The Hill Station runs a great series of cooking demos, though we’d hesitate to label it a cooking class since the hands on time is limited to basic chopping. Still, it's a very cool experience and if you're willing to put in the effort you can take some new techniques back home.
The people behind Hanoi Cooking Centre not only know Vietnamese food, they also know Western palates and pantries. The instruction is very clear, with great demonstrations and lots of hands on time. The biggest drawback in our course was that we didn't get to personally grill our food, but it by no means ruined the experience. The classes at Hanoi Cooking Centre are a great way to learn how to cook the food that regular Vietnamese people eat both at home and on the streets.
Pea’s course is a great way to learn simple, delicious homestyle Thai food. It’s not fancy, it doesn’t require a gazillion ingredients, and it won’t take hours to prepare. She’s also well aware of what ingredients most Westerners can and can’t source, and has chosen her menu accordingly. If you want to know what Thai people are likely to eat on a day-to-day basis, this is the course for you!
We’s class is a sneak peak into the lesser known Northern Thai cuisine. Northern Thai food is heartier, more rustic, and packed full of herbs. If you know what you want to learn, you can customize 3-4 dishes for her to teach. If you don’t have suggestions, she can either design a menu to showcase Northern classics, or she can teach you some classics like panang or massaman curry, pad thai, or whatever else you can dream up! As it was private, it cost more than other classes, but was still a reasonable price for North American standards.
Sela’s class is a great way to get an in depth look at Cambodian food and culture in a family setting. He’s knowledgeable, passionate and on a mission to help his community and nearby farmers. We loved the opportunity to hang out with his wife, kids and dogs while cooking up some interesting dishes not found at standard tourist-friendly cooking classes.
This class is indicative of what you'll find across Cambodia: a good introduction to accessible Khmer food at a very reasonable price. All of the menu items are very Western-palate-friendly, the kitchen is clean, and the instruction is good. The available menu, however, is not unique to this class. It features the same 5-10 options found around the country, though they are done quite well here.
