Laos food is some of the most incredible, and underrated, food in the world. We instantly fell in love with the intense heat and aromatics of Laos dishes and knew we needed to learn to recreate them at home. So we immediately looked for a Luang Prabang cooking class to get stuck in and learn more about their cuisine.
There are a few options around town but we booked with Tamarind Cooking Class as it was so highly rated. This is our experience with them (spoiler: it was fab!) – having done over 20 cooking classes in 18 countries, there was some stiff competition to compare it to.
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Important Information
Location: Tamarind’s cooking school kitchen outside of town. Meet at their restaurant by the Nam Khan in the Old Quarter for free transport there/back
Time needed: 8.30am-1.30pm (includes a market tour) or 4pm-8.30pm (cooking class only)
Cost: $38 per person for morning class $32 per person for evening class
How to book: Book through Tamarind’s website, here (this isn’t sponsored and we don’t get any kick back – we’re just 2 very happy customers/ wannabe Lao cooks!)
Who are Tamarind?
Tamarind Restaurant & Cooking School is run by a husband and wife team who have a passion for Laos cuisine. Joy Ngeuamboupha grew up in a village just outside Luang Prabang and Caroline Gaylard settled down in Laos after travelling the world.
In 2005, they opened “Tamarind: A Taste of Laos” with a simple goal: to give people the opportunity to try the unique flavours of Laos cooking and understand more of the local traditions around food.
Even now, they are still family run with many members of the kitchen and front of house team being part of the family. They continue to work hard to support local suppliers and maintain Laos culinary tradition.
If you don’t get a chance to learn from them, we still recommend eating at their Luang Prabang restaurant. The food is pretty special, offering dishes you’re not likely to see elsewhere. They can also talk you through the dishes, recommend ones they think you’ll like, and make any changes (like dialling back the chilli) to suit your style.
How the cooking class works
The arrival
You need to book in advance – usually at least 24 hours – and pay a deposit. We sent an email to the Tamarind team before we arrived as we knew it was something we really wanted to do, then just popped in on our first morning to pay.
Classes run twice a day, allowing you to cook up a feast for either lunch or dinner. The best one is likely the one that fits best into your Luang Prabang itinerary. That said, only the morning class includes a tour of the local market.
We did the evening cooking class so we still had the day to do other things in Luang Prabang. We’ve also been to a lot of wet markets so we weren’t too bothered about missing out.
The meeting point is at their restaurant even though the class doesn’t take place there. As we arrived a little early, we were given a refreshing ‘Tamarind Cooler’ before being piled into a tuktuk for the 15 minute drive to the cook school.
The class
The school itself is set in a beautiful garden with pond. (Which means mozzies so pack bug spray).
You work at a long wooden bench with Sit, the incredible instructor, explaining each dish. There were only 6 of us so it was easy to ask questions if we needed and Sit speaks perfect English.
There was no one with dietary requirements in our group but they cater to them if needed.
Each dish is clearly explained in terms of ingredients and process. You pick up all the things you need (including your preferred amount of chilis) and then prep at your bench. The kitchen is well supplied with the same cooking implements as a Laos home kitchen.
Since we prepped and cooked all our own dishes, we got great hands-on experience and could season to suit our own preferences. This was most useful when stuffing chicken into lemongrass – a dish that needs very precise skills.
We loved cooking on coals in the traditional Laos manner. It added real smoky depth to the dips as the vegetables and chilis were charred over the coals before being pounded into a sauce.
The food
After a few hours of work, we sat down to eat at a big communal table. Everyone eats their own dishes, plus another 4 which are shared family style, made by the Tamarind team. It’s a full on feast!
There were also drinks available, priced very similarly to restaurants around Luang Prabang. Beers are very reasonable but wine and spirits are quite expensive (by Laos standards).
As we were leaving, we were given a full recipe book so we didn’t need to take notes during the class. We’ve used it to make the dishes without their watchful eye and were really happy with the results.
What we cooked
- Jeow mak keua – charred eggplant dip
- Jeow mak len – charred Lao tomato dip
- Mok pa – fish steamed in banana leaves (our favourite dish of the day)
- Oua si khai – chicken stuffed lemongrass (really hard to do!)
- Khao gam – purple sticky rice with coconut sauce for dessert
In addition to these dishes, the instructors also prepared some extra food so we could have a full Laotian feast. They made:
- Laab – minced meat and herd salad
- Gaeng nor mai – bamboo shoot soup
- Jeow som – sour peanut dipping sauce
- Phak nung phed – spicy steamed pumpkin (most surprisingly amazing)
Other cooking classes in Luang Prabang
If Tamarind doesn’t suit you or they’re fully booked, we’ve also heard really great things about SaSa Cooking Class (though we’ve never taken the class ourselves).
SaSa Cruises offer a cooking class on the Mekong river. It doesn’t have many online reviews as of July 2024, but the small number it does have are very positive and our amazing hostel recommended them. Having gorgeous Mekong views as you learn to make Laos food sounds fantastic.
It runs 9.30am-2pm and includes a free Lao mojito and market tour for $35 per person. If you are vegetarian or vegan, they have a menu for you too. With the price of the class, you can also come back to do their 2 hour sunset cruise making it amazing value if you want to try both.
Final thoughts
Taking a Luang Prabang cooking class is a non-negotiable “must do” for us when visiting the city. Laos food is just so amazing that it would be a shame not to take some recipes home with you. Though getting such high quality ingredients might not be so easy at home.
We loved our class at Tamarind and would recommend to anyone. If you’re looking to save a little money then the SaSa class combined with the free sunset cruise included is amazing value for money.
Laos
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