Too Many Chefs

Sounds lovely! I'm so jealous of the class, too...

sounds wonderful. do you have any suggestions about chili paste?

Meg, when you're planning your trip to Thailand, I can recommend to you classes all over the country. And, in general, it's so inexpensive. Lots of fun.

Paul, I have been using Lee Kum Kee simply because it's the only chili sauce I can find, but it's a good choice. The important thing is to avoid the ones that have ground up fish paste. That's a different product but they look similar and are often sold next to each other on the shelf. Just see to it that the ingredients are chilis and oil (and maybe garlic and salt). The list of ingredients shouldn't be much more than that. I think I used to buy Mae Ploy. You could look for that label; it's a common import to the US.

I love tofu. I never thought I could eat a purely vegetarian dish until I started cooking a lot of silken tofu which is really healthier since it doesn't need to be pan fried. Never tried adding vermouth though. Thanks for the idea. :)

Just a little vermouth will bring out flavors that are only soluble in alcohol. Any alcohol will do, of course, but vermouth is fortified and an open bottle will last a lot longer in the fridge than regular wine.