Vietnamese Cooking

Hoi An, Vietnam

When we heard that there was a good cooking class in Hoi An, we decided that even though we had already gone to two such classes in Thailand, it may be another cooking experience to savour (sorry). It didn't disappoint! We were welcomed to a local cafe with a strong coffee, and then whisked away to the central market. Our guide explained which English words to avoid using that have very different meanings in Vietnamese. Not suitable for this blog audience. ;)
Anyway, this was the first trip to the market where we felt like we were in the shopping channel. The guide showed us a knife that did it all...it sliced, it diced, it grated all for a very low price. She tried to sell us gadgets that would cut flowers from carrots and make umbrellas from spring onions. The most entertaining for me was the stainless steel 'grater' that resembled a fork with the tines folded over. She amazingly grated a carrot into long strands, and then stated that the clean-up was very simple...no washing necessary. She banged the gadget on the closest wooden beam, and yes IT appeared clean. Unfortunately for the vendor, half her stall was covered in carrot gratings from the quick clean up!

After we finished in the market we loaded onto a boat that took us by river to the cooking school. There were about 15 people in the class, compared to 5 in our previous experiences, but the class was well choreographed, and fast-paced to get the job done! My highlight was making fresh rice paper. This is what is used to wrap fresh spring rolls. The process involves making a blended batter from rice that has soaked overnight, and steaming small portions of it on a piece of cotton suspended over boiling water. I had never thought about how these were made before. A tip, for those of you who use dry rice paper...seal a few cabbage leaves in a plastic bag with the dry rice paper that you want to use, and it will be nice and pliable in under two hours. This means that you don't have to dunk the individual papers in hot water, and then fight with them to stop them from sticking all over.