Eat, Pray, Shop in Chiang Mai

 

Eat After our two days in southern Thailand, we hopped on a plane and headed north and inland to Chiang Mai. Like Phuket, we had about 48 hours to spend here and were looking to make the most of it. A friend of mine recommended a place to stay and it just so happened the hostel had a cooking school on site. So on Saturday, which happened to be Nick's and my 6th anniversary, we took an all-day authentic Thai cooking class. It was low season in Thailand so we were the only ones who signed up that day. A private lesson with our own instructor!

Our instructor Suit (that's at least how you pronounce his name... no idea how to spell it) started off the morning by letting us choose 5 dishes EACH that we would get to make. I don't think either of us were anticipating there being THAT much food to consume throughout the day or we wouldn't have eaten so much Thai food the day before. But we were still excited about the prospect of getting to learn how to make so many dishes. Our first step was to go to the market to get what we needed for our dishes. This was one of my favorite stops in all of Chiang Mai... table after table of local produce grown just outside of town.

Our grocey list - in Thai

Sure enough, the picture I took from the plane shows row after row of neatly farmed land. Suit informed us that all of the farms---produce, chicken, goat, fish, etc.---are all right outside of town. That way everything can be brought in fresh each morning (!). This brought back a comment that had stuck with me from earlier in the week when talking to my dive guide Peter. He said he was heading to uni in New Zealand and I raved about how amazing the food was... fresh locally grown produce and grass-fed beef. "What other kind is there?" he asked without missing a beat. I felt like I was put in my place as an American who had grown complacent to eat cows raised in factories, enhanced with growth hormones. "Good point," was the only reply I could muster up.

As we continued around the market, Suit pointed out all the different kinds of tropical fruits to make sure we knew what they were. We saw durian, mangosteen, dragon fruit, green papaya, ripe papaya, and jack fruit. In the veggie category, we saw eggplant that look nothing like our big purple ones, kaffir lime (a leaf, not a fruit), long beans, kale, and every size and color of chilis you can imagine. So many of the fruits and veggies that I didn't know from the States were ones that I had seen at local produce stands in Guam, but had no idea what to do with. I immediately got the idea to try to use more local produce when I get back, even if it is (for some unexplainable reason) more expensive than the stuff that has flown 9,000 miles to get there.

The rest of our time in the market was pretty entertaining. Here are the rest of the pictures:

 

Excited to see so many fresh veggies!

 

She is cutting noodles for Jen's favorite dish Pad See Ew 

Fish is fresh because you buy it still swimming!

Nothing quite as exciting as buying unrefrigerated meat in the open market!

Delicious fresh fruit ready to eat! Each "10" baht means it costs about 35 cents!

One-eyed dog in the side cart of the motorbike, helping deliver a basket of durian. 

Definitely not in Kansas anymore, folks

Once back at the Chili Cooking Academy, we started prepping for each dish by chopping all the produce we just bought. Suit showed us exactly how to cut each fruit or veggie to be the perfect size for the dish we were making. Once finished, we arranged each item on a dish with the other ingredients for the recipe, so everything was neatly together as we made our way over to the wok.

But before we could start cooking we had to make---yes make---the coconut milk for our curry dishes. We had purchased a bag of freshly shredded coconut in the market. We mixed 1 cup boiling water with 2 cups regular water and then squeezed the water through the coconut with our (clean) hands. We then sifted the coconut water into a different pan, poured the coconut back in it with more hot and regular water, and squeezed it through again to make the milk. I had no idea it was this much work to get the stuff we usually just buy in a can. In fact, so far all of my experiences with fresh coconut have involved a disproportionate amount of hard work.

But it was well worth it when we had the final product to add to our dishes. In fact, one of the dishes was mango sticky rice, which Jen had had in restaurants before, but she said it never tasted this good. (The only time I'd had it was in the Philippines and it was delicious, but I don't think I realized how much work must have gone into it). While we were taking our siesta after eating three Thai dishes, Suit stuck the coconut milk into the sun to dry it out, then we toasted it in the wok and added it to the sticky rice that had been smothered in coconut cream. Add to that fresh mangos and viola!

Some of the dishes we learned to make were Chicken with Basil, Veggie stir fry, Papaya salad and chili dip. We also had the opportunity to eat all of these dishes. In fact, after we'd finish each dish, Suit would declare, "Now we eating!!" It was exciting at first but by Thai dish #3, Jen and I were stuffed! (And not gonna lie, could have gone for a slice of pizza). Thai chilis are hot!

In fact, we did not really eat much the rest of the day. It was amazing how much we had learned, though, and now back on Guam I am excited to try out some of the recipes (tonight!). I am going to make the sweet and sour chicken recipe you see to my left. It won't be quite the same because the ingredients won't all be as fresh, plus I won't have Suit yelling over my shoulder or grabbing the spatula to show me how to do it right. But I'm excited to give it a go and glad I spent our anniversary learning something I can share with Nick, and family and friends down the road. Yet another reason to come visit us (I am running out of reasons... if you're even still considering it, just do it, trust me!).

 
 




Pray So pray is probably not the most accurate title, as we did not in fact go meditate in front of the giant gold Buddhas (but it makes for a catchier post title!). We did, however, make a point of stopping in many of the ornate temples we passed by in Chiang Mai.

We really liked the old temples better than the new stuff

 See what I mean?

Ran into some monks here and there. 

At the airport they have a special seating area and get to board first. 

They also, surprisingly, have cell phones. 

Shop In addition to stuffing our faces with Thai food and wandering in and out of temples, Jen and I shopped like champs. We went to a street market on Friday evening and by the end of the night were bartering pros. Saturday we went to an afternoon market that featured more locally made handicrafts. At first everything is so mesmerizing and the prices are incredible. By the end of the walk, though, we realized we were mostly surrounded by junk. We picked up a few gifts for people and went on our way. The walk was great, though, for our bellies stuffed with Chili Academy Thai food.

 

This was my favorite picture from the market... 

all the local people pouring over the table full of books translated into Thai.

On our stroll through town, we ran into this school group... 

who were all wearing ridiculous uniforms. Project Runway, please help!

Our favorite restaurant... we ate here both nights. 

Some of the chairs are swings that hang from the ceiling!

And we did get a massage or two while in Chiang Mai, however, NOT at an outdoor massage mart like this one that showed up on the sidewalk Sunday morning. Shocking that there are no customers...

Overall we found Chiang Mai to be relaxing, fresh, and let's just say, extremely affordable. Definitely worth a stop for anyone heading to Thailand. And I'd highly recommend the Chili Cooking Academy. Or weasel your way into a dinner invitation at our house and save yourself the trouble. Now we eating!!