When we told people we were going to Thailand we kept hearing the same thing over and over: “You should take a Thai cooking class while you are there!” After hearing this repeatedly we decided all of these people couldn’t be wrong and it was time to find a great cooking class! I read many reviews (Thank you TripAdvisor!) and decided that the cooking school for us was located in Bangkok. The Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy generously sponsored our four hour cooking class and we are very grateful for the time we spent with them. Our entire experience was first rate and I would do it all again if I had the chance.

We met at the cooking school headquarters and got to our know head chef and instructor for the day, Air. Air then took our group to the local market where we looked at produce and learned about the important herbs and vegetables used in Thai cooking. Everything was so fresh and beautiful; the only downside was how incredibly hot and muggy it was even early in the morning. We were excited to get back to the air conditioned kitchen!

Back at the cooking school, our stations had been laid out with everything we needed for vegetable/herb prep as well as our individualized menus. We actually asked Air to choose our menu items so that we would venture out of our comfort zones. Here is what I made:

• Green Curry Paste (and this paste takes QUITE awhile to make)
• Gaeng Kheao Wan Gai (green curry with chicken)
• Tom Kha Gai (chicken in coconut milk)
• Sen Yai Pad See Eaw (fried sweet noodles with pork or chicken)
• Gai Pad Med Ma-Muang (stir fried chicken with cashews)
• Kluay Buad Chi (fried bananas in sweet coconut milk)

Is your mouth watering yet?! Just seeing the menu made me giddy! Honestly, I do not think there is tastier food on the planet than good Thai food and now we were in a giant kitchen getting ready to make all of these delicious dishes! It was pretty exciting.

The most time consuming part was making the green curry paste. We chopped up ingredients and then used a mortar and pestle to mash it all up.

Then we worked on each of our individual dishes. Air walked us through each dish and supervised our skills. As we would finish vegetable prep for one dish, a staff member would take it away to the cooking area and we would start on another. The cooking school has a good sized staff equipped to work with a large group; everything was extremely organized. We were able to focus on learning better cutting techniques and really prepping our vegetables properly and the staff kept all of us moving smoothly.

Once all of our dishes were prepped it was time to move into the cooking area!

Cooking went fast. The trick with Thai cooking is taking your time with prep, making sure that your pan is VERY hot and cooking quickly. Again, the staff at the school made sure that as we finished one dish a new pan was ready for the next dish. It was seamless and made our entire cooking experience so easy and enjoyable. The kitchen was easy to navigate and very well organized. It truly was an ideal classroom set up.

Then…the BEST part of the day. EATING!!!

My favorite dishes were the Tom Ka soup (best we had on our entire trip), the Pad Thai and especially the fried bananas. We were each passing our dishes to each other, sampling and exclaiming about how GOOD it all was. We were in Thai food heaven. Truly, it was one of my very favorite experiences of our entire Thailand trip. We left with full bellies and big smiles.

Thank you thank you THANK YOU to the Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy! You exceeded all of our expectations and awakened a newfound love of Thai cooking. Not only did we have a fantastic prep and cooking (and EATING) experience, but they also gave us complete menus and instructions for each dish that we made. Air was a great instructor and my only regret is that we couldn’t bring him home to our kitchen!

There are many good cooking schools in Thailand and certainly in Bangkok…but I don’t know how there could be a better one than the Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy. If you find yourself in Bangkok please make a reservation with this incredible cooking school; you won’t be sorry! Classes are four hours long and are classified as beginner, vegetarian, private and professional. All instructors speak excellent English, ingredients are fresh and carefully washed and prepared and the entire school is air conditioned. They even have specialized classes if you are interested in learning how to cook a more complicated dish. The school is located in Bangkok next to the BTS Bang Chak station and is very easy to get to in either a taxi or skytrain. Thank you again!

*Our cooking experience was sponsored by the Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy but all opinions expressed above are my own. I only work with brands that I believe in and that I feel will be appreciated and enjoyed by others!