Pantawan cooking class

Tonight we went to Pantawan cooking school. This was created from the ground up to be an awesome experience and they have really dialed it in.

We visited the local market. Michelle and I are getting much better at recognizing the Thai vegetables. We were also exposed to a few treats, including fried pig skin, a delicacy called dragon’s egg that is kind of a sweet pastry with sesame seeds on the outside as well as some thai sausage.

Upon arriving at the cooking school, we knew we in for some something special. We were only a short drive off of a busy street, but were in the country in no time flat:

We had another couple from California and a lady from Newfoundland in the class with us. The class was set up really nice. We all helped create the sweet red paste to be used in the tom yum, and then we would follow a pattern: The chef would go through a meal, showing us how to do it and giving us a taste – so we could judge how sour / spicy we wanted it & know how to adjust when we did it ourselves. We would then disperse to the cooking stations and we’d chop, grind & cook – then we’d return to the main chef station to go to the next meal.

First up was Tom Yum and I have to say this was awesome. Very nice. Jackson opted to completely eliminate the thai chiles from his version, and I got to add an extra one for some heat.

Next up we created a steamed plum fish with a nice ginger/minced pork/oyster sauce. This fish was so tender. We’re going to have to invest in a steamer because this was really nice.

The next course was pork fried rice. It was surprising how fast this went together. You really need to have everything ready & the key to this is day old rice. If you use fresh rice, it turns all mushy. We also practiced how to get the egg nice & scrambled without mixing with everything. Turning it upside down using a bowl makes for a nice presentation!

 

And the final course was what Michelle has been wanting to learn forever: Fresh Spring rolls. We always enjoy these when we go out but our attempts at making them in the past have met with disaster. We learned very key things: How to wet the rice paper and most importantly how to keep them from sticking to the plate while you’re making them. (sprinkle a bit of water on the plate to lubricate it!)

We used a mortar & pestle to make the chili sauce for dipping!

Then it was time to eat. They reheated the Tom Yum, and each of us had an oil flame to keep the fish hot.

What a great night! We all had a fun time and the food was awesome. Jackson is being a trooper & doing really well with the knives, wok and mortar & pestle! No leftovers which is a good thing because we have another cooking school starting at 9am tomorrow morning.