Presenting Chiang Mai’s Next Top Chefs

The title of this post might be a bit exaggerated, however we started writing this after having just completed a full day cooking class and we were still floating on cloud nine. It’s not everyday we get to cook seven courses of delicious Thai food! With that said, we are fully aware that Tom Colicchio and Anthony Bourdain won’t be knocking on our door, begging us to dazzle them with our cooking skills… but let us stay in foodie heaven a little longer and tell you about our awesome cooking experience!

Chiang Mai is home to several cooking schools and it can be a bit overwhelming when deciding which one to go with. How do you know which school has that extra something-something letting you know you’ve picked the right place? Well after spending the day with Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School, we can say we’ve found one with some extra spice!

Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School is run by Gayray and her sister Moon. They’ve created a cooking course that not only allowed us to whip up some classic Thai dishes, but also taught us about the food that is such an integral part of the Thai culture.

When booking with this school there are two options of where you can actually take the cooking class: in town or at their farm. The farm course also brings you to the Maejo Market to pick up the local ingredients. Obviously, we went with the farm course as we’ve become somewhat obsessed with fresh food during our travels and thought this would be a perfect fit for us.

We met our cooking instructor Indy (one of the funniest people we’ve encountered, but more on that later) in town and pilled into a van with 10 other fellow beginner chefs. During our market trip, Indy walked us around and gave us the inside scoop on all the different ingredients we would be cooking with. We now know difference between sticky rice and normal rice… Finally!

After she gave us a tour of the market, we had some free time to do some exploring on our own. Getting lost in markets is one of our favorite things, so we were happy to weave in and out of fresh vegetables and rub elbows with the locals!

After our visit to the Maejo Market we made our way to where all the magic happens… the farm! The farm at Asia Scenic was a little hidden paradise for those looking to see more of what Chiang Mai has to offer. It’s filled with organic vegetables, herbs and we even got up close to some doves! Yes, doves… because obviously the best cooking class in Chiang Mai would have doves. Don’t worry though, they were just for looking at… no dove stir fry on our menu! (Did we just put the image of dove stir fry in your head? That was a little dark, sorry!)

We also had the opportunity to put on some super chic rice paddy hats and take a tour of the farm. They don’t use any chemicals making everything 100% organic, which allowed us to pick and try things while walking around!

So now for the most epic menu of Thai food which we cooked with all our heart and soul! We were given an option of several dishes to choose from which included our choice of stir fry, salad, soup, dessert, spring roll, curry paste and curry. Since we wanted to try as much as possible, we each picked different dishes for all our courses. Sharing meals… one of the many perks of traveling with your significant other!

Once we decided on what we wanted to cook, it was time for test our skills and play the role we were meant for… Chiang Mai’s next top chefs! This is where we want to give a round-of-applause for Indy, our fearless, hilarious, leader and by far the best cooking instructor! As she put it, we had to cook with our emotions, and that we did (one of us may have been a little too emotionally liberal with the salt).

During our full-day class we cooked 7 dishes and then devoured 7 meals which made for a perfect day! Here is the lengthly list of dishes we cooked: pad thai, cashew nut with chicken, chicken spicy salad, papaya salad, tom yum soup, coconut milk soup, spring rolls, sticky rice with mango, deep fried bananas, panang curry and khaw soi curry. Our Thai restaurant will be opening soon!

After cooking our Thai dishes we rested with our “food babies” on the hammocks and took in the beauty of the organic farm.

It was truly an incredible day, and an extra perk of taking this class was receiving Gayray’s cookbook. Besides the recipes for the dishes we made it also includes some valuable advice for all you smart independent women looking to change the world. Gayray said it perfectly, “We want to show everyone in the world that Thai women can run a business without a rich boyfriend!” Girl power!

Thank you Asia Scenic Thai Cooking School for hosting us during our trip!

As always, our opinions are our own as we Talk Travel.