Curry Paste, Watermelons and Stink Beans: Thai Cookery with B
The Vampires of Phuket clan spent the day exploring Kathu Fresh Market and cooking homestyle Thai eats with our new friend B, a South Thailand native who has been teaching cooking classes for more than two decades.
Unlike other cooking classes, B starts at the source: a local open air farm market near her home. While we strolled the bustling aisles packed with fresh eggs, farm greens, heaps of dried sardines and slabs of raw meat, she schooled us on a botanical textbook worth of edible leaves, geeked out over fish with us, explained which cuts of pork are used in which dishes and more.
And that was just the precursor to a nearly five hour cooking extravaganza in her homey open air kitchen, which is located less than five minutes from Kathu Market. Once we had refueled with free iced coffees and lime drinks, we chopped, pounded, and ground our own curry paste, showered papaya salad with dried prawn and managed not to start a grease fire while frying our own whole fish. Plus, she patiently taught our daughter how to carve fruit, cheering as she made her first few tentative cuts on the watermelon.
The revelation of the day was B’s Southern-style stir fried curry with hunks of fatty pork and stink beans. This “dry” curry doesn’t add coconut milk to the mix, so the curry paste is toasted and nearly caramelized while it stir fries. Stink beans, or sataw (สะตอ) as they’re known here in Thailand, are a familiar sight at weekly fresh markets: rows of huge, lime-hued pods that look like green peas zapped with a super-sizer ray gun. When shelled and added to dishes, they taste a bit like a lima bean and a lot like asparagus, to my palate—a unique and welcome addition to stir fries.
The other highlight of our afternoon? It’s when B taught me how to fold and rubber band those magical spill-proof plastic baggies full of sauces and curries like a proper Thai street vendor. When I held up my properly poufed baggie in triumph after multiple attempts, my husband David remarked: “You look more proud of yourself right now than you did after you gave birth.” Not gonna lie, he was right.
We were truly honored to spend the day with B and learn more about her cuisine, culture and family. (We’re coming back soon to learn how to make massaman curry and sour pork soup.) I highly recommend her in terms of knowledge, kindness, and value. You cannot find a more worthwhile way to spend a day on this island. If you’re ever in Phuket, make sure and find time to cook with her yourself! https://www.facebook.com/beecookingclassphuket/