Time for cooking!
There are no electric rice cookers in Khao Sok jungle cooking! Instead, we spread uncooked rice over a banana leaf, add salt, and fold it tightly. Then we cram the whole thing green bamboo. Finally, the bamboo section is filled with water and placed over a fire. It leans close enough for the water inside to boil, but not so close that the bamboo burns. After 30 minutes, we dump the water out. Then, we replace the bamboo over the fire for another 30 minutes as the rice cooks fully.
There is room over the fire for other bamboo pots, so we begin to prepare the next dishes. There is Gaeng Kiaow Waan – Sweet green curry, and Dtom Kha Gai – Coconut soup with Galangal and Chicken. Coconut milk is needed, so we learn how the process used to make that. We prepare our freshly picked herbs and vegetables, slice the chicken, and measure hand-made curry paste. Then we dump everything into the bamboo pots, along with some water, and lean them over the fire to cook.