Cooking… is definitely not my thing, although I’d like to change it. Actually, I’d like to change it pretty often. Łukasz laughs at me because I’d like to do a million things, but WHEN??? However, I still want to do them and I believe that one day I will find the time, or maybe someone will find a way to prolong my days, or (s)he will invent a substitute of sleep that will allow me to gain a few more hours a day for myself. And this substitute wouldn’t be illegal or harmful 🙂
So, I almost never cook. I just sometimes make pasta for my pasta-loving son, or for pasta-loving me, or even sometimes for Łukasz. It’s quick and it doesn’t require my full commitment, as I have to simultaneously take care of Maks, or reply to many professional e-mails. Unfortunately… I am additionally discouraged by the fact that I’d have to prepare one thing for Maks and another for Łukasz (spicy!!), because when I tried to find a midpoint, the dish would be too spicy for Maks and Łukasz would nonetheless ask: “did you add any spices?” 🙂
I just hope that when I’m pregnant again (if this ever happens), or maybe during my maternity leave, I will find the time and we will once more have homemade granola for breakfast or other more advanced morning options than tomato sandwiches, as we used to in the “pre-Maks” time … If not then, than I don’t know – my cooking will probably have to wait until retirement! 🙂 But I still don’t abandon hope! 🙂
Due to this lack of time and dearth in the field of “I wanna cook!”, I’ve always been interested in all sorts of culinary workshops, cooking classes, and similar exciting events. Obviously, it’s preferable to experience it abroad, as it’s best to learn about Thai cuisine in Thailand, French – in France, and not in Warsaw. I’ve been dreaming about it for a while, but it has never happened before. Because we couldn’t find the time in our tight travelling schedule, because it’s expensive, because we wanted to do it together and we didn’t have a sitter for Maks… but this year we finally made it! The Vijitt Resort Phuket hotel, where we were resting after our month-long trip, invited me to participate in a Thai cooking class.
I learned one thing from this two-hour-long class: if you have the chance to participate in this kind of experience during your trip, don’t hesitate! You’ll get the chance to become familiar with the local flavours, to see vegetables and herbs that constitute the basics of a cuisine, and that you can’t even recognize, and afterwards you can create your own dishes under the supervision of a chef… and eat them. I don’t know how it works in other places, but in Thailand another advantage is that you suddenly realize that it’s much easier, and not so time-consuming to prepare dishes you love, and long for in Poland. It’s most important to have the right products and you’re ready to begin 🙂
apron, cap, cooking booth and let’s go!
Our cooking class started with a visit to the hotel vegetable-garden. We were shown the herbs, plants and vegetables used in Thai cuisine. We were looking at them, touching them, smelling them. Thai basil, kaffir lime leaves, Chinese cabbage… I remembered the smell of pandan leaves most – in Thai cuisine (and other cuisines) they are added to rise, curry and very often to deserts – i.e. in Cambodia we had a delicious crème brûlée flavoured with pandan leaves.
Also the Thai eggplant gets your attentions because it looks completely different than our eggplant! It’s a small, green, ball-shaped, and often used in curry-type dishes – we added them to the chicken green curry. You can see it here.
With this broad knowledge on the ingredients used in Thai cuisine, we’re off to cooking. A visit in a vegetable-garden is a good start. Other cooking classes that we’ve seen advertised in Thailand and Cambodia usually started with a visit to a local bazaar where you can also see, smell, and taste…
Let’s start! The “chef’s” booth features ingredients, such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, curry paste, chilli paste, garlic, vegetables, coconut milk and palm sugar. Well, cooking would be marvellous at home if someone else took care of providing ingredients and of preparation 🙂 I have a feeling that in these circumstances my cooking would be much better! 🙂
green curry paste
palm sugar – it has a different texture from our sugar 🙂
let’s go – spicy grilled beef salad
The lesson is about one-hour-long and there are 5 dishes to prepare! It’s so nice to have everything ready for you while you just have to stir, fry, add, taste, and not have to slice, wash, chop, etc. So, what are we cooking?
1) spicy grilled beef salad for starters
2) the famous spicy shrimp soup called Tom Yum Goong or Tom Yam Kung
3) chicken green curry – one of the dishes usually associated with Thailand
4) trivial fried vegetables in oyster sauce
5) and bananas in coconut milk for desert – delicious and easy to make, although I still regret that I didn’t have the chance to learn how to make the divine famous Thai desert – sticky rice with mango.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to keep the secret knowledge to ourselves – today we’re posting the first recipe for one of the dishes we prepared. We’re not going to act wise, because it’s not our field of expertise, but we believe that it would be a shame to keep the recipe to ourselves 🙂 There’s still some time before Christmas, so it’s time to try something light and oriental before we dig into the traditional dishes: carp, Polish dumplings, herring and mushroom soup!
So, let’s start with the spicy grilled beef salad (yum nuea yang) – a perfect starter or a snack for a meeting with friends…
spicy grilled beef salad
What do we need? (for a single portion, or for two small “starter” portions if you’re planning a few more dishes to follow ;))
– beef sirloin – 150 g
– strip-sliced cucumber – approx. 100 g
– strip-sliced tomatoes – a small handful
– strip-sliced onion – half a handful
– chopped green part of spring onion – 2 stems
– chopped chilli – according to your preferences but don’t go too wild, unless you are as immune to spiciness as Łukasz! 🙂
– limejuice – 2 table spoons
– fish sauce – 2 table spoons
– sugar – 1 tea spoon
As you can see, in this case the ingredients aren’t very fancy. You can get most of them in a large store; even the fish sauce is becoming more available.
How do we prepare the salad? Quickly, easily and with pleasure, so it’s my favourite way.
Fry or grill the beef – according to your preferences – ours was “medium” and it was delicious! We fried it for 1.5-2 minutes on each side. When it cools down a bit, you slice it into think strips. Afterwards, you mix the beef, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, spring onion and chilli, and stir well. You add the fish sauce, limejuice and sugar, and stir again. You serve it right away, when the beef is still warm! Marvellous! 🙂
You can also make a vegetarian version of the salad, choose a different type of meat, or go with a fish 🙂
I’d love to have it right now!
0 Comments