Thai Cooking Class by Chef in Stilettos: I learned to make my own pad thai!

Ever since I first tried Thai cuisine, I have been hooked! Green papaya salad, pomelo salad, tom yum, green chicken curry, pad thai, Thai fried rice with shrimp paste, tako or Thai coconut pudding, Thai iced tea, and more -- I love them all! But as much as I want to try recreating some of my favorite Thai dishes, I can't seem to replicate the taste. My version wouldn't taste even an inch close to the authentic Thai dish. And then, there's not knowing where to get certain ingredients, like kaffir lime leaves and galangal, in my case. Eating out to satisfy my Thai food cravings too often isn't also very economical.

However, some time back in November, I've finally learned to make most of my favorite Thai dishes. And from Chef Cecille Chang who used to run Thai Bistro and Silk Road among other notable Thai restaurants, nonetheless.

And you too can learn directly from Chef Cecille also known as Chef in Stilettos! For P2,500 per session, you can join Chef Cecille’s Thai cooking class which is held at her private kitchen in BGC. All the ingredients and cooking equipment and utensils, handouts and even apron, are all provided. So you can just bring yourself, and a few plastic containers for food, 'cause you'll definitely want to take home your self-cooked dishes. Unless of course, you can't help yourself and eat them all during the class. ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ

The Hands-On Thai Cooking Experience

Chef Cecille is very hands on when it comes to holding her classes. Before we begin cooking, she would first demonstrate how to make the dish, throwing in useful tips and tricks along the way.

Thai Spring Rolls (Paw Pia That)

First among the dishes we made during the class were spring rolls.

Ingredients for making the spring rolls

Cooking the spring roll filling

Here Chef Cecille helps me as I forget to put in a few other ingredients. Haha! I'm ashamed!

My nicely wrapped (or rolled) spring rolls

We didn't fry the spring rolls just yet, since we still had more dishes to make, and we wanted to do so at the last part. Spring rolls are best eaten fresh off the fryer, so the skin would be crisp and the filling warm.

Green Curry with Chicken (Kaeng Khiaw Waan Kai)

Next, Chef Cecille showed us how to make green chicken curry. This one was a sure hit with all of us! Whether a spicy food lover or not, we all found ourselves licking our spoon clean off the sample dish which Chef Cecille demonstrated.

Chef Cecille makes her own green curry paste.
But if we need an easier alternative, she recommends to use this particular brand (which you'll find out if you enroll).

Time to try out Chef Cecille's green chicken curry. Yum!

My version of the dish~ This is soooooo good!!!

To make a really mean green chicken curry, it's important to make use of fresh and quality ingredients. But of course, not everyone can easily get a hold of ingredients which are native to Thailand and can't easily be obtained in the Philippines. Chef Cecille didn't only teach us what ingredients we needed and how to make the dish, but also recommended us alternatives that are readily available and easily accessible. She even shared with us a trade secret on how to achieve the more vibrant color of green curry! v(°∇^*)⌒☆

Thai Papaya Salad (Som Tam)

Among the many tasty Thai salads, my personal favorite has always been the green papaya salad. So I was over the moon when I found out we were making this in the class. Finally, I'll not only get to eat (again), but get to learn how to make this slightly sweet, salty, spicy, tart dish that I oh-so-love!

Chef Cecille demonstrating how to make the green papaya salad;
the key is in the traditional preparation -- using a mortar and pestle.

I made my own green papaya salad! ｡ﾟ( ﾟஇ‸இﾟ+)ﾟ｡

Huhu... I'm a happy happy kid!!!

This Thai papaya salad is sooooooo good! I kid you not, but I actually finished this salad right after making it. Haha! I wish I was able to hold back and take it home to enjoy later and longer. But now I know how to make it, so I'll definitely be making this green papaya salad more often. Thank you so much for the recipe and tips, Chef Cecille!

Hot & Sour Prawn Soup (Tom Yum Kung)

Though I try to limit my consumption of prawns, I'm still powerless when I'm in front of a bowl of tom yum kung. Tom yum is a hot and sour but also very comforting soup. It's somehow the Thai's version of sinigang.

Cooking the ingredients in the boiled stock.

My bowl of hot and sour tom yum kung~ So divine!

I still can't believe I made my own bowl of tom yum! Let's see if I can make this again at home. If I can find the courage to prep my own ingredients, then maybe I will. We'll see. Haha!

Thai Stir-Fried Noodles (Pad Thai)

I still feel giddy whenever I look back and realize that I've made my own pad thai! (Of course, with the help of Chef Cecille.) This Thai noodle dish is probably one of my most favorite Thai dishes of all time. And just in the past month alone, I think I've craved for pad thai for more than five times now!

Ingredients for making pad thai

Tadaaaa!!!

And I can't be any happier that I've finally learned how to make this! It's not as complicated as I thought. But the things I learned especially about making the sauce, is probably what differentiates authentic-tasting pad thai from my previous fail attempts.

I tried my hardest too not to finish this pad thai after cooking it. And this time, unlike with the green papaya salad, I triumphed! Although I think I've only left less than half of the original serving, I'm happy I still got to save some to take home for later. But now that I think about it, I guess I should make my own pad thai as often as I'd like, shouldn't I?

Thai Cooking Class by Chef in Stilettos

I can't be any happier that I've attended this Thai Cooking Class by Chef Cecille. Getting the handouts with the recipes alone is worth a lot, but learning directly from someone who has owned several Thai restaurants, and had trained in famous culinary schools and under Thai food masters, is definitely a memorable, educational and yummy experience.

Yes, you can Google your way to learn how to cook a particular Thai dish. But if you want to learn how to make these authentic recipes with added tips and tricks, and learn it hands-on, then I highly recommend taking up Chef Cecille's class. If you have any questions about certain ingredients, what items to use as substitute, where to buy certain stuff, how to do this and that, you can also directly ask Chef Cecille, and get an immediate answer. I promise you, after the class, you'll surely impress your family and friends if you serve them what you learned!

Thai Cooking Class by Chef in Stilettos costs P2,500 per session.
For inquiries and registration, call +63-956-3789129 or visit Thai Cooking Class by Chef in Stilettos.