I arrive at the Morning Glory restaurant at 8:30 am where I am ushered inside and given some Vietnamese tea to sip. Fifteen minutes later a lovely woman is guiding six of us to the local market.
"Now, you must understand that to get the BEST fruit and vegetable and fish you must come to the market early. Not like us now. This is very late. To get the ingredients for our class today we were here at 5 am!", she says.
We start off in the vegetable section of the market where we are first taught what is what, how to pick out all the best veg, what veg is used in what dish and how to avoid rats. What?!? We actually weren't taught about rodents, but a giant (and I'm talking giant) rat DID run right over my feet while we were there....and I didn't even scream!
On the march again, we head this time to the "herb" section on the market where everything is emerald green and fantastically fragrant. Lemon basil, Vietnamese mint, Chinese coriander, river watercress — my nose is in heaven with all these fresh greens.
Strike a pose!
"Hold your noses," our guide instructs. "We are going into the fish market and some people don't like the smell". It is indeed powerful but the sights to see (live shrimp of all sizes jumping, shark, squid!) and the action happening (chopping, hacking, descaling, filleting!) make this section of the market a real hub.
I see you all looking at me!
Last up is the fruit market where our guide spends a good deal of time just naming the odd and brightly coloured assortment of fruits in front of us. Milky breadfruit, custard apple, dragonfruit, rambutan... the assortment is endless. Our guide patiently outlines what fruit to squeeze and what fruit to smell to check for ripeness and also gives a demonstration on the ingenious cooking tools used for mincing, chopping, grating and the like.
All this and we're only an hour and a half in! We haven't even gotten to the cooking and eating yet!
Back we go to the restaurant where, upstairs, our individual work spaces are all set up and ready for us. Ms. Lu, the head of the cooking school, is our instructor and she is informative, humble, humorous and clearly a talent in the Vietnamese kitchen.
"Everything we make will be fresh and healthy," she exudes "Are you ready?"
First up is the Cabbage Soup with Shrimp Mousse Parcels. Ms. Lu patiently gives us tips as we experiment wrapping our own shrimp "parcels".
Sound impressive? It is! Sound tasty? Ridiculously!
While eating the soup, we then listen to Ms. Lu prepare us for the second dish: Fancy Fresh Spring Rolls. Now, I've made a lot of spring rolls in my time and I have to say that I've never made a spring roll as tasty as this one.
Next up? We make a marinade with 13 different spices and oils to us on our choice of tofu or chicken. Fresh tumeric, galangal, shallots, garlic, chili's, lemon grass and lime leaves are seven of the herbs and spices we use. Off to the charcoal grill they go while we continue on learning how to whip up the Hoi An specialty of crispy pancakes. Looking a bit like a spring roll, these little treats are far from it. The pancake itself is made of rice flour, ground mung beans, coconut cream and water. Gluten free and gorgeous! Inside, tiny shrimps are placed to crisp in the smoking hot pan. Once cooked, the whole pancake is slid onto a rice paper wrapper and topped with green mango, green banana slices, fresh herbs (or "salad") and bean sprouts.
Last up is our Green Mango Salad. Different than the Thai recipe, this salad is lovely alongside our BBQ's Lime Tofu and Chicken. The feast would not be complete without some stir-fried Morning Glory and Chilies.
We are left completely satiated in every way. Ms. Lu hands us a package that contains all the recipes and a "double knife" for all our peeling, chopping, mincing needs. I have to say, of all the handy kitchen tools I'd seen that day, the "double knife" was the one I most coveted. How serendipitous that we were then gifted our very own!
Lucky for Keir, he happened to wander into the class just as everyone was wrapping up so he was able to taste a few bites of my last few dishes.
I really can't recommend this experience enough. If you enjoy food (cooking and/or eating) then it is worth it to check out if, wherever you happen to be travelling to in the world that offers a class. There are often classes offered for folks who would rather not cook, but just prefer to sample and watch it all happen. Taking anywhere from a few hours to a full day, it's a brilliant way to sample the local cuisine, learn some new kitchen tricks and to do so in an authentic, inexpensive and low key manner.
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