Akha Thai Cooking Experience

Thailand has been famous and loved for its hustling streets, bustling nightlife, pristine beaches and hospitable island culture for decades. But none of these can top its mouth-watering cuisine. And the best way to acquaint with Thai flavours is to spend an indulgent evening experiencing the Thai cooking at the hands of Akha Tribe which is one of the oldest tribes in Thailand. There are lots of cooking experience alternatives around Thailand that one can choose as per their convenience, budget and travel plans. However, I was lucky to have an evening free during my visit to Chiang Mai and after seeing some 3000+ raving 5 star reviews (which were pretty well deserved), I choose to book an experience with Thai Akha Kitchen.

When I say experience, I absolutely mean that it was an “Experience”. Starting from your pick up from your accommodation to dropping you off at the end of the evening, briefing about what to expect, providing best in class ingredients for your “self-cooked” dinner and guiding you through each step of every single course, you master chef makes this not just educational but fun adventure for you. You can choose a morning session which includes a tour to the local market to procure your ingredients for a meal or you can choose the laid back, end of the day evening tour as did I. The pricing is pretty reasonable, considering that you will be paying approximately USD 30 for a 4-course meal with 11 traditional Thai dishes.

I was quite astounded to see the cooking school where the experience was to take place. An open-aired kitchen with a separate station for each participant with the kitchen utilities and appliances to work with, rounding up a glimpse of how a local Thai kitchen might look. Water, Tea and Coffee are on the house and unlimited. There is also an option to buy alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and my personal recommendation for a non-alcoholic beverage is Cha yen (Thai iced tea made of sugar, milk and locally grown tea) and Singha beer or Mekhong (Thai whiskey) if you are looking for an alcoholic one. The best part about the entire experience is but obviously the menu. There are in all 11 dishes that you will be making and with each course cooked and served, the participants will take a break, enjoy the food they cooked and socialize with each other and the host.

Coming to the actual food, in all, I learnt 11 dishes but I had to choose which ones I wanted to cook. The ingredients were provided by the chef and he guided us how we should carry out each step. Being a vegetarian, I have always faced a problem while ordering food in a visiting country. But I had mentioned my dietary requirements while booking and the School very happily provided me with Vegan as well as Vegetarian options. Needless to say, that just enriched my experience. A few of the delicacies I chose for my evening were Som Tum (papaya salad), Sticky Mango Rice Pudding, Sweet & Sour Tofu with Pineapple, Pad Thai, Clear soup with Glass Noodle and Green Curry with Rice. By the end of the evening, my stomach was full of food and my heart with contentment.

The evening ended with a small bag of dried Thai spices, an apron and a booklet with all the recipes as a farewell gift from our host. It is mentioned on the website that the experience is 4 hours long but it depends on the willingness and enthusiasm of the participants. As a drop off to your accommodation is included in the price of the experience, all you have to do is sit back and relax and you can reminiscence the day it has been.

#Thaicooking #Thaiakhakitchen #Solotravelling #Backpacking