St. Anthony-New Brighton Community Services

Thai Cooking Class with Certified Chef Pheng, pronounced Peng!Back by popular demand, Pheng will continue to share the food of Thailand with the St. Anthony community. In addition to the spring rolls, Pheng will teach how to make Red Chicken Curry w/ steamed rice - This Thai curry dish is made using a red curry paste which gives it its red distinctive color. While there are other colorful curry dishes such as the green and yellow, red is ironically the more popular dish associated with Thai curries to Western cultures. This particular curry paste is made from red chili peppers ground together with various herbs and spices to create a thick texture-like paste. It is then cooked with chicken (the more popular protein but not limited to) coconut milk, vegetables, and garnished with sweet basil served over white steamed rice. It is packed with flavor and will leave you with a sweet and spicy tingly sensation.About the Instructor:  Pheng Vang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and lived there until he was about 6. His family them immigrated to Milwaukee, WI, in 1995, where he lived for 6 months before moving to Superior, WI, where he currently resides. His love and joy from cooking has been an essential skill reserved for only women in his culture. However, since his mother didn’t have an older daughter, she taught Pheng the “woman” skills. At the age of 4, he learned to cook, do laundry, clean, and even work with vendors to prepare, cook, and sell food items. There still remains a stigma in his Thai culture which believes that men shouldn’t be in the kitchen. Pheng has fought to remain in the kitchen and can be found there at family events (the only man), watching and learning from the experienced women in his culture. Through them, he has learned the traditional techniques, dishes, how to improvise and taste. He is excited to share the foods of the Thai culture with you.