Last day in Bangkok!
Justin and I wake up at 6am in the morning to head off for our cooking class! It begins with a trip to a proper Thai wet market so we can see where all the produce is bought from.
The moment we enter the market, we are just hit by this amazing stench beyond anything I have ever smelt in my life. I've done plenty of wet market shopping in Singapore, but this is a level above in the weirdass things they sell.
Frogs. Pretty graphic (sorry no warning, just like how these were just in my face when i was walking through).
Bugs for eating. There are some regions in Thailand (called Isaan) that eat these more than other regions in Thailand. Even our Thai guide and cook, Poo, said she can't stomach these herself!
Condiments that Justin regrets not buying. We blaze through the market so it's pretty hard, really.
Itty bitty terrapins for cooking too I suppose. *Sniff*
There's so much variety from just your usual day to day things like eggs.
The ang moh tourists in our group ooh and ahh over the exotic tropical fruits lolol.
So much of so many varieties of things like seafood, all lined up. The roads are crammed and bustling and you just have to you know, make way for the random motorcycle passing through.
Fascinating horseshoe crabs. Never eaten or seen one in my life!
Crabs full of roe, and my love, hum. Sigh.
Oh yeah, not wise to wear flip flops to a wet market. I do it all the time in Singapore because it's comfy, but in actual fact the smack of your slipper against the floor when you walk sends black water spattered all over the back of your legs. Not cool. I know, I know. That's why they wear wellies.
Justin's kinda hood.
And we're done with the market in an hour! It's really quite an eye opening experience, and great that we also had a guide like Poo to tell us more about the food itself and guide us through the chaos so that we didn't get overwhelmed.
We head off to Poo's house to learn how to cook! It's located in some slums in Bangkok, which sounds incredibly unsanitary (and is the WORSE smelling place I have ever been in my life because there is no such thing as plumbing there), but fortunately Poo's place is all swagged up with air con and proper floors and most importantly, clean (phew), her story is quite amazing and i'll share it with you in a while!
So depending on the day of the week you come, you get to learn to cook different stuff!
Poo begins by cooking something extra for us all to try - an Ant Egg Salad. That's right. Initially we heard "An Egg Salad", but nope, those little white round sacs you see up there are full of ant eggs! I try it, because YOLO right? And in honest fact, it really tastes fine and all, but the thought that you are crunching away at insects just kind of affects the way you eat it. I have one spoon, that's all.
We begin with the Papaya Salad! The good thing about Poo is that she really asks you how you enjoy your salad and shows you which sauces to use to cook it to your own tastes, so if you like it more sour, you add more tamarind juice, and if you like it sweeter, you add more palm sugar. Mine is sweeter :)
After shredding all the green papaya, we have to mix it in with some technique using a mortar and pestle.
Next we do tom yam soup! Look at Justin all serious and stuff about cooking haha.
Like the Papaya Salad, Poo guides us on how to use the Thai ingredients according to our own taste preferences, so more chilli oil ("nam prik pow") for a spicier kick, and fresh milk to reduce the heat. We also learnt that if you add the lime juice too early, the tom yum soup won't have a sour taste, so you have to add it just before serving.
Yay my own tom yum soup which is extra milky and not too spicy :D
Last of all, Phad Thai! Frying scares the bejeezus out of me so actually Justin did most of it for me and I just am posing here pretending I cooked it hahaha.
On top of our lovely 3 course lunch we cook for ourselves, Poo provides a generous amount of exotic asian fruits for us to try, some I myself have not even tried before either.
Yes, I've seen but have never eaten mangosteen before, don't judge...
Red and white dragonfruit (only eaten the white before), Snake Fruit (looks like snakeskin outside, a bit hard - not something I would eat again), longan, lychee, rambutan (ok these I have eaten so I am not that noob, ok).
AND FREE FLOW HEAVENLY MANGO STICKY RICE, ALL LAID OUT IN MINI DISHES FOR US TO TAKE.
So I never noticed before this, but there's actual sprinkles of yellow stuff on the rice that Poo tells us are fried mung beans - and once she tells us this, I really notice how they do add an extra depth of flavour and texture to Mango Sticky Rice - and I don't think I can ever eat a sticky rice without these beans of GOLD.
By the way, I eat two plates cause there were extras. I am not ashamed.
Poo's story is amazing because she began the cooking class 6 years ago without even knowing English, till now where she managed to turn this into a real job and even employ her neighbours to help lift the whole community's standard of living up. She has things like a cookbook that is selling on Amazon, and traveled to places like London with Jamie Oliver to teach Thai cooking. Impressive from someone who almost had nothing! Justin buys the book ;) If you want to sign up for cooking classes with Poo when in Thailand, just visit the website here!
We also take the Bangkok MRT for the first time just for fun because it's an experience. It's not actually cheaper than cabbing, but quite efficient!
And I'm sorry, but that is the last photo I took in Bangkok because after that we just hung around for a while and rushed to the airport hahaha. Experienced tons of withdrawal symptoms after with dear Jiehui, but it was a really great trip! And a week after we returned I actually made a video for us to remember the trip by and have been hiding it till... now. I miss all our intense eating and snacking and just having the chance to enjoy the good life with a fellow like-minded couple + favourite person in the world, Justin. Can't wait to travel again!
