Over the weekend Walter and I had some family over to re-create the dishes we made in our Thai cooking class when we were on our honeymoon in Thailand last April. I skipped over this little recap a few months ago when I recapped our stay at Paresa in Phuket , but a private Thai cooking class was included in our stay and it was one of our favorite parts! 

The chef that led the class was very informative and led us through all the steps to make a traditional Thai dinner. We started out with “Larb Moo” which is a Thai dish made with ground pork, toasted rice grain, thai chili flakes, mint leaf, spring onion stalk, saw tooth coriander leaf, shallot, chicken stock, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and dried chili. As you can see from this long list of ingredients it is a dish full of fresh flavor! When we made it this past weekend we served it in lettuce wraps so it acted more as an appetizer than a first course. 

The main dish we made was called “Gang Kiew Wan Gai”, what we know as Green Curry Chicken. Prior to this class I had never seen the above vegetable which is a Thai Eggplant. The small ball-like vegetables in the bowl in the photo above are baby versions of the eggplant that are in my hands. Since this is the main vegetable in the dish I was worried I would not be able to find them in the US, but luckily I was able to find them in an Asian grocery here. I did not find the baby eggplants, but the ones pictured below were exactly like the ones we used in our dish in Thailand. 

The main flavoring of the dish comes from green chili paste. It is a spicy paste made from thai green chilis, lemongrass, shrimp paste, shallots and an assortment of spices. It is far spicier than this red curry recipe I shared a while back. The green curry paste gets mixed into coconut milk to form the sauce that you cook the chicken and eggplant in. Basil and red chili peppers are additional add ins for enhanced flavor and spice if desired. 

(From our Thai cooking class) 

(From our kitchen this weekend) 

Wherever we travel the food is always a big part of  the experience. We enjoyed Thai food before we visited Thailand. Now, having seen and experienced the land it originates from and having had the opportunity to participate in a cooking class with a Thai chef, we appreciate it so much more. Every time we have Thai food we are reminded of the amazing experiences we had the opportunity to be a part of on our honeymoon in Thailand!