Anurak Community Lodge sits in a lush green valley on the edge of Khao Sok National Park. We offer a number of exciting outdoor activities that enable you to explore the park and learn about the region. One of these is our Anurak Jungle Dinner cooking experience.
It’s a perfect opportunity to enjoy some local Thai cuisine cooked in traditional jungle fashion. After a fun-filled day outdoors, when you have developed a real appetite, sit down and get ready for some good food!
To understand the roots of our Jungle Dinner experience, take a step back in time about a century or so; imagine when the Khao Sok jungle was still an unexplored wilderness dotted with small, isolated communities, some of which had very little contact with the outside world. Local villages relied heavily on the forest for all their resources, including cooking implements!
Food back then was traditionally eaten with one’s hands. Most communities also had no access to metal pots and pans: so, it was necessary to find some way to cook food, using only the jungle.
Most people are surprised to learn that bamboo played an important role in the cooking process. You will see this demonstrated during our Jungle Dinner experience. Bamboo has a jointed stem called a culm. Typically these culms are hollow, with each segment beginning and ending in a solid joint, called a node.
When cut into segments with the node as the base, bamboo makes a perfect ‘pot’ in which to boil water or make a delicious soup over an open fire. Bamboo is so durable that it can withstand the heat of a fire long after the water or soup has reached boiling point: it’s the perfect natural pot to cook with.
During your Jungle Dinner, you will meet the local cook at our Art Space building near the entrance of Anurak Community Lodge. An open hearth awaits you and your cooking experience. Your cook for the evening will then show you how to prepare all the natural ingredients, as if you were living deep in the jungle!
You will learn how to make a variety of dishes, including boiling rice. Among the dishes we’ll prepare include tom yum kung (spicy soup with shrimp); kaeng liang (spicy mixed vegetable soup); and kai tom sapparot (chicken soup with pineapple).
You will also be shown how to grill meats, like pork and chicken, over an open fire. In addition, your chef will explain how to use the different types of local herbs and spices in Thai food. Dessert will be an assortment of fresh tropical fruit.
Once your meal is ready, sit down to a delicious feast of dishes that you helped to prepare. Cooked naturally over an open flame, the wood smoke, sweet bamboo stems, and local ingredients really bring out the flavors. Open this culinary window into the traditional Thai village communities of the Khao Sok region. The delicious and healthy fare will leave you stuffed!
When booking your Anurak Jungle Dinner, please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements.
