The B Side: Thai Chef Binders

Even in our first few hours of being in Chiang Mai, we could tell we liked this city. Maybe it's the fact we are out and about in a new place, or the realization how cheap things are here (and outside a resort hotel), but Chiang Mai just has a vibe of a small city you can walk around in, even though it's huge. We're loving our (free) hotel, the Le Meridien Chiang Mai, that we booked with Starwood points and get all kinds of free perks including wifi, breakfast, drinks, and all you can drink happy hour. No, I don't work for Starwood, but if you need any more info let me know and I'll get you a referral.

Since we love Thai food so much, and have been eating it almost non-stop, we signed up for a cooking class to learn what's in it and how to make some of our favorite dishes. The class started with a tour of a local market and seeing the ingredients. It's funny, you know all the tastes and smells... Like "oh that's in Tom Yum Soup" but we had no idea what was actually in it. The market was fun, and there was all kinds of other weird stuff there too.

Learning about the ingredients, that's a kaffir lime. And our teacher's weird neck beard.

Smelling the curry pastes.

Ingredients and stuff

Pile of fried stuff, I think pork related

Dragon Fruit, coolest looking fruit around. Tastes like a less flavorful kiwi and is white with tiny black seeds inside

For the actual class, we got to pick a soup, a noodle dish, and a curry. In true Binder family fashion, we picked all different things so we could try as many things as possible. All in all we went for: Tom Yum Soup, Spicy Basil Chicken Soup, Pad Thai, Pad See Yu, Green Curry, and "Jungle Curry". I had to pick Jungle Curry (the hottest) because I knew Mike McDonnell would be disappointed if I didn't pick the hottest curry out there. The class was fun, our instructor was hilarious despite a weird neck beard, the food was awesome, and we were stuffed all day. The Jungle Curry was pretty damn hot, my lips were on fire and everyone else in the class was laughing at me, since I was the only one who chose to make it. We learned a lot that we hope to bring home to make our own food... If we can find the ingredients!

Ready to chop stuff

Class was outside, luckily covered as it started pouring

Everything prepped for Pad Thai and Pad See Yu

Bri's Tom Yum Soup, called it the best she's ever had

Sweating making Pad Thai

Making the Jungle Curry paste, there are hella peppers in there.

Enjoying our labors in the kitchen, we were stuffed!

We were so full from all the food we ate at Cooking School, we decided to venture out and explore the area around our hotel. Chiang Mai is a really old city, with a old wall and moat around the central part of the city and a massive "wat" (temple) in the middle called Chedi Luang. We got some pics, sweat a lot, and are now back at the hotel relaxing and drinking free cocktails. Tomorrow is an early start for a day full of Elephants at Patara Elephant Farm. It was one of the first activities we booked months ago, and can't wait!