Cooking Class

As mentioned in a previous blog we've had some excellent food at The Hut. Marie and I both were quite impressed by the Thom Yam soup and Pad Thai we shared. So much so, in fact, that I asked to meet the cook, a local gal by the name of Louis. Louis had agreed to teach me how to cook the two dishes so here I was ready to go.
The kitchen is relatively small, three burners for cooking, a sink for clean up, a fridge, a cooler, small counter space and a lot of spices and ingredients for the dishes on the menu.
She gathered up some garlic and a shallot, placed them on a cutting board and handed me a clever. I smashed the garlic, diced it up and did the same to the shallot. Louis handed me a quartered cabbage and told me to cut two slices. The other ingredients for the Pad Thai were already portioned and prepared; sliced carrot, bean sprouts, green onion, some sort of salted pickled vegetable matter and the ground peanuts and all spices.
With the small sized wok shaped pan on the burner she poured in a huge swig of corn oil. Yikes! I didn't realize there was that much oil in Pad Thai, at least a quarter of a cup. I try to use as little oil as possible when I cook but here they all use liberal amounts, nothing ever sticks in a pan. LOL. Remember my stories about the fried eggs, ugh! Anyways, the oil got hot quickly and she threw in the garlic, shallots and carrot slices cooking them for about thirty seconds then adding a handful of cubed raw chicken. Next came sweet chilli sauce, Thai chilli paste, splash of fish sauce, sugar(everything here gets sugar), the salted pickled stuff and some of the crushed peanuts. Stir it all around cooking the chicken. Louis put a handful of white rice noodles in the pan, added a splash of water ( needed to soften the noodles) and mixed the works. She cracked an egg onto the side of the pan letting it cook for a bit before stirring it into the mixture as well. Throw in the bean sprouts and voila, put it on a plate. She dressed the plate with some garnishes and it was ready to serve. The whole process took around 5-6 minutes to cook. I always wondered how they could serve the dishes so quickly.
I had expected the broth for the soup was prepared earlier but Louis said she makes it all from scratch. Well sort of, out comes the bag of chicken stock powder (cheater) and 2 big tsps go into about two cups of water. Bring to a boil and throw in all of the pre-prepared vegetables; onion, baby corn, galangal slices and lemon grass. Add chicken, juice of lemon and lime and chilli paste to taste. Now her secret ingredient, condensed milk, about 3 tbsp (it's sweet so you don't need sugar). When the chicken is cooked add bean sprouts and tomato wedges. Cook briefly and pour into a dish. Marie and I always ask for a side order of the white, rice noodles and add them to our soup.
Dishes complete we chowed down our creations. Just as tasty as the first time!