Thai Classics III Class

Attended a Thai Classics III Class by Guest Chef Forest Leong at Shermay's Cooking School the past Sunday. Both hubby and I love thai food, so I thought it would be nice to attempt some of the 'easier-to-pick-up' dishes at home, instead of using those ready-mix.

The recipes featured look really tantalising, so decided to sign up for the class. Chef Forest Leong is really very friendly and offered lots of useful tips to the class, like how to choose water chestnut and pineapple; how to handle the different ingredients; all from a very simple point-of-view of a home-maker, very assuring indeed.

• Roasted Lemon Grass Chicken (Gai Ob Ta Khai) - chicken thigh/drumstick marinated & roasted with lemon grass. I am a big fan of lemon grass, so any recipes with lemon grass interest me!
• Deep-Fried Sun-Dried Pork (Moo Dad Diaw) - pork strips marinated & deep-fried. Think bak kwa, home-version.
• Pineapple Rice (Kao Pad Sap-Pa-Rod) - fried rice dish with pineapples, curry paste & chilli. I love pineapple fried rice, especially with tangy pineapple and fragrance of curry paste.
• Red Rubies (Tup Tip Grob) - crunchy water chestnuts coated in red jelly with coconut milk. Hubby loves this dessert, so if I could master this, he would be happy!

Preparation of the ingredients, all readily available in local markets.

Sun drying the pork strips for Deep Fried Sun-Dreid Pork (Moo Dad Diaw). A very popular snack sold in streets of Bangkok.

As Chef Forest demo the dishes, we got to taste each dish one by one. First up, the Red Rubies. This must be one of the best I tasted so far.

The water chestnut was very fresh, cut to the right size and coated with just enough tapioca starch. The tapioca jelly had the perfect springy texture. Coconut milk was not too heavy either, playing a complementing rule in enhancing the taste of the red rubies. I must make this for hubby and impress him!

The roasted chicken with lemon grass was served piping hot, direct from oven after baking. The meat was juicy and tender with slight aroma from the lemon grass. Really yummy! Can use chicken wings and drumsticks as well. I love this dish!

The deep-fried sun-dried pork is slightly more complicated since got to sun dry the pork. It tasted a little like bak kwa (chinese BBQ pork) but more chewy. A tad too saltish though, must pair with cucumber and carrot sticks. Probably a good snack to go with beer.

Chef Forest showed us how to carve the pineapple into a perfect holder for the pineapple fried rice. This is definitely an easy one-dish meal to cook at home!

Home-made iced lemon grass tea was served during the class. I love the refreshing taste, somehow mine tasted not as fragrant. Upon hearing that we love the lemon grass tea, Chef Forest shared with us the recipe, even though it was not covered in the recipe pack.

These dishes make lovely party/potluck food, looking forward to cook one of these days!