Vegan Cooking Class Chiang Mai for Every Dietary Style

At Thai Akha Kitchen, creating an inclusive experience for every guest is our top priority. Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, Kosher, Halal, or following any other dietary lifestyle, ours is the most flexible vegan cooking class Chiang Mai has to offer: every one of the 11 authentic dishes adapts to your needs.

Because every student cooks at their own individual station – no sharing, zero cross-contamination – you have complete control over every ingredient from start to finish. We accommodate 6 dietary styles and use premium substitutes (tofu, soy sauce, pumpkin seeds) to ensure every dish is just as flavourful as the original.

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A regular diet in Thailand differs from regular diets in other parts of the world – it reflects the cooking and eating habits of Thai people. The meats which are most commonly consumed in Thailand are chicken and pork. Beef is rare in the north of Thailand due to the prominent Hindu culture, in which cows are viewed as sacred animals and therefore not consumed. In the south of Thailand, you may find beef being used more commonly in dishes, as Hinduism is less prominent in the south.

In Thai Akha Cooking School, we provide chicken and shrimp as the meat in our dishes, as well as tofu and egg to bulk out our dishes. By following the regular diet in your cooking with us, you will learn how meat, egg, tofu, and plants are used in dishes to create delicious, traditional Thai-Akha food.

Vegans exclude all animal products from their diet, including all meat, dairy, eggs, and honey, and instead follow a plant-based diet. Chiang Mai is renowned as one of the most vegan-friendly locations in southeast Asia, therefore you can expect a great experience in finding and enjoying vegan-friendly dishes. Our vegan cooking class Chiang Mai kitchen is well equipped to adapt all our dishes to a vegan diet using tofu and other plant-based ingredients.

In our Thai Akha Cooking School, tofu is provided to substitute chicken, shrimp, and egg. We also provide soy sauce as a substitute for fish sauce. This way you can enjoy the great tastes of Thai and Akha cooking without any animal products – the heart of our vegan cooking class Chiang Mai experience.

Vegetarians exclude all meat from their diet, including fish and seafood. Vegetarians still consume eggs and dairy. In Thailand, there is a type of vegetarianism known as ‘Buddhist vegetarian’, which excludes all foods that influence passion such as chili, garlic, and onion. Buddhist vegetarians will also avoid eating the flesh of any sentient beings. The reason for the abstinence of these ingredients is to help practice a Buddhist lifestyle without temptations of sin. It is believed that the five “pungent foods” can increase desire, which is negative to Buddhists. Here in our kitchen, we will use tofu to replace any meat used in our cooking.

In our Thai and Akha cooking school, we provide tofu as a substitute for chicken and shrimp. Fish sauce can also be substituted with soy sauce. This way you can enjoy all the tastes of Akha cooking without the addition of meat or fish. Every substitution from our vegan cooking class Chiang Mai menu works for vegetarians too.

Pescatarians follow a mostly vegetarian diet, with the exception of fish and other seafood. Pescatarians will also often eat eggs and dairy. We substitute meat for shrimp or tofu to create a dish which suits the pescatarian diet. Shrimp is the most common aquatic food found in Akha cooking and is placed amongst tofu and egg to bulk out protein in traditional cooking.

In Thai Akha Cooking school, we provide tofu as a substitute for meat (and eggs if you choose not to eat them) – shrimp and fish sauce can still be used in our recipes. You can still substitute fish sauce for soy sauce instead if you would prefer. Pescatarians simply combine the vegan cooking class Chiang Mai substitutions with shrimp and fish sauce.

Meat lovers tend to predominantly eat meat in their diet. Meat such as shrimp and chicken can be added into our recipes to create a dish perfect for a meat lover. Pork and beef is not commonly included in Thai Akha cooking school.

In Thailand meat is not popular in large quantities, and is never a predominant part of the meal. Instead, the main constituent parts in Thai and Akha meals tend to be vegetables and tofu. Due to the hot climate in Thailand, the requirement for meat and fatty foods is significantly reduced – hence why meat is used a lot less than in other cultures. Because of this, you may often find that you become hungry again shortly after eating a traditional Thai meal, so consuming smaller meals regularly is the most common way to eat.

Kosher

In Judaism the Kosher diet allows only certain meats to be consumed. The animal must have cloven hooves and eat grass. In terms of sea food the Kosher diet prohibits the consumption of shellfish and fish must have fins and scales. By removing shrimp and anything containing shrimp from the recipe you can enjoy all of our Thai-Akha dishes. We do not include pork in any of our dishes so there is no risk of contamination in our kitchen.

Halal

Those following Islam, practice a diet in which meat is halal if a prayer is offered at the point of slaughter. Fish and eggs are also considered halal. Pork, carrion and blood are all prohibited within the halal diet.

We use chicken in our kitchen however unfortunately our chicken can not be certified halal. You can however substitute any chicken with tofu so all our dishes can be made halal. Halal chicken can be found in the marketplace. If you obtain your own chicken then you are more than welcome to bring this and we will include this into our cooking class for you.

Rastafari

Follow a diet in which they focus on a “clean eating” diet. This is called I-tal and prohibits the consumption of meat other than fish as long as the fish is less than twelve inches. Pork, shellfish and scavenging animals are also prohibited within this diet. Additionally Salt, alcohol, coffee and milk are also restricted. Since the only meats we include in our kitchen is shrimp and chicken then we can adapt the recipe to substitute these for tofu and fish sauce for soy sauce – the same swaps our vegan cooking class Chiang Mai menu uses.

Jainism

This diet avoids harm to any animal and therefore avoids eating egg, poultry. Additionally those following Jainism avoid root vegetables as the harvesting of such plants kills the entire plant. Lastly honey is prohibited. We can accommodate Jainism by removing all animal products similarly to our vegan cooking class Chiang Mai menu, however we often cook with carrot.

Hinduism

Hinduism follows a religious diet in which they avoid the consumption of egg, poultry and meat however the consumption of milk is still allowed.

Because every guest cooks at their own private station with their own measured ingredients, there is zero cross-contamination between students – the single biggest reason our vegan cooking class in Chiang Mai works for guests with severe allergies. We use premium substitutes, such as roasted pumpkin seeds or almonds instead of peanuts, and gluten-free soy sauce on request. Tell us about any allergy when you book or when you arrive, and we prepare your station before class begins – care you will not find at every vegan cooking class Chiang Mai offers. Learn more about every ingredient on our ingredients guide.

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