Thailand – Cooking class with Wandee – Pakinakka Cooking school

My husband and I were fortunate to visit Thailand in April.  We fell in love with the culture, the sceneries, the first-class service and most of all the food!

We were supposed to stay in Khao Lak for 2 nights but ended up there for 5 days.

Wandee, the owner of Pakinakka Cooking school made the stay in Khao Lak one to remember.  What an experience.  She picked us up from our Villa in Khao Lak and took us to the Local Market where all the hotels, restaurants and locals buy their fresh food from.

You can find the most amazing fresh produce at the market, anything from seafood, meat, spices, and vegetables

Freshly made curry pastes

Early morning arrival; roundabout 4h00 from the fishermen

A very interesting fact is that the brinjal is not a vegetable, it’s a berry and related to a tomato

Thai Apple

After our market experience, we went to Wandee’s outdoor cooking school

The view…

We had a choice and decided to make our favourite dishes – Spring rolls, Prawn Pad Thai and Panang curry

Everything was well prepared and beautifully displayed

Prepping the spring rolls, Schalk was an absolute natural

Jorina

Above, some of the ingredients for Pad Thai

Ingredients for the pad thai sauce:  palm sugar, fish sauce & tamarind paste

Pad Thai Sauce

Not to bad for a first try?

Pad Thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food, also a popular dish at local eateries in Thailand

One of our absolute favourites!!!!  Panang curry

The word “Panang” derived from the ancient Khmer language that was adopted by the Thai, meaning “cross” mostly referring to leg position, like sitting cross-legged (on the floor). In the old-time, there was a way of cooking grilled chicken by crossing the chicken’s legs and setting the chicken upright instead of halving the chicken open and cooking it on the grill. The chicken that sat cross-legs up on the grill would be bathed with a curry paste that contained ground roasted peanuts, in the paste, then mixed with coconut cream. It would be brushed with the same mixture over the whole cooking time on the grill. This is a dish called “Gai Panang” or “Chicken Panang”, due to the position of the chicken on the grill.

Later on, the method had been simplified by cutting the chicken into big pieces and cooking them in the curry, in the pot over the stove instead of over the grill. This is the origin of Panang curry.

Source:  www.highheelgourmet.com

I will recommend this experience to everyone that loves Thai cooking.  If your travels take you through Khao Lak get in touch with Wandee:  https://www.pakinnakacookingschool.com/

Happy travels & crazy cooking!!!!