| Silom Thai Cooking School featured in
FOOD + TRAVEL
From market to kitchen in Bangkok
Silom Thai Cooking School instructor Sanusi Mareh strains a ladle of water chestnuts coated in tapioca starch. (J. Kenji Alt for the boston globe)
By J. Kenji Alt
Globe Correspondent / March 25, 2009
Text size
BANGKOK, Thailand - Dawn here sees hawkers peddling polyethylene bags full of fresh and fiery green fish curry to morning commuters. By lunchtime, entrepreneurs with hand-drawn carts line every street with makeshift grills charring small bananas or pounding shredded green papaya with dried shrimp and chilies into som tom, a salad that's simultaneously searingly hot and refreshingly cool and crunchy. After dark, waitresses in Tiger Beer miniskirts at the vast outdoor food court at Suan Lum serve kua mu yang (grilled pork neck) that's more tender, flavorful, and richer than any pork belly you may have eaten stateside. Bangkok is a city that always eats - and eats well.
But the only way to ensure that you can take home the flavors of Bangkok is to learn how to re-create them yourself. At the Silom Thai Cooking School off of the Tha Silom in Bangkok's notorious go-go bar and kathoey (transvestite) district, instructor Sanusi Mareh leads intimate four-hour immersive classes (two to nine students at a time) twice daily. The cost is about $28 per session.
The former restaurant chef from the Southern coast of Thailand starts each class in the open-air market near the school, pointing out ingredients and talking animatedly about how to pick the best. "Market is symbol of everyday life in Thailand," explains Mareh, who goes by his nickname, Nusi. "Seeing how Thai people look at raw ingredients is essential to understand Thai cuisine." He lets a shower of pea-sized bitter green eggplants fall through his fingers, checking their weight and freshness.
The vast assortment of ingredients in the small market goes a long way to explaining the diversity of the classic Thai repertoire. Mareh heads over to a stand housing several dozen varieties of herbs and picks through vibrant bunches of culantro (a weed that resembles dandelion root with the soapy flavor of cilantro), fragrant kaffir lime leaves, and gkrapow, a heady cultivar of basil, soon to be the garnish for our nam phrik kang khiao wan - green curry with chicken.
After a brief haggle with the vendor (who in typical Thai fashion is seated atop the sales table among her goods), Mareh moves on. Fiery red bird chilies, dark brown tamarind pods, tiny purple shallots, bright yellow wild ginger, and large knobs of galangal with their faded pink shoots still intact make their way into his basket before he leads the class back to the school.
Like the makeshift tuk-tuks that careen through the streets of Bangkok, slapped together from an old rickshaw and a moped, Silom Cooking School has a disarming jury-rigged quality. Its bank of burners is set up outdoors on a porch with a view of the neighbor's laundry. Despite Mareh's proficient teaching skills and his crew of quietly efficient young helpers, the space feels more living room than classroom, the lesson more dinner party than lecture, a feeling reinforced by today's clientele: two female retirees (one Australian, one Dutch), a pair of college-aged British backpackers, and a trio of vacationers from Calais. Within 20 minutes, each has produced a tom yum goong (hot and sour soup) more flavorful than any restaurant version, the sweet-scented steam perfuming the air.
After a quick lesson in larb (ground chicken salad flavored with nutty dry-toasted rice) and an exquisitely light pad Thai that puts the typical sweet and heavy version to shame, Mareh hauls out a volleyball-sized granite mortar to start the main course: curry. As he drops a dozen ingredients into the bowl and pounds them into a rough paste, one of the backpackers asks how much of each ingredient to add.
The teacher shrugs his shoulder and says, "This is my green curry. You like spicy, add more chili. You like garlic, add more garlic."
Then he smiles. "Thai food very forgiving."
Silom Thai Cooking School, 68 Silom Soi 13, Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok, 668-4-726-5669, www.bangkokthaicooking.com
German Womens Club Bangkok 24 February 2009
The Club returned to my class again after so many members enjoyed my cooking class last time around. This time they brought some first timers
12 members took the class. It was really a relaxing day for all of them, and they were happy with this class. First we all went to visit a local market and shop for fresh ingredients. The members got to requested 5 dishes this time, and they prepared and cooked everything by themselves. We were able to provide each member got their own wok and burner so they all got complete hands-on experience for each dish. They really love Thai food. I look forward to their return!
now every big city in Germany has Asian food shops with Thai ingredients. They have everything needed to make Thai dishes...it's really Amazing ! I was very surprised to knew so many Thai shops there. So now I think it's possible to cook authentic Thai food almost everywhere.
I would be very pleased to teach thai cooking to the group from Siam Ocean World. When I was in Melbourne, Australia I went to see the Aquarium which is run by the same company. However, I prefer Siam Ocean World as the design is better and it has more interesting sea animals. At my school we cook 5 dishes and both Thais and other nationalities who work in Siam Ocean World Bangkok always enjoy the cooking classes. More information about Siam Ocean World is found at http://www.siamoceanworld.co.th/.
American Women's Club-Bangkok
Today I had a class with an American Women's Club. (Baser; do you know the name of the Club; good to use the real name)
Mrs Doris, one of members has taken my cooking class before and she loved it so much she took many day classes last year.
This time around she brought a group of people from her club to take my class.
Everybody was happy and seemed like they knew a lot about Thai food,because they all live in Thailand.
I love to cook with housewives because they really use the techniques
I teach to prepare delicious Thai meals for their families.
One more thing I want to mention is that Mrs. Doris' group really liked and appreciated Thai culture and loved learning about
Thai cooking. I look forward to seeing many of the members again soon.
Darby high School from England
20 students from England Darby hight school attended my school today to learn Thai cooking. These were young teenagers and they all cooked very well. They said that thai cooking very easy to prepare, butit's hard to find the ingredients because most of them are
unfamiliar with items like ginger, lime leaves, and the various kinds of herbs found in Thai dishes. Our Market Tour tour made them more knowledgeable about Thai food and culture. Once the right ingredients were selected they really enjoyed the traditional methods
of preparation using mortars and other hand tools, instead of food processors. They found Thai cooking more fun and quick and easy as well.
Some of them knew how to cook before, but for others it was their first time cooking---ever! I'm happy to be able to send them back home
knowing how to cook some tasty Thai dishes for their family and friends
The group consisted of 20 people so I divided them into groups of two for each wok.
Each group worked together to prepare 5 dishes
They all got hands-on training in how to cut meat and vegetables and pound curry paste, and how to use the wok properly
Everybody looked like they were having a great time and seemed excited to create great Thai food with their own hands.
It 's easy to learn Thai cooking with Silom Thai Cooking School ---every body can cook !
COOKING WITH KIDS
When I was a little kid, I always helped my parents cooking in the kitchen. Today I got to turn back the clock a little, through a fantastic chance to cook for some Ausie kids from Sydney.They were very interested in cooking and enjoyed the market tour too.
They like to see fresh stuff from the market. I let one of them grate coconut with a traditional coconut greater. He really liked it Today was fun, even though it took alot of time to cook some of the dishes.Tom yum goong took an hour but for the kids, they were happy to finally get to taste the tum yum goong and green curry, all made with their own hands, and they got to help each other with the green curry paste and all the other preparations. It's always good for kids to learn to work together. They also got our recipe cook book to surprise their parents and friends with a perfect home cooked Thai meal!
Thai Food Competition by W. L. Gore & Associates Hong kong
This is the second food competition at Silom Thai Cooking School Our honored guests, this time around, were from W. L. Gore & Associates, Hong kong 15 employees came to our school for this event We divided them up into 5 teams of 3 persons each. Each team was required to cook the same 5 dishes I first demonstrated how to cook each dish and then each team was given a recipe book with recipes for all 5 dishes. then they took turns cooking the 5 dishes. We started with tomyum goong Then we made Pad Thai.Then glass noodle salad and Green Curry with chicken
We finished with mangos with sticky rice It's always a little messy and exciting, with everyone run ning around and every team working so hard.
I love to see them help each other and use team work to get things done. With people sharing work this way they make strong bonds with their colleagues too! The event had a lot of excitement and it was fun for everyone, and of course, everyone loved tasting the food when it was cooking and everyone got to eat their own work at the end.
To all the participants:
At Silom Thai Cooking School we love to share these good memories with you and hope to see you all again in future!
More in formation about
Global fluoropolymer technology and manufacturing. Fabrics, medical implants, industrial sealants & filtration, signal transmission, & consumer products.
www.gore.com
About
Craig Kielburger
 |
Craig loves Thailand, and its food and culture. In
particular, he loves and cares deeply for children.
Included among his many projects throughout
the world is a school for poor people in Thailand.
Craig recently took 4 days
of private classes at Silom Thai Cooking School,
including basic vegetable and Fruit carving,
curry pastes, coconut milk, and sticky rice.
We cooked 7 dishes per day, from various Thai
traditions and regions, each of which have been
adapted to make them easy to learn and to remember.
After spending 4 days with
Craig I can see that he’s a good cook,
and that he really loves Thai soup. We worked
on preparation of many types of soup and he
loved them all.
Craig says he is now looking
forward to cooking his favorite Thai dishes
back in Canada.
|
|
More About Craig
Kielburger
Craig has received many awards for his work, including
the Nelson Mandela Human Rights Award, the World
Economic Forum GLT Award, the Roosevelt Freedom
Medal, one of the youngest people to receive the
Order of Canada, the Human Rights Award from the
World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations
and the World’s Children’s Prize for
the Rights of the Child, also known as the Children’s
Nobel Prize. He has a degree in peace and conflict
studies from the
University of Toronto and is the recipient of
two honorary doctorates. www.freethechildren.com. |
I was very honored to be
able to teach traditional thai cooking to Craig Kielburger,
an acclaimed child rights advocate, leadership specialist,
New York Times best- selling author, and a speaker with
a powerful message. He is the founder of Free The Children,
the world’s largest network of children helping
children through education, and is co-founder of Leaders
Today, the world’s top youth leadership. training
organization.
Some words from Craig Kielburger
to me
Guest book .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nusi
You said that I used the words " fantastic "
and " incredible" too much with every lesson
and bite, but those are the only words to describe the
fantastic awesome and incredible experience of being
your student ! Thank you for sharing your passion and
gift In Thai cooking during our private course. Your
one-on-one attention to detail make the experience ever
more magical. I will return to Canada and spread the
word among friends.
With a taste for Thai food and an interest in cooking
should join your group and private classes !
Thanks Again
and Happy Cooking !
Craig
Toronto, Canada
April , 2007
Thank You to Klm Team
for visiting and having lunch at Silom Thai Cooking
School About Klm Royal Ducth Airline
KLM Media Relations is part of the KLM Corporate Communications department and is located at the KLM head office in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. The department consists of two spokes persons and a department assistant. The purpose of KLM Media Relations is to provide the media with information in a timely manner and to handle requests for interviews, recordings and visual materials.
 
www.klm.com
15 August 2006
Silom Thai Cooking School is very honored to have been chosen to host a cooking competition for Abn Ambro Bank employees this week. Competitors came from Abn Embro branches throughout Asia came together to learn Thai cooking techniques and to participate in a cooking competition .
34 participants were divided into 6 teams. Each team prepared 6 dishes selected jointly by the competition judges and a Silom Thai Cooking School instructor. Each team prepared all 6 dishes from scratch, using basic ingredients and traditional Thai preparation and cooking techniques....no Cuisinarts here! Besides learning about Thai food and enjoying the competition, the participants learned to work more closely together as a team and now have some truly memorable experiences to share with each other. And, of course, they got to eat all this great Thai food! Thank you Abn Ambro bank for choosing Silom Thai Cooking School to host this event! We had a great time too! Thanks also to all the judges for their hard work and their help in making this event such a great success. We look forward to seeing all of you again soon!
About ABN AMRO
http://www.abnamro.com
Thank You to Deloitte Consulting (SEA) Sdn. Bhd.
Team for visiting and having lunch at Silom Thai Cooking School on June 9th, 2006
About Deloitte
The member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu ("DTT") are governed by a set of shared values which guide their actions in everything they do. These four values — Integrity, Outstanding Value to Markets and Clients, Commitment to Each Other and Strength from Cultural Diversity — are essential to member firms’ ability to join together their diverse practices, cultures and business functions. DTT member firms consider them to be fundamental statements about how they act as individuals and as an organization — both locally and globally
www.deloitte.com
"Welcome to Silom Thai Cooking School"
Thank You to Jeff Fenech Family for visiting and having lunch at Silom Thai Cooking School
About Jeff Fenech
The three-time world champion at bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight is arguably one of the greatest boxers Australia has ever produced. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota , New York in June 2002, Fenech is recognised around the world as one of the sports greats. A controvserial draw with African great Azumah Nelson when the majority of the world saw him win, cost Fenech what would have been an amazing fourth world title at super featherweight. A career spanning 1984 to 1996, Fenech turned professional after a controversial quarter final points loss at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Trained by Johnny Lewis, Fenech was known as the "Marrickville Mauler" and was like a pocket dynamo in the ring, capturing the hearts of Australian sporting fans with his unique expression, "I love youse all". The head trainer, manager and promoter now passes on his never ending resources of boxing knowledge to the members of Team Fenech.
 www.teamfenech.com
|
