Traditional Laotian food and culture in a rural farmhouse

This was a wonderful, authentic experience with Si and his family. We shopped in the local market, then went back to their home and cooked with them in a beautifully designed outdoor (but shaded) traditional kitchen. It was a wonderful experience that I would very highly recommend.

Awesome. Amazing host with great local knowledge and global experience. Would book this again in a heartbeat.

Meine Freundin schenkte mir diesen Kochkurs und er war überragend. Gestartet wurde mit einer Markttour nachdem Si (Sein Name) uns abgeholt hat. Danach wurden viele kleine Gerichte mit ihm, seiner Frau, seiner Mutter und Cousin gezaubert. Es war viel Herzlichkeit und auch Spaß dabei. Wir durften alles nach einer Kurzen Einleitung machen. Abgerundet wurde dies mit einem eigenen Whiskey(wer ihn wollte würde richtig belohnt). Alles in allem immer wieder gerne. Der beste Kochkurs den ich je hatte.

Um kurz vor 9 Uhr wurden wir von Si, seiner Frau und seinem Cousin abgeholt. Sie zeigten uns den Morgenmarkt, erklärten uns die vielen verschiedenen angebotenen Lebensmittel und liesen uns beim Einkauf der Lebensmittel für unseren Kochkurs teilhaben. Ein perfekter Start in den Tag. Nach unserem erfolgreichen Einkauf brachte Si uns zu sich nach Hause und stellte uns seine restliche Familie vor. Gekocht wurde draussen mit einem Dach als Schutz vor der Sonne und einer sehr schönen Aussicht. Man zeigte uns vor jedem Schritt was wir machen sollten und durften dann selber Hand anlegen. Die vielen super interessanten Gerichte wurden mit viel Liebe zubereitet. Danke an Si, seine Frau, seinen Cousin und vor allem seiner Mutter für die schöne Zeit. Zu unserer Überraschung durften wir seinen eigenen Whiskey probieren welcher sehr gut ist. Wir kommen sehr gerne wieder. Und empfehlen dies allen weiter. Es gibt keinen besseren und persönlicheren Kochkurs als diesen. Bitte ändert nichts an eurer Freundlichkeit und Gastfreundschaft. Wenn es das geben würde hätten wir gerne 6 Sterne gegeben.

I have had 2 cooking classes with market tour in Chengmai and Laos. They are so professional and supportive. I think their classes are more than you can ever expect. Also support from Tripadvisor were helpful.

We had an absolutely great day with Si and his family. It was such a wonderful and authentic cooking experience. We cooked outdoors using traditional Laos cooking utensils but because of a veranda we were well sheltered from the sun. We cooked a soup, pork stew and fish along with sticky rice ofcourse and each dish was delicious. Si is also a wonderful host with perfect english and a great sense of humour and eating with him and his family afterwards was a real joy. I could not recommend this experience highly enough

This was one of my family's favorite days in Asia. The guides and chefs were knowledgable, helpful, and so friendly. Our two teenagers loved it, a great family activity. It was an amazing local experience, our guides started us at their community market to gather ingredients for our cooking class, then we went back to their home. As we were learning how to cook traditional Lao dishes, the family of our guides was running around, engaging us in friendly conversation and making the experience even more immersive. Also, the food was outstanding! Overall, one fantastic day. Highly recommended!

Jérôme and I had a wonderful time with Si and his family. The whole experience really was a taste of Laos. After buying our ingredients at the local market, we cooked up lots of delicious things and were able to take part in all the stages of the cooking whilst chatting a lot with Si who speaks very good English. We were very happy to share the meal with Si and Nee and thank them very much for hosting us. We didn't leave hungry !

We booked this experience after seeing a review on TripAdvisor. The idea of going with local residents to the market and then back to their home for the cooking expereince appealed to us.We went in a tuk tuk to Phonsavan a village near the airport. We went over the road to the market to purchase the ingredients. First stop was a fish stall where fish were swimming in a large tank. These fish are bred in farm ponds and brought to the market for sale. Our selected fish was knocked on the head, scaled, filleted and chopped into pieces before you could blink. We moved through the market recognising some vegetables and having others explained to us.We returned to the house and a separate kitchen out the back. There were two chairs but we didn't sit on them very much. Instead we were co-opted into the cooking process. I was given the job of pounding some rice into powder in a giant mortar and pestle. It was hard work. It was easier when the chillis were added. This solid mix was mixed with water and herbs and mixed in with the fish.Banana leaves were cut into squares and put briefly over the gas flame to make them more pliable. We sat around the table outside the kitchen and had a working bee to put the fish mixture into packets made from the banana leaves. This required some skill which we didn’t have. This dish is called Mok Ba.Then it was back to the mortar and pestle to smash up garlic and chillis and onions. To these was added finely chopped pork which had been fried off in a wok and tomatoes. This delicious sauce was served with steamed vegetables. Also made for our dinner was some delicious soup and a fern like vegetable which grows on riverbanks which had been stir fried. We sat down in the house kitchen to eat this with the daughter of the house who spoke excellent English. We had a very wide ranging conversation with her about life in Laos.

We met Si and his wife Nee at the market and we walked around buying everything we'd be cooking that day. He told us about the different types of food and spending every day going to the market to shop. It was much more informative and authentic than we could have done on our own. Then we headed back to his house to cook with his wife, mother and niece. The entire family was incredibly nice and they showed us every step of how to cook different dishes. It was so much fun, and the family is so nice and sweet - even when they're telling you you're doing it wrong. We then sat down to one of the best meals that we had the entire trip and wonderful conversation about life in Luang Prabang, his experiences as a monk, the family's transition from small village live to moving to the big city and many more topics. All in all an incredible experience.Oh...and if my word isn't good enough for it, Anthony Bourdain also visited Si's house.