While my blog posts haven’t focused much on food, make no mistake—our meals have been one of the absolute highlights of this journey. Every country has offered something memorable, but I’ve been especially looking forward to the food in Thailand. Thai cuisine has always been high on my must-eat list… and now here we are, in Thailand, apron on, wok fired up.
My day started with a small, group of fellow travelers—new friends from the UK, Germany, Israel, and a couple of fellow Americans from North Carolina. First stop: a local market just outside Chiang Mai, where we got an intro to Thai produce and ingredients…some I was familiar with from my experimently with Thai cooking over the several years, but many were completely new! Lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and tiny, fiery chilies all made appearances as our guide explained the building blocks of Thai flavor.
From there, we headed about 20 km out of the city to the organic farm and a beautiful, family-run cooking school nestled among rice fields and gardens. The farm has been welcoming travelers for over ten years, blending farm-to-table cooking with local recipes and lots of great conversation.
Flavors That Fire You Up: Learning Thai Cooking by the Dish
It’s no secret that Thai food packs a punch. Most people agree—it tends to be spicier and bolder than many of its Asian counterparts. Chilies, garlic, lemongrass, and fresh herbs show up in nearly every dish, turning simple ingredients into deeply flavorful meals. During our Thai cooking class, we got to choose one dish from each of the main categories—curries, stir-fries, and soups—and let’s be honest: what could be better? One of my favorite parts of the class was picking ingredients from the garden. While I had bought some of the key ingredients at Asian supermarkets, I had absolutely no idea how they grew – hopefully I can retain all this when we go home!
In Northern Thailand, the cuisine has its own distinctive flair, often a bit earthier and more herb-forward than the coconut-rich dishes of the south. Popular curries include Khao Soi (a rich, creamy curry noodle soup), and Gaeng Hang Lay (a Burmese-influenced pork curry with ginger and tamarind). For stir-fries, classics like Pad Krapow (holy basil stir-fry) and Pad Thai are always favorites. And when it comes to soups, you can’t go wrong with Tom Yum (hot and sour soup with lemongrass and lime) or Tom Kha (a coconut milk soup with galangal and mushrooms). Each dish builds flavor differently—but always with a balance of heat, tang, and soul
