Thai team bonding

One of our teammates is in town from the other side of the country, so we planned a department "strategy" offsite for today. Essentially, we went to the Sunset this morning, shopped for Asiany foods at the grocery store and went to a Thai lady's home to learn to cook some dishes.

We started out by making summer rolls, which was probably the most difficult dish we attempted. The rolls themselves aren't terribly hard to make, but getting the rice paper sheets the right consistency so that they roll up without breaking was pretty tough! In the end, it didn't matter that much because it all tasted good.

Next up was pad thai, which was pretty easy, probably because all the ingredients were measured out for us on our little golden dishes. Each of us had an individual cooking station so we could compare notes and make sure we were all doing things properly. I also learned that if a restaurant's pad thai is too red, it probably means they're using ketchup. Who knew?

Finally, we made some eggplant and shrimp in green curry, which was probably the easiest and best dish. Somehow, I think I'll have a hard time recreating it at home without our instructor's special homemade curry paste.

I don't know what "strategy" we accomplished, but it was fun spending time with each other and I am so incredibly stuffed that I feel like I might die.