Has anyone done a Thai cooking course in Patong Beach that they could recommend any help appreciated
Thanks RED

Hi Red,

Some friends of ours did a cooking course at the Club Andaman Beach Resort. I don't know how much it was, but the food looked great and you cook outdoors near the swimming pool. They had a great time, and the food tasted great! You can look it up on their website, http://www.clubandaman.com under activities.

Andye

Thanks Andye do you know if you need to be staying at the Resort or can you just turn up off the street.
Thanks again RED

I am not certain, as we were staying there, but you could send them an email or just go there and ask, I am sure you would be able to do it.

Andye

Hi Red

The last two years I have been to cooking classes at Pums Cooking School on Rat-u-thit. It is really good with small classes
STEVE

Hi Red

Have made a couple of 'half hearted' enquiries re this myself but only with a couple of the hotels, being the Holiday Inn & Patong Merlin. As a 'fabulous thai cooking forum member' (speak up or forever hold your peace) advised me, you need to be slightly wary of the hotels' cooking classes as you may end up teaching them a thing or two. Oh, BTW this is for my husband, not me - I'm going shopping! Info received as follows:

Holiday Inn -
"Cooking class will organized ever day with Baht. 1,600 / class / person and we plan to implement the Master Cooking class might be implement in this October 2007
please contact us for more information in September 2007."

Patong Merlin -
"700bt per person, available on Tuesday and Friday @ 2pm. We offer 2 dishes out of 5
*Sweet and sour prawns
*Tom Yam Goong
*Tom Kha Kai
*Garlic and pepper prawns
*Fried chicken and cashew nut and dried chilli"

As SteveR has mentioned, Pums Cooking School has had some pretty good reviews, if anyone has any info re costs and details, would love to hear!

Cheers
Tiff xxx

Thanks SteveR and Tiffo I checked out Pum's at http://www.pumthaifoodchain.com and it looks pretty good so I'll give it a try in Sept when I'm there.
Thanks again RED

Hi all,
I am speaking now so i don't ever have to hold my piece.
There are many places to do Thai Cooking classes in Phuket and most of the hotels do them for a small cost. Be careful though as although i am a pretend cook i showed the Thai chef at the Horizon beach hotel a thing or two and he was trying to copy my style. (not quite that bad but not to far from the truth) as Tiffo said the plumb school is supposed to be very popular, Goggle the site. Also Mom Tri's Boat house is also supposed to be very good http://www.momtrisboathouse.com/ oh and thanks for the complement Tiff!!!
Cheers Pete.

Hi all,
Just further to the question on Pum cooking school, they are at
Pum Thai Restaurant
204/32 Rajuthit 200 Pi Rd and their cooking classes start from 450 Baht up to 4650 Baht just look at there website listed in an above post.
Happy Eating,
Cheers, Pete.

Did the cookind class last month, cheapest is 900 bht which goes for 90 mimutes, we did the 4 hour class for 2500 bht, this is there most popular class, includes a tour to the market 4 dishes a certificate and a recipe book, can highly recommend.
madmax

Hi, hubby and I did the Holiday Inn cooking course. Each day a different menu, so if you can get a choice of what you learn and select the day that is suitable.
Limits of 8 people but when we did the course, we were the only two there, so it was one on one.
We really enjoyed it and have cooked what we learned when we came home. A recipe book, apron and certificate come with the package.
Here is a photo of what we made, which consisted of Fish Mousse, Tom Yan Goon (spell), Mussaman Curry (delicious) and Seafood Salad.

Where did you do cooking class which took you to markets. Sounds perfect

I was in Phuket in August and during a visit to an unknown and hidden restaurant (word of mouth)the owner/chef mentioned he lectured in culture and food at the local University. I mentioned I'd like a cooking lesson, the next day found me back at the outdoor kitchen whipping up sweet and sour fish and Tom Kha Gai. I could have made more dishes but realised I then had to eat it. mr Siam and I then sat ate and drank while I had a lesson in Thai "food" language. The cost a mere 500bht. The restaurant is down a long flight of very steep stairs in the garden of "mr Siams" home,it looks over Karta Noi and has access to Siam Beach. It is the perfect place for a sunset meal(we had too much cloud).Five courses numerous G&T's,several beers and a fruit platter for four people cost approx$18 NZeach.
KHALUANG RESTAURANT

Now this is something I would really like to do. I will be in Phuket in 3 weeks. Any more details would be great
Cheers

Well I finally made it to Pums cooking school,I did the 4hr class which cost 2500 baht worth every bit of it(you need 4hrs just to eat the food you make)A big thankyou to our teacher Pui,she was so much fun as well as informative it was one of the best days I had in Patong.There are only 4 people in a class one of which was another forum member (Hi Denise)so you get plenty of time with the teacher. Definately recommend it.
Regards RED

I did the cooking school at PUM's with RED which was fantastic. Pui our teacher was excellent, becuase it was such a small class of 4 she got to spend a lot of individual time with us getting to know us and helping us out. We got to watch each other cook and most of us chose to do different dishes and we all got to taste. To give our bellies a break we went to the market to see the fresh produce and sample some traditional Thai foods - like a coconut marshmallow - yummo. Great company (Hi Graeme), great atmosphere, great teacher ALOT of fun!!

I also did the Phuket Cooking School class as well. At this one we had individual cooking stations which was great and then you got to sit down and eat your creations. With this class you didn't get to choose your dishes they were set, but you watch the teacher cook and then you went off to your kitchen and cooked them up yourself. Before arriving at the cooking school we were all given 20baht and an item to purchase at the market for us to use, when we toured through the market. My ingredient was galangal. Great view, lots to eat, lots to do.

I liked both schools each for different reasons, but as a teacher I am the worst learner.

Pums Restaurant is on Rat u thit road next door the the pink Christian Massage place and the Phuket Cooking school is about a 30min drive from Patong. When you book the class you transfers included in the price.

Definately recommend both classes.

Denise and Red that sounds great, we might have to add that to our trip next year. We always head to our local Thai restaurant when need need our fix, but would be handy to learn a few choice dishes ourselves. We have not even been back in Oz a week and we decided tonight we would eat out at our fave Thai restaurant here just to try and re-live and help us over our denial that we are home again and not in Patong where we would rather be.
Thanks for the great feedback will look up the cooking schools website.
Adrian

Hi Adrian
Getting a food fix is easy getting my Thai massage fix is a lot harder (might need to get my Wife to do a massage course next time we're there, dont like my chances though)Got some good recipes if you want to try some cooking.Great JBR's by the way.
Regards RED

I agree with you Red its Massages for me all the way, don't think I would suggest it to your wife though, it might get you in deep do do !! Although you did do the cooking course so you may have some bonus points up your sleave.

But maybe this is a whole me section we could start on this forum "Recipes direct from Phuket". I certainly wouldn't mind doing some cooking. I have to say I love the food in Thailand but never get as excited about the Thai you buy here, its just not the same.
If you guys posted a few recipies I am sure there are some of us that would love to give them a go!!!

Michelle

Hi Michelle
Love your idea, ran it past AWD-Alan who suggested it could headed under Sharing Cultural Information with the hope that we can get Thai people to contribute their favourite recipes as well as other facets of their culture.I'll start it off with my favourite Tom kha gai soup.

Great to hear you enjoyed the class red i might have to give it a try myself this September.
Cheers, Pete.

I did Pum's last week, 900B for 1 and half hour class in the evening for dinner, just the boyriend and I. We made Tom Yum Goong, Tom Kha Gai, and green chicken curry. I had such a good time that I ended up buying a proper copy of one of the full cookbooks.

Pum's was great! Glad to hear you enjoyed it miskatsu! Did you have Pui as your teacher - she's so cute. I brought the cookbook too and it has been put to heaps of use.

Enjoy you're cooking!!

yeah, Pui was my teacher! She was great, really funny. Barely been back a week and decided to cook up some Thai the other night, was super easy after taking the class. The hardest part was finding all the ingredients at the shops! Apparently Galangal is currently out of season so I just used a little bit of ginger instead.

I can highly recommend Pum's cooking classes. We meant Pum herself who is very down to earth.Between laughter and eating Pum's cooking class was a highlight for myself,husband and our friends.
dello

i went to Pum's Cooking Class in Patong some 7 years ago, it was a very good experience especially as i am a man... lol. not alot else to do in Patong at that time...er.
Pum is very nice and she has one in Phi Phi as well, very enjoyable 4 hrs or so for little money.

Hey Red,
Well its finally happened, for my birthday i was given a 4 hour cooking class at Pums in Patong from by 2 boys so i am excited!!! My wife Jane said she will come along after for the feed. We are in Patong from 11/9 to 19/9 so i can't wait this will be our 3rd trip back to Phuket.
So with any luck i will pick up some tips and new ideas and post them on our return.
Cheers, Pete.

Happy Birthday Pete
You had better get Jane to get there early because if it's like my day you all cook one course then share them between yourselves I'm guessing you will have 4 in your class so you can end up trying 16 dishes each,strongly recommend you have a very light breakfast.
I hope you have Pui for your teacher she is so much fun,I'm sure you'll have a great day and don't forget to take your camera
Looking forward to your post when you get back(perhaps you can ask someone at Pum's to post a recipe or two on the forum)
Hope you all have a great time
Regards RED

I did my cooking class with RED (Hi RED - planning my next trip as we speak still sweet talking Mr Mastercard. He's coming around to my way of thinking) and I recommend no breakfast, just coffee or tea.

Pui is awesome, ask her if she can post the Banana and coconut milk recipe we made in June. See if you can make it there is nothing to it and its so yummy and refreshing after all that food.

Have a great time!!

Hi Red, well i did the 4 Hour cooking class at Pums Restaurant a week ago and it was just fantastic, my Teacher was Pui and she had a great sense of humor and taught me allot about cooking Thai food. I used to think i was a pretty good Thai cook until Pui showed me the right way and how to prepare things properly.

I can highly recommend this class for foodies and non foodies and the good part was you choose the 4 dishes you would like to cook and then they told Jane to come back at 12.30 and 2.30 so she could share the meal with me. What a great day! this is one of the best cooking classes i have ever done

Hi Pete
Sounds like you had a good time at Pums, Pui really does make it a lot of fun and being able to choose your own 4 dishes makes it much better, I,m guessing you'll be doing your favourites at home a bit more often now, I certainly do more than I used to and I really enjoy it(no complaints from the wife either)Glad you enjoyed youself so much .
Regards RED

Hello Tiff, Pete & Red

Like yourselves I consider myself a good cook, love Thai food and I have made it a point to sample most of the cooking classes availiable in Phuket for the last 12 years.

They may be cheap but I agree with you that you can teach the hotel cheffs a few things and found that just a few dishes done up in a commercial kitchen was a majour dissapointment for myself and not worth the time.

I used to rave about Pat's home cooking that she conducts in her home kitchen which is designed like a TV cooking show set up and the way that she teaches Westerners ( maximum of 4 guests ) is a reflection of the many years that she lived in California.

I also enjoyed Pum's but after the third visit I got bored even though they were very friendly I was not interested in the Patong style bland Thai food.

My personal preference at this time is the Thai Cookery School on Suri Island outside of Phuket town (transfers included) and loved the location on the beach. There are 6 dishes offered each day on their brocher and you pick out the day that you want to go depending on what you want to learn to cook. The market shopping first with the very compitant English cook/guides was an eye opener even for myself as a local and durring each dish they show you how to increase or decrease the spices according to your own personal taste. Everyone has their own personal cooking station and after the demo you make 1 or two dishes, you hen sit down together to eat it inside the grass and bamboo sala on the beach.

Yikes! after 3 sittings there is no way you will talk about what you will have for dinner after you go back to the hotel with 6 dishes inside your cammel hump. I personaly plan to keep going back untill I learn to make every dish they offer which could present a problem as they just changed the daily menus again.

PS.. If you are looking for Tamarind paste for making Phad Thai back home you can find the little plasic pouches for only 9 baht each in Carrefore. If you bye the bottled sauce it only lasts for month in the fridge after it's been opened.

Happy dining and regards from Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Hi Richard
Sounds like I've got another excuse to come back to the LOS,is that the Phuket Thai cookery school in Rasada or a different one?
With all that Thai cooking experience you should have a fair range of recipes, any favourites you can share (hint hint)
And should we expect to see Richard and Megumi's Thai restuarant
when we return.
And a Big Thanks to Yourself and Megumi for the Friday BBQ its a great night
Regards RED

Hi Red

This Thai cooking school is the one located on the beach at Suray Island, Rasada in Phuket Town as you suspected. You can check out the current daily dishes they offer on-line at http://www.phuket-thaicookeryschool.com and look at the Friday/Saturday menu of dishes. This is my personal favourite day beginning with the market shopping tour, then cooking and eating Tom Yam with Prawns, Spring Rolls, Green Curry with Chicken, Pad Thai, Chicken with Cashew Nuts finished off with Mango with Sticky Rice.

Do not even consider eating before you go as I am known as a big eater but with all of this even I ask for a take-away of my left overs ( Megumi expects and waits at home for my my Pad Thai )

Check out the fantastic location on the beach and immagin yourself with beer in hand sitting down to 3 separate meals of all your favourit Thai dishes that you have been tought to add or subtract the main spices to get things just perfect for your own personal tastes.

I never do the Friday choice because of the all-you-can-eat Western style BBQ that is part of the Friday Night Socials but during the evening we have groups of friends and families organize to go out the next morning for this special food event. It's a great thing to do during a rainy day instead of constant shopping and the guys seem to have as much fun as the ladies turning things in to sort of a cooking competion.

In regards to sharring recipes they have a post card style of wrack that you can take as many dish ingrediant /cooking direction cards as you want for dishes other then what you have been doing and you can sort things out on your own later if you are compitant in a kitchen. As mentioned before I have tried many of the other availiable options but up untill now this place is my personal favourite.

Happy Dining and Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Hi Richard
Actually I was kind of hoping you could post your favourite recipe.
Regards RED

Hey there Richard,
Thanks for the info it also gives us an other reason to go back again. That cooking school sounds great so i will have to give it a try.
Jane and i will be back with a group next October Richard so we will have to catch up again for the Friday night BBQ, we did it in 2006 and loved the experience.
Thanks again the all the info on the cooking schools.
Cheers, Pete.

Hello Red & Pete
As you know I do not make that many posts on this forum due to the working hours we have limiting our free time. However if this post will help to earn my forum member cooking merit badge then how about this quick and simple recipe.

This is considered fast food for a local on the go and can be found almost anywhere. The real Thai name is "Pad Kra Paw Kai" but to be easily understood just say "Pak Apaw Gai" (for chicken) or "Pak Apaw Moo" (for pork) and after you say this add on "Kai Dow" if you want a fried egg on top that is standard.

2 tbsp vegetable oil, 3 tbsp chopped garlic, 6 birdseye chillies according too taste ( the small red and green ones and I prefer to add more ) 1 cup raw minced chicken or pork, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tbs black been sauce, 1/3 cup chicken stock, a pinch of ground white peper, 1 cup hot basil leaves and 1 big red chilli thin sliced on an angle.

Heat the wok with oil and fry the garlic and chillies over medium heat untill explosively fragrant, Add the minced meat and stir fry until meat cooked tender. Add the other ingreadiants with the stock and simmer for about 30 seconds and then add the basil leaves too cook another 20 seconds before removing from heat. Sprinkle the sliced big red chillies on top and serve with rice. Like the Tai's I prefer the fried egg on top and then season again with a bit of Prik Nampra.

Hope you like it and this recipe should earn me my cooking club decoder ring and you can wait untill you visit us again to teach me the cooking club member secret hand shake.

Happy Dining and Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Hi Richard
Now that is my sort of cooking real quick real Simple. You deserve decoder ring and hand shake for this one

Michelle

Hi Michelle and the rest of you "Thai Food Lovers"!

Try downloading this free Thai e-Cook Book at http://www.ezythaicooking.com/cooking_ebook.htm

Happy Dining and Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Hi Richard thanks for the link, you know we all just love Thai food, Thai people and Thailand.
Its all good for those of you that live there, the rest of us just have to live year to year for our trips!!!

Michelle

Hi Michelle

You may hear from many on the forum who do indeed love real Thai food when you make a specific post but you would be surprised at how many can not tolerate or even do not want to try because they can not take or they do not like spices at all.

It's understandable when I meet families with kids here and they tell me their kids will only eat Western food so they eat the food at the hotels or usual fast food places that can be found back home. I'm told by many that when they order Thai in restuarents that the kids (and adults) order basic and non-spicey stuff like fried rice and noodles just changing the kind of meats in the dish so they have some kind of variaty and do not get too bored untill their next Big Mac or Pizza fix.

I know it's difficult at many real Thai places with limited English menues or just pictures on the wall too order from without getting something that could be a tripple suicide dish by accident and nobody at the table can eat it.

Well I guess that with the shopping, nightlife, staff comunication skills and availiable non-spicey Western food this is why so many prefer to stay within the "comfort zone" of Patong. I can not believe how many posts I read from multiple return guests to Phuket who say they are bored with comming here yet they never venture outside of the main tourist areas and no real idea of what Phuket realy has to offer. I hope nobody gets offended but my Dad used to say "Only boring people get bored"

Enough of my rant about Patong as this post is supposed to be about food. If you like Thai food but have problems with the spices then spend some time and money at the better Thai cooking schools learning how to make the wonderfull dishes Thailand has to offer and at the same time learn how to cook them, adding or reducing the herbs&spices according to your own personal taste.

Happy Dining and Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Hi Richard
Thanks for taking the time to post a recipe,you may now consider yourself a fully fledged member of the club your merit badge decoder ring and xray glasses are in the mail (or not) as for the secret hand shake we can work on that over a few beers next time I get back there.Have just had a quick look at the link you posted looks great should keep me busy for quite a while.
Thanks again Regards RED

Thanks Richard
I do get it, and I do understand those with kids who wont eat "strange" food, but I must say every time I come back I get more horrified with the ever multilping "Fast Food" in Patong. I thought last year that 1 McDonalds was bad enough in Patong but to discover 3 there this year blew me away. I can honestly say that I have never eaten "Western" when I have been there to that end I also have not eaten Italian, Indian or mexican. Not that there is anything wrong with them but for me it "when in Rome do as the Romans do" Eat Thai!!!! Its funny that whilst we too get our dishes "less Spicy" (my stomach just does not survive) I love the food there, and interestly I am not overly fussed with the Thai we get here in Sydney (well western Sydney anyway).
Thanks for your imput

Michelle

Hi Michelle

The link that I posted is in responce too "Red's" earlier post here about hooking up with a Thai university dietary and cooking program. You will note that the university now has several of these Thai food cooking e-books published and availiable to download using the link I provided.

It would be an interesting thought to get a group together for a day of Thai cooking, eating & socializing over a few cold ones if we could ever get a group of forum members out there at the Thai Cookery School at same time.

Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Wouldn't that be a blast to have a day cooking with the forum members.........but yes not sure about the legistics of getting us there at the same time, but hey. My votes for Oct 2009!!!!

Michelle

Hi Michelle

I also think it would make for an entertaining day and a great social activity. Shoping at the market, learning how to make your favorite Thai dishes, a day of trying to chow down on the 6 daily dishes with a few cool drinks and have a bit of a lark with people from the forums. Keep chatting to your friends on the forums between now and your next holiday and maybe we can put something together for next October.

Regards From phuket

Richard & Megumi

Hi Michelle, Richard, & Red,
Now that sounds like a great idea and i am sure we could kick off something for the die hard foodies!!! We are in Patong next October for Queensland Aussie School hols so we will be in that if others are interested!!!!
Cheers, Pete.

Hi Pete

Michelle also travels during the school holidays and it looks like a forum member cook-off and social may be in the making.

Plenty of time between now and then to find more who would want to join in on the fun for a day of feasting and I guess it's just a question of refreshing the post every now and then. If enough guests could be rounded up I could go talk with them and see if we could organise just a rivate funtion for forum member?

Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Unfortunately I might put a spanner in the works at least for me for Oct (but we are not usually there during QLD Holidays anyway Pete) There is talk about July for us this year. Maybe we can get a few of these off the ground if others are interested. Maybe if we get a July one Cathy and Gary will join us!!! lol

Michelle

Could someone give me a recipe for Phad Thai, a good Thai version, and are the ingredents easy to get hear in Australia
Thanks Lorraine

Hi Lorraine

We Started a post a few months back Called "Sharing Cultural Information" here is a link to it.

http://forum.asiawebdirect.com/ubbthread...=true#Post73610

Its got lots of recipes including Pad Thai!!!1

Enjoy

Michelle

Hi Lorraine
If you look under Sharing Cultural Information in this Patong beach forum Denise posted a good one PhuketRichard posted this link
http://www.ezythaicooking.com/cooking_ebook.htm it's got lots of good recipes in it,almost all of the ingredients for a Pad Thai are readily available at most Asian grocery stores.You can always change the recipe a little to suit,just keep trying till you find one that suits your taste.
Hope this helps Enjoy RED

Thanks Michelle, Richard and Red on the weekend I will be trying some out on friends, I hope it turns out like the ones I had in Karon. I know It will never be the same but close enough is good enough I,m not the worlds best cook at any time lol.

Lorraine

Hi Lorraine
Yet another reason to go back to Phuket ad do a cooking class!!!! You gotta like my reasoning!!!!!

Michelle

Hi Michelle

I will also be making Pad Thai again this weekend with a half dozen other forum members at the Thai Cookery School. With the addition of cooking and eating Pad Thai for breakie after shooping at the market the Friday/Saturday classes are my fave with Cashew Nuts & Chicken, Green Curry with Chicken, Tom Yam with Prawns, Spring Rolls and Sticky Rice & Mango for desert.

With the official no fun mourning period over the weekend we decided to get a group together, enjoy the beach, food and a few social beers (no beer for Richard however)

Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Hi Richard that is so cool that you actually have a group of forum members doing the cooking school together, except for the no beer for poor Richard bit.
You just got to hate the "Fun Police" You are good man to be going with the whole thing!!!
I am sure you will have a good time. I have to say the whole menu rates as my fave dishes except the prawms which my body has decided not to tollerate any more which is really sad as I LOVE them.

Michelle

Hi everyone, this site is also a very good one and there Pad Thai recipe is a goody.
http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/
Happy eating and i am envious Richard that i am not there to share the food and Beers with you all.
Cheers, Pete.

Hi Michelle

The reason for no beer for Richard has nothing to do with the official no fun weekend due to the sevices to honour the Royal Princess. Two days after my birthday in August was Jimmy's birthday also and at the end of the party I stopped drinking beer untill I loose 15 kilos. I have dropped 8 allready but the loss from no beer has leveled off. I have changed my workout at the gym from just toneing too muscle gain because muscle burns off the callories faster. As my waisteline gets smaller (I'm wearing my previous wardrobe) other parts of my body are putting on muscle wieght which is heavyer then fat.

I still drink but not beer and who knows? I am feeling so good that I may stay off the beer even after I have reached my 15 kilo loss goal.

Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

What ever happened to all good things in moderation!!!! I am impressed though. Also make you a very good designated driver!!!!! Just dont go geting too boring on us now!!

Michelle

Hello Michelle, Pete & Red

I have just sent you the photo link in a "PM" for the 40 pics that I took last week at the Thai Cookery School. It was great going as a group and there were 7 of us along with 4 other guests. It may sound crowded but you will see by the pics in the link there is loads of room at this great place on the beach with fantastic staff.

Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Absolutely Beautful Place Richard I am sure Pete and Red would agree. As I said in my PM I am up for it next year and if its in July Cathy will have to come with us so Gary can get a break from cooking!!!! LOL.....

Michelle

Thanks Richard,
Great pics it looks like everyone had fun.
I do hope we can kick something off on a regular basis for others to share as its a fantastic idea for all us die hard foodies.
Cheers, Pete.

I just know patong have the best Thai cooking school there. lol

Hi everyone,
I have just re-hashed a Recipe i found on the net to suit my tastes and i love it..

Lemongrass Prawn Curry with Chilli & Garlic

Ingredients

750g peeled green prawns
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 red onion, cut into fine wedges
3 Chilli's
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon (chilli paste)
½ teaspoon salt
375ml can coconut milk
1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped
1 tablespoon palm sugar
grated rind of 1 lime
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
200g green beans trimmed
½ cup fresh coriander
steamed rice, for serving

Method

Devein prawns. Heat oil in a wok and stirfry onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and chilli paste until onion is tender.

Add salt, coconut milk, lemongrass, sugar, lime rind and juice and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened slightly. Add extra chilli at this stage if not hot enough for your taste).

Just prior to serving, heat sauce mix and add prawns and beans then simmer for 10 minutes or until beans are tender.

Add coriander and serve immediately with steamed rice,
Note: if sauce is too thick, add a little water.

Well worth a try.
Cheers, Pete.

I'm going back to Patong in April. I'm hoping to try Mom Tri's Boathouse cooking school, this time around. Has anyone been there?

I still can't get my Pad Thai to taste right, although it has been pretty humid here in Perth it might work now.

Sounds nice Pete, cant wait for Gary to cook it lol.
Michelle I just saw your comment about me doing the cooking class. No way I am not interested haha, I want to stay a basic cook so that Gary will keep cooking the nice meals haha. I really hate cooking so a class is a total waste for me.
Cathy

Its ok Cathy your off the hook as we wont be there while you are there, we are going late October, so I wont be appling any pressure on you...lol

Michelle

Keep on cookin Gary, us men have to cook, don't we!! Its the only way to get to eat what we like!! Cathy you sound just like Jane, she hates cooking as well hehe.
Cheers, Pete.

Yes guys but never forget us women just love a guy that can and will cook!!!

Michelle

Well I think there should be more of it, like men should cook 6 nights a week!!!

Well girls, I cook 5 nights a week and have been doing so for years, Jane buys the food and helps prep (sometimes) then i cook, it works for us and i get to eat what i like hehe. It also helps when you love cooking as i do.
Cheers, Pete.

Your one in a million Pete!!!!! I need one the same same but different!!

Hi Cathy and thanks for letting me off the hook with Michelle.

I did not want to answere on your behalf and say that you had told me you were not interested in cooking.

Megumi and I handle the cooking about 50/50 at our house and it just so happens that I was at today's Sunday market to pick up the fixings for making her and her mom Phad Thai tonight.

I have to agree with Pete's comment as other then her Japanese cooking I prefer to cook myself when I want to eat the dishes that I crave myself.

Happy Dining & Regards From Phuket

Richard & Megumi

Slightly off topic, but I did Pums cooking school when I was there in Dec/Jan 07.

Im hopefully coming back in July, and will probably do another course, not necessarily at Pums, but just somewhere that I get to learn some awesome dishes.

I have to go to the markets here in Melbourne to find some of the ingredients, especially galangal - impossible to get at the supermarket and its a different colour here too, a really bright orange.

Have to say there is nothing tastier than homemade curry paste. The bottled stuff just doesnt taste the same

Hi suzyq40,
We were in Melbourne 5 Years ago for a period of 5 years and we had no trouble finding Galangal, we used to get in at the Asian fruit & veg shop at Parkmore shopping center and it is sometimes available at the large supermarkets like Safeway and Coles at Southland shopping center.
Just ask at Safeway and Coles and see if any of their stores stock it.
I agree with you on the homemade curry pastes the shop ones just don't cut it for me either, i always make my own and just last weekend made some Red, Green and Penang curry pastes.
This site is excellent for their Thai recipes.
http://importfood.com/recipes.html
Cheers, Pete

Unfortunately I live on the other side of town to Southland, but can easily find it at the Vic market, so that satisfies me

Thanks for the link too

Well.. I did Mom Tri's Boathouse Cooking School, which was okay... First day is just watching the Poochun make all the salads and appetizers, which were nice but as a cooking teacher really boring. Day 2 we got to cook, but it was take turns and we couldn't choose what were cooked it was all set.

I still recommend Pum's Restaurant and Cooking School and Phuket Cookery School which I sent a few of the people I met in my hotel of too.

Hi Denise,
That's disappointing about Mom Tri's. I am with you though if you can't get into actual cooking i would find it boring as well.
Just loved Pum's last year i had Pui and she is just lovely with a great sence on humor.
I have heard that Phuket Thai Cookery school is very good so i might give it a try this September.
http://www.phuket-thaicookeryschool.com/
Cheers, Pete.

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