July 14, 2026
We love having authentic experiences with locals to really get a chance to see how they live and thrive in the Ports we visit. So when I found a cooking class, by a local woman offered in her home, we were excited to book. Um ( our teacher) picked us and brought us back to our hotel along with the family of 4 from Sydney, Australia, that had also signed up for this afternoon class. Um's house, which has a lovely open air kitchen, garden and dining area, was about a 30 minute drive and turned out to be on the beach, right next to the Grandparent Rocks.
As a group we had to decide which 5 dishes we wanted to prepare. Um gave us a choice of 2 dishes in each category and we pretty easily chose - Spring Rolls, Tom Yum Goong Soup, Green Curry, Phad Thai and Banana in Coconut Milk.
Um first explained about all the ingredients we would us in our Thai cooking and explained the different varities of basil, limes, ginger and eggplants. She said Thai food is always about balance Sweet, Bitter and Spicy taste. We then worked on assembling all the mise en place, for each of the dishes. Then we started cooking!
The chopping and prep went fairly quickly, since we had many hands assembling and she had her teenage niece and another assistant in the Kitchen, organizing and cleaning up after us.
Um also had her twin daughter and 2 nephews at the house and was very comfortable keeping everything on track and flowing.
We cooked the spring rolls first and then took a break for them to cool and eat them while we sat and talked. They were delicious!
Next we made the Phad Thai and again took a break to sit and eat together. Lastly we made the Green Curry and soup and while we has these dishes,
Um cooked up the Coconut milk for the banana chunks dessert.
Bosco and I were so full after the spring rolls and Phad Thai, we asked to just take our remaining 3 courses back to the hotel.
The 3 hour cooking class passed quickly and we continued our nice chat on the ride back to the Hotels. We really enjoyed it, but it was way too much food for us to eat at one seating! We chilled the rest of the night - I walked to get a pedicure down the street from the Hotel, and we snacked on the remaining food later that evening.
