Cambodian Cooking Class - Deliciously Fun!! But I'm still better at making eggs and toast.
I finally found a fun cooking class to sign up for and I went to a Cambodian Cooking Class.
I was picked up in a tuk tuk and driven 30 minutes out of town to a middle of nowhere resort in which I thought the cooking class would be held. But from the resort we walked 10 minutes into the 'jungle' where there were individual cooking stations set for each of us. The roads to the cooking class were all red dust - making the trees, the homes, and the surroundings all tinted in various shades of red-brown.
Fancy tuk tuk ride to the middle of nowhere
Individual cooking stations in the middle of the 'jungle'
A walk through the gardens to learn what we were cooking and what herbs/spices are used.
My little kitchen for the day
We were learning to make a 3 course meal - an appetizer, main dish, and dessert. First, this is Cambodia, so we made curry. Curry involved chopping a number of items up into fine pieces, then mashing them in the wooden bowl for what seemed like forever - until the paste slowly formed. Turns out people who cook daily must have REALLY strong forearms. And/or tennis elbow symptoms. All the beating and hammering that went into JUST making the curry paste made my brows form beads of sweat. It just adds to the flavor.
Ta-Da! Curry paste! (Sweat break!)
Next we cut the stuff needed for the main dish and cooked them in our individual cooktops. They trusted us/me with REALLY sharp knives... it was fun. AND I still have ten digits.
Let it all boil for a few minutes -time for a water break! I have drank more water this trip than I have in the last 5 years of my life combined. But I can sure tell when I am bordering on dehydrated - my body goes from a smooth running Victory motorcycle to a Harley in no time. Sputtering and struggling to perform daily tasks. LOL. I couldn't resist.. (Don't go getting all offended)
Back to cooking!
After the main course was done and set aside to cool, we started on dessert. I went to class hungry... so the idea of there being hot fresh food underneath the table while I just kept slaving away on more food, was a struggle. Reason #16 why I prefer eggs and toast. Done in 2 minutes. No muscle required. Anyways - the dessert was kind of a scone. It was a simple recipe tossed on a waffle iron thing, flipped a few times, and an amazingly delish dessert was created.
I said delish, not pretty. My 'before and after' is more like a 'pinterest fail'.
Below, you have the reason I do not bake. In the back is what dessert SHOULD look like.
In the front, is mine. A for effort. F for care. LOl
Next up: We learned how to make bowls using tree leaves and toothpicks.
On to the appetizer. Fish paste on sugar can sticks. The fish paste was GROSS to the touch. Super slimy and intense fish smells. I admit I didn't have high hopes.
Getting ready to feast!
Appetizers are cooking! I admit, they looked disgusting.
Until they were done - now they looked YUMMY!
Dessert presentation: F
Sadly, we were all so hungry by the time we were done cooking, I completely forgot to take an after photo. You will just have to trust me when I say it was good ;) (The picture below is exact same as what we made, just not my creation - thanks google).
We got a recipe book including the three items we made (and others) to take home. I thought that was pretty awesome!
Some sights from the drive to/from the cooking class:
Just HOW MANY mattresses can you fit on one car??? 5.
Red dust everywhere - here you can get your laundry washed for $1.00 a kilogram. And then dried along the roadside. I see this as pointless, unless red/brown is your favorite color!!
I was picked up in a tuk tuk and driven 30 minutes out of town to a middle of nowhere resort in which I thought the cooking class would be held. But from the resort we walked 10 minutes into the 'jungle' where there were individual cooking stations set for each of us. The roads to the cooking class were all red dust - making the trees, the homes, and the surroundings all tinted in various shades of red-brown.
Fancy tuk tuk ride to the middle of nowhere
A walk through the gardens to learn what we were cooking and what herbs/spices are used.
My little kitchen for the day
We were learning to make a 3 course meal - an appetizer, main dish, and dessert. First, this is Cambodia, so we made curry. Curry involved chopping a number of items up into fine pieces, then mashing them in the wooden bowl for what seemed like forever - until the paste slowly formed. Turns out people who cook daily must have REALLY strong forearms. And/or tennis elbow symptoms. All the beating and hammering that went into JUST making the curry paste made my brows form beads of sweat. It just adds to the flavor.
Ta-Da! Curry paste! (Sweat break!)
Next we cut the stuff needed for the main dish and cooked them in our individual cooktops. They trusted us/me with REALLY sharp knives... it was fun. AND I still have ten digits.
After the main course was done and set aside to cool, we started on dessert. I went to class hungry... so the idea of there being hot fresh food underneath the table while I just kept slaving away on more food, was a struggle. Reason #16 why I prefer eggs and toast. Done in 2 minutes. No muscle required. Anyways - the dessert was kind of a scone. It was a simple recipe tossed on a waffle iron thing, flipped a few times, and an amazingly delish dessert was created.
I said delish, not pretty. My 'before and after' is more like a 'pinterest fail'.
Below, you have the reason I do not bake. In the back is what dessert SHOULD look like.
In the front, is mine. A for effort. F for care. LOl
Next up: We learned how to make bowls using tree leaves and toothpicks.
On to the appetizer. Fish paste on sugar can sticks. The fish paste was GROSS to the touch. Super slimy and intense fish smells. I admit I didn't have high hopes.
Getting ready to feast!
Appetizers are cooking! I admit, they looked disgusting.
Until they were done - now they looked YUMMY!
Dessert presentation: F
Sadly, we were all so hungry by the time we were done cooking, I completely forgot to take an after photo. You will just have to trust me when I say it was good ;) (The picture below is exact same as what we made, just not my creation - thanks google).
We got a recipe book including the three items we made (and others) to take home. I thought that was pretty awesome!
Some sights from the drive to/from the cooking class:
Comments
Post a Comment