Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thailand: Tour of the Thai Market in Chiang Mai

After our first day in Chiang Mai, we got up super early to take a Thai cooking class. The Four Seasons Cooking School begins at a fascinating tour of the local Thai food market. 

Frogs
Some of the aromas are not so pleasant, but it was so interesting to see all of the ingredients and learn how the Thai people use them.  They have so many different varieties of basil with the most beautiful smells.  Thai people use a lot of Kaffir lime leaves and Kaffir limes which taste different than our limes.  Our instructor said that if you can't find them here to substitute for our lemons rather than limes.  They also use lots of lemongrass that has a straw like smell. 

Chillies are a must in Thai cooking and I brought a bag of the red ones home with me. 

We also used galangal in the cooking which is similar to ginger. 

I never realized that long beans were actually this long.

It was so amazing to get a guided tour of the Thai market to really get an understanding about how to use the ingredients. 
Stinky beans

More coming soon about cooking in the beautiful Four Seasons Cooking facility...

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