Cooking Class - Hanoi

While Mr. & Mrs. A. went to Japan for food, we went on a 12 day culinary tour of Vietnam which included cooking classes in three cities.  We realized when we got there that taking cooking classes in foreign cities seems to be a popular pastime for this new generation of tourists - the four of us on the tour were the oldest in the class.   Indeed, we found that it is a great way of learning, not just about cooking techniques but also about the culture.  Before the classroom part started, we were taken on a tour of a Hanoi market.  Read about this on my travel blog.

Hanoi Cooking Centre where our class was held

The classroom

Our instructor Duyen explaining the basics of Vietnamese cooking

Ginger - a key ingredient in Vietnamese cooking - toasted on a gas stove

Dyuen showed us the basic cooking technique for Beef Pho - Vietnamese do not cook the beef  (not even briefly) - they just put raw slices in the bowl and rely on the hot soup to cook the beef to just the right doneness.  What you see below is overcooked beef pho - for foreigners!

How to make lattice patterns with a green mango

Making the batter

Preparing the individual portions for deep frying

Deep frying the prawn

How to slice peppers and green papaya for decoration

Checking the green papaya for freshness - white juice should come out

Making a lattice pattern with green papaya

Here's the green papaya salad - very popular here

The technique behind wrapping spring rolls, using different kinds of rice paper - we'll learn this more than once on our trip

We had to eat our own creations, including the dipping sauce, which, in my opinion, was the best we tasted on our trip

Making banana dessert with coconut milk

And here's the eye-opener (or you may want to close it if you're squeamish) - a boiled egg with duck-embryo inside.  The keen assistant held the embryo by its neck for photos - and everyone just went wild taking shots, then he carved it up so everyone got a taste, myself included.  Looking back, I felt sick at the thought...it's amazing what crowd mentality can make one do.

Here's someething less grisly -

A Vietnamese milk fruit - it gives when ripe - very sweet inside

It was a great cultural and  culinary experience!