may kaidee

today i took the vegetarian cooking course offered at May Kaidee restaurant. the lady that runs this one, (there's another in bangkok) is named duan.
i was the only student for the day, so i got a one-on-one cooking class!
it was awesome. it started out at about 9AM, when i showed up, and we headed out to the market.


this is duan, holding a little arrangement of kaffir lime leaf, basil, ginger, and turmeric.


duan led me around the market and explained about a lot of different items.
like the difference between ginger and thai ginger, or galang...


as well as a huge variety of spices and teas...


and types of beans and rices.

the spices and rice were all in this tiny little shop run by this guy:

he's the classic example of the sweet old shop owner. he just hangs out and talks to people all day. and loves every minute of it.

after the market, we headed back to the restaurant with the basket full of ingredients.


we prepared them, as well as some soy protein things, some tofu and spices, and headed into the kitchen.





duan's kitchen fits her.
small.
so i end up looking like a giant in comparison to her, and her mini kitchen.




ridiculous.

anyway, she taught me how to make about 14 different dishes in total.

these were the first two. tom kha and tom yum. coconut milk soup, and a clear soup.
this was where we used the herbs and spices in the arrangement from the market.


this was one of the last dishes. vegetable spring rolls.
i also learned how to make peanut sauce, massaman curry, green curry, pad thai, mango with sticky rice, papaya salad, thai stirfry, and pumpkin hummus.


there's all my dishes. i gave some away to one customer, and took the rest home. i'm gonna give a lot of it to my friends in the guesthouse here.

anyway, i have to thank my cousin kath for giving me the idea to go take the course there. it was totally worth it. i can't wait to try and recreate some of these dishes at home.