Learning the basics at Pum Thai Cooking School

All I wanted was a beach chair and a good sunscreen, but the lifeless gray skies hovering over Phuket had derailed my plans of soaking in the Thai sun.  Instead I walked down to the main drag of Patong Beach, a touristy party town with many a themed bar, restaurant and dubious massage parlor.

A sign caught my eye.  Pum Thai Cooking School.  With light rain drizzling from above, I decided to sign up for the afternoon cooking class, curiously named Pum’s Little Lipstick.  For 900 baht, we would spend 90 minutes learning the basics of Thai cuisine, as well as prepare three classic Thai dishes: gaeng kheo wan gai (green curry with chicken), tom kha gai (coconut galangal soup with chicken) and tom yum goong (hot and sour soup with prawns).

I arrived a few minutes early to meet my fellow cooking companions: B & J, a sweet couple from Hong Kong and New York by way of Toronto (phew!), and A, a lovely Aussie who was on her umpteenth jaunt through Southeast Asia with her husband, who would eventually join later — conveniently in time for the good eats, of course.  The instructor, a slight woman with cheery smile and thick accent (and whose name I unfortunately forgot), gathered us around the table to begin.

We began with an overview of basic ingredients that form the foundation of many classic Thai dishes: garlic, shallot, lime, lemongrass, chiles, Kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil and galangal, a ginger-like root that imparts a spicier flavor than ginger.  Our teacher expanded on the Thai bird chiles in preparation for our lesson on curry paste.  Which is hotter, she asked?  Red or green?

The answer is green.  The chiles essentially start out as green, but become red as it matures, giving the capsaicin more time to soften.  But don’t trick yourself into thinking the spiciness varies greatly — this little pepper will straight burn a hole in your throat if you don’t respect the heat.

Our little Thai bird chiles went into a large mortar and pestle along with thinly sliced lemongrass, garlic, galangal and several other spices to make a homemade green curry paste.  “Bok bok bok, exercise and smile!!” our instructor sang as we each took turns smashing the ingredients into a thick chunky paste.

The paste was heated with a touch of oil, then sliced chicken went into the pot.  We were told to “massage the chicken” — using the spoon-like spatula, we gently tossed the chicken with the curry paste, occasionally pressing the chicken against the bottom of the pot to get a nice sear into the meat.  The dish finished with the addition of coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar and green beans, along with a garnish of kaffir lime leaves.

Our next two courses involved similar soups — tom kha and tom yum.  The basic difference between the two is that the first contains coconut milk, and the second contains chile paste.   The formula is similar: bring the liquid element (coconut milk or water/chili paste) to a low simmer, add your meat of choice and cook for several minutes.  Add water, fish sauce, sugar and lemon juice; then add your choice of Thai herbs (galangal, lemongrass, shallot, chiles and thinly sliced Kaffir lime leaves).

The four of us sat down together to enjoy our steaming hot soups.  Overall, the recipes lacked the complexity and depth of much of the dishes I had been sampling throughout Thailand, but I was grateful to know the basic concepts.  In the humid Phuket rain, I couldn’t have asked for better food or company.

In the spirit of Michael Ruhlman’s book Ratio, in which he teaches budding cooks about the advantages of knowing ingredient ratios in order to forego recipes, I offer you the basic ratios for curry, tom kha and tom yum.  Just remember that Thai cuisine is all about the balance between hot, sour, sweet and salty — add ingredients here and there based on what element is lacking.  It’s up to you to add your own flourishes, to which the possibilities are endless.

Curry:
1 part coconut milk (do not use low-fat!)
1 part curry paste (spicy element — buy prepackaged if you don’t want to make your own)
1 part meat of your choice
1 part veggies of your choice, sauteed lightly in a separate pan
Fish sauce  (salty)
Sugar (sweet)
Lime juice or kaffir (sour)

Cook the meat first with the curry paste.  Add coconut milk and sauteed vegetables.  Let cook together, then add rest of ingredients to taste.

Tom Kha (coconut galangal soup):
1 part coconut milk
1 part water
1 part meat of your choice
1 part veggies of your choice
Fish sauce (salty)
Sugar (sweet)
Lemon (sour)
“Sleeping bag” of herbs (spicy, see note below)

Bring coconut milk to a simmer and add meat until partially cooked.  Add water and the rest of the ingredients, mixing well.  Add vegetables.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies and meat are cooked thoroughly.  Serve hot.

Tom Yum (hot and sour soup):
2 parts water
Chile paste (spicy)
1 part meat of your choice
1 part veggies of your choice
Fish sauce (salty)
Sugar (sweet)
Lemon (sour)
“Sleeping bag” of herbs (spicy, see note below)
Chile oil

Bring water to a boil and add a few teaspoons of chile paste to your desired level of spiciness.  Mix well, add meat and other ingredients until partially cooked.  Add vegetables.  Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies and meat are cooked thoroughly.  Garnish with a drizzle of chile oil.

“Sleeping bag” of herbs
4-5 slices of galangal
1/2 stalk of lemongrass, sliced in 3-4 cm lengths
2 Kaffir lime leaves
1 shallot, minced
2 Thai bird chiles, pressed gently but left whole

Pum combines the following herbs into individual baggies and stores them in the refrigerator so that they are prepped and readily available anytime she wants to make a dish.  Each bag will flavor a dish that serves 1-2 people.  The herbs are generally not eaten; they can be taken out of the dish prior to serving or left in for flavor.

View more photos of Pum Thai Cooking School on Flickr.

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Add this to your wishlist: Massaging Chicken at Pum Thai Cooking School in Phuket, Thailand