Short answer
Yes: on our Chiang Mai cooking class, from $30 per person, all dishes are available as vegetarian or vegan. The ingredients to watch are fish sauce and shrimp paste. Wikipedia notes that all traditionally made Thai curries contain shrimp paste and that fish sauce is used as salt in many dishes, so a vegetarian class has to replace both. You choose spicy or mild for each dish. Tell us about food allergies when you book, and ask what the kitchen uses instead.
Can you cook vegetarian or vegan at the class?
Yes. Our tour information says all dishes are available as vegetarian or vegan. The class is a small-group half day of about 6.5 hours at an organic farm near Chiang Mai, from $30 per person, and you cook five dishes at your own station: a curry paste and a curry, a stir-fry, a soup and spring rolls. You choose the dishes yourself, as there is no fixed menu, so the vegetarian or vegan version of each is available when you ask.
What our tour information does not say is how each dish is made without animal products. It gives no list of the school's substitutes, and we do not guess at them. So tell us on WhatsApp whether you are vegetarian or vegan, and ask what the kitchen uses in place of fish sauce, shrimp paste and oyster sauce. The sections below explain why those are the questions, using what published sources say about Thai cooking.
Why are fish sauce and shrimp paste the problem?
They are in nearly everything. Wikipedia's article on Thai cuisine says pure vegetarian food is usually difficult to find in normal restaurants in Thailand, because all traditionally made Thai curries contain shrimp paste and fish sauce is used as salt in many dishes. Wikipedia describes fish sauce as a liquid condiment made from fish or krill coated in salt and fermented for up to two years. In Thailand it is called nam pla, and it is also served at the table as a condiment.
Shrimp paste, kapi in Thai, is a fermented condiment of finely crushed shrimp or krill mixed with salt, according to Wikipedia. The article calls kapi an essential ingredient in many types of nam phrik, the spicy dips, and in all Thai curry pastes. That is why the curry paste you make at a class is the first thing a vegetarian guest should ask about. Wikipedia's article on Thai curry lists shrimp paste with chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass and galangal among the usual paste ingredients.
How do vegetarian recipes replace them?
Published recipes give a few standard swaps. Wikipedia's article on pad thai says vegetarian versions may substitute soy sauce for fish sauce and leave out the shrimp entirely. Its article on panaeng says vegetarian versions use soy sauce instead of fish sauce, and tofu, mushrooms or plant-based proteins instead of meat. Its article on massaman says vegetarians and vegans have made their own versions with tofu, substituting any shrimp paste or fish sauce used.
Two cautions come with this. Wikipedia's article on fish sauce says that some people in the West regard soy sauce as a vegetarian alternative, although the two taste very different, so a vegetarian dish will not taste identical to the classic one. And these are general recipes, not our school's method. Our tour information says only that every dish is available as vegetarian or vegan, so ask for the exact substitutions before you pay if the details matter to you.
Where do animal products hide in the class dishes?
Wikipedia's articles show the likely places. Pad thai is made with rice noodles, eggs and tofu and flavoured with tamarind juice, fish sauce and dried shrimp. Holy basil chicken, phat kaphrao, is seasoned with soy sauce, fish sauce and, optionally, oyster sauce. The curry pastes for massaman and panaeng both include shrimp paste, and the panaeng paste also includes peanuts. Two of the four stir-fries on our list are named after chicken, so ask what replaces it.
Tom yum has its own catch. Wikipedia says that for most varieties a paste called nam phrik phao is added, made from shrimp, chillies, shallots and garlic, and that fish sauce goes in at the end. That does not make a vegetarian tom yum impossible; it makes it a different recipe from the standard one. We found no published ingredient list for fried rice or spring rolls, so for those two dishes, ask.
Vegetarian, vegan and Buddhist che food are not the same
Words matter here. Wikipedia's article on Thai cuisine explains that traditional Buddhist vegetarian fare contains no meat or seafood products of any kind and also excludes certain strong-tasting vegetables and spices. It is sold at specialised restaurants marked with a yellow sign with the Thai word che or ahan che in red, and those restaurants serve what can be regarded as vegan food. Our class says vegetarian or vegan. It does not say che.
Vegan goes further than vegetarian: no eggs, which matters because pad thai is traditionally made with them. If you follow Buddhist rules that also exclude strong-tasting vegetables, say so when you write, because that is a stricter list than vegetarian and our tour information does not promise it. Guests who eat fish are in an easier position: Wikipedia says pescatarians would have very few problems with Thai cuisine, because many dishes use only fish and seafood as animal protein.
How does spice work, and what about allergies?
You decide whether each dish is spicy or mild, so the class suits guests who do not like chilli. Wikipedia's article on Thai curry explains why that works: the spiciness depends on the amount and kind of chilli used in the paste. Its article on green curry says green curry tends to be more pungent than the milder red curries, and its article on panaeng describes a mildly sweet curry. If you want a gentle start, those are the curries to look at.
Tell us about food allergies when you book. The NHS lists eggs, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts such as cashews, and shellfish such as prawns among the most common allergic foods. Several appear in the class dishes: eggs and peanuts in pad thai, peanuts in massaman and panaeng, cashews in cashew chicken, shrimp in the pastes, and soya in soy sauce, the usual vegetarian substitute. Write the exact food to us on WhatsApp and ask what the kitchen can do before you pay; for medical questions, see the NHS page or your doctor.
Who suits this class, and how do you book?
It suits vegetarians and vegans who want to learn the dishes instead of hunting for a restaurant, and guests who dislike chilli. Guests aged 9 and over cook at their own station, and children aged 4 to 8 come as visitors. It does not suit anyone who needs a strictly che kitchen or a guarantee against an allergen, because our tour information gives neither. Hotel pickup covers hotels within about 3 km of the Old City, and dessert is not part of the half day.
Booking is on WhatsApp. Send us the date, your hotel, the number of guests, the session you prefer (morning pickup at about 8:00 to 8:30 am, evening at about 3:00 to 3:30 pm) and your diet and allergies in one message. We confirm availability, the pickup time and the total before you pay. The cost and the inclusions are in our price guide, and the route is in the travel guide.
Practical checklist
- Say in your first WhatsApp message whether you are vegetarian or vegan.
- Ask what the kitchen uses instead of fish sauce, shrimp paste and oyster sauce.
- Tell us about food allergies when you book, naming the exact food.
- Choose spicy or mild for each dish; you set the heat yourself.
- If you follow Buddhist che rules, say so, because our class does not promise them.
- Bring mosquito repellent, sunscreen, comfortable clothes and shoes.
Questions and answers
Can every dish be vegan at the Chiang Mai cooking class?
Our tour information says all dishes are available as vegetarian or vegan. It does not list the school's substitutes, so tell us your diet when you book and ask what replaces fish sauce, shrimp paste and oyster sauce.
Is Thai curry paste vegetarian?
Not traditionally. Wikipedia says all traditionally made Thai curries contain shrimp paste, and that kapi is an essential ingredient in all Thai curry pastes. Vegetarian versions replace it, so ask how the class paste is made.
What replaces fish sauce in vegetarian Thai recipes?
Published recipes use soy sauce, according to Wikipedia's articles on pad thai and panaeng, though the flavour is different. Ask for the school's own method when you book.
Can you make the food mild?
Yes. You decide whether each dish is spicy or mild, so the class works for children and for guests who do not like chilli.
What if you have a food allergy?
Tell us when you book. The NHS lists eggs, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts such as cashews and shellfish among the most common allergic foods, and several appear in Thai recipes. Name the exact food on WhatsApp and ask what the kitchen can do.
Does the vegetarian class cost extra?
The class is from $30 per person. Our tour information lists no separate price for vegetarian or vegan dishes, and we confirm the total on WhatsApp before you pay.