstoy]

add veggis after do not fry first. 1st step should always be to have the curry paste and the coconut milk. You are using western technique for cooking asian food. AAAGGGGHHHH

[keo]

There's a government assisted scheme where Thai citizens can learn vocational skills for 1 THB/hour. I think it is in the Huay Gaew area? A friend's wife learnt bag making as well as cooking there.

Alternatively, David Thompson's "Thai Street Food" has a wide range of excellent, authentic recipes, not to mention the breathtaking photography.

http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/1840915587

[hellodolly]

This is a good question, my wife cooks competently enough but after a month or so it becomes a bit monotonous. She doesn't use coconut milk for instance although we have plenty.

Coconut milk is mostly used in curries and soups. (And in sweets, though those are more difficult)

For curry:

* Fry onions, garlic, some meat.

* Add vegetables if you like, such as eggplant, baby corn, mushrooms.. Anything not leafy.

* Stir in some curry paste (Either supermarket bought like Lobo brand, or from a regular fresh market). Pick one you like; green curry, red, massaman, whatever.

* Big splash of cocnut milk. (Small carton)

* Bring to a boil, stir, when everything is reasonably cooked check if it needs some soy sauce, fish sauce or some sugar. A splash of Worcestershire sauce (or something else a tad soury) can also help to balance tastes.

* Put in a bowl and sprinkle some coriander leaves on top even though everyone hates them.

Done. Serve with rice. Or roti, I suppose.

I do a masaman or panang curry in a similar way except after the meat is fried and curry paste and coconut milk is added with onions, garlic, a potato then I put it into a slow crockpot for a couple of hours or so until it tastes OK but nobody else gets a taste cos it's MINE

Is it a real crock pot or a rice cooker. When I first moved here I could not fdind a real crock pot. Back in Canada I used mine a lot.

[barefoot1988]

Not arguing against the above, but it seems so easy to just pick up by watching, as so many Thai restaurants and food stalls cook food right in front of you. That's how I learned it anyway. And then for specific things that are just a little bit harder there is Youtube, also from Thai language cooking shows.

When I make something new that I never did before than I Google a bunch of recipes, watch a couple Youtube vids and then average it out and come up with something sensible given what products are easily available. This always works, especially if know what the end result should taste like.

I love street food, never had any problems eating it. I found out recently that many or most buy their cooking oil from third class restaurants that have thrown it out, who maybe bought it from a first class restaurant initially. Cooking shouldn't just be about making yummy stuff, health and environment issues should be discussed also. As I say, I never had any problems with street food, but the basic concepts of food hygiene don't seem to be very well known on Sukhumvit. I notice however that some vendors seem to be avoided by the Thais.

Google: yes. Maybe they just tell you to cook rice 20 minutes. I have a rice here that needs 45 minutes, my wife recognises immediately which rice she will like, she avoids rice that comes from a twice yearly cropping for instance -- this is all stuff that you can indeed find on internet but not on the cooking website itself generally.

I myself am not someone that whinges about not being able to find the Farang junk I got used to as a child so I make it myself, usually works.

the issue in oil is pretty shocking . . are you certain on this?

[billd766]

This is a good question, my wife cooks competently enough but after a month or so it becomes a bit monotonous. She doesn't use coconut milk for instance although we have plenty.

Coconut milk is mostly used in curries and soups. (And in sweets, though those are more difficult)

For curry:

* Fry onions, garlic, some meat.

* Add vegetables if you like, such as eggplant, baby corn, mushrooms.. Anything not leafy.

* Stir in some curry paste (Either supermarket bought like Lobo brand, or from a regular fresh market). Pick one you like; green curry, red, massaman, whatever.

* Big splash of cocnut milk. (Small carton)

* Bring to a boil, stir, when everything is reasonably cooked check if it needs some soy sauce, fish sauce or some sugar. A splash of Worcestershire sauce (or something else a tad soury) can also help to balance tastes.

* Put in a bowl and sprinkle some coriander leaves on top even though everyone hates them.

Done. Serve with rice. Or roti, I suppose.

I do a masaman or panang curry in a similar way except after the meat is fried and curry paste and coconut milk is added with onions, garlic, a potato then I put it into a slow crockpot for a couple of hours or so until it tastes OK but nobody else gets a taste cos it's MINE

Is it a real crock pot or a rice cooker. When I first moved here I could not fdind a real crock pot. Back in Canada I used mine a lot.

It is a real but small crockpot I bought several years ago at BigC in Nakhon Sawan for around 5 to 600 baht.

The pot is china and quite heavy and does a good job for me.

[cooked]

I think I got it from http://thailandmusin...ok-street-food/

but I had to google it. I also found http://thaifinancial...king-oil/

and "Some vegetable oil traders will normally supply regenerated vegetable oil by bleaching it and reselling it to street food vendors because it is less expensive than new vegetable oil. As a solution to this problem of disposal, spent vegetable oil could be collected and processed through chemical conversion via a transesterification reaction to become a compound known as “biodiesel” or via direct upgrade from thermal cracking or catalytic cracking. These vegetable oils are long-chain hydrocarbon molecules, which can be converted to light hydrocarbons, using many types of catalysts..."

I accepted this horrible news without a qualm, TIT after all. In Switzerland there is a scheme for collecting old cooking oil for transformation into biodiesel, maybe a niche for some entrepreneur here? I have seen so many food fads come and go in my life that the only philosophy that I follow is to vary my diet as much as possible (I change my beer brand now and then!).

[BookMan]

There is a cooking course given in Thai language at the Humanites V department of Chiang Mai University. It is open to the students attending CMU, but I believe that they have one or two courses open to Thais who are not students at the university.

Thanks Shepsi. We will make enquiries at the university.

Please keep us informed of how the cooking lessons go for your partner.

I was lucky in having a number of teachers. Initially a Women's Weekly basic cookbook and phone calls to my mother: Later my grandmother and some old style recipes and advice, and then my wife's family, who taught me South Indian and Malaysian. The basics I learnt from these people have served me very well since.

Personally I could never have got all the basics right without some hands on guidance.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

add veggis after do not fry first. 1st step should always be to have the curry paste and the coconut milk. You are using western technique for cooking asian food. AAAGGGGHHHH

Depends; you see it done either way, I don't think it matters all that much. For example here they fry the chicken with the curry paste first, prior to adding the coconut milk.

[media=]

[/media] But doing it the other way around is also quite okay.

The point is that there are loads of videos like this on Youtube that the OP can watch for inspiration.

[tolstoy]

Because everything on the net and youtube is the right way to do things. I could find a 100 videos and recipes that say to do the way that you suggest, but I guarntee the shops that you probably eat at do not do it that way.

Suggesting someone to use the internet is like going to a library with everybook on the floor. If you don't actually know what you are doing, then you won't be able to discern which is an actual good recipe and which is not.

Anyway Thailand has a cordon blu in BKK, classes held in Thai and English. It is probably more thatn the OP would pay 400k or so for a full year. but perhaps his wife could be the next Julia childe.

I think this is a little bit of a windup anyway. If the Op's wife really wanted to learn to cook, she would. It isn't hard to learn something if you want to. If you want your wife to learn to cook, then learn together. Then you will have fun in the process.

[zippydedodah]

There's a government assisted scheme where Thai citizens can learn vocational skills for 1 THB/hour. I think it is in the Huay Gaew area? A friend's wife learnt bag making as well as cooking there.

Alternatively, David Thompson's "Thai Street Food" has a wide range of excellent, authentic recipes, not to mention the breathtaking photography.

http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/1840915587

my wife looked into that school... on Huay Kaew Road, opposite the university... was considering taking veggie/fruit carving classes that they offer.

big problem was you had to sign up far in advance, classes are usually quite full, and it is a large time commitment... since we have a small child who goes to school and has various afterschool activities, it did not lend itself to her schedule.

but there were lots of classes being offered, for sure.

[Saan]

There is a cooking course given in Thai language at the Humanites V department of Chiang Mai University. It is open to the students attending CMU, but I believe that they have one or two courses open to Thais who are not students at the university.

Thanks Shepsi. We will make enquiries at the university.

Please keep us informed of how the cooking lessons go for your partner.

I was lucky in having a number of teachers. Initially a Women's Weekly basic cookbook and phone calls to my mother: Later my grandmother and some old style recipes and advice, and then my wife's family, who taught me South Indian and Malaysian. The basics I learnt from these people have served me very well since.

Personally I could never have got all the basics right without some hands on guidance.

The Country Woman's Association and Margaret Fulton were my early bibles. Later I branched out, like many others, with Elizabeth David.

I will let everyone know what transpires and thanks for the positive replies.