Vietnamese

Vietnam Culinary Discovery – Day 11, Ho Chi Minh City

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

Tuesday 9th December, 2014

This morning’s activity is a market tour and our final hands-on culinary lesson at the Saigon Cooking Class. Kylie and I arrive early at the well known Ben Thanh Market to meet our guide from the cooking school, Khang, and the rest of the class participants.

Khang leads our group through to the live fish market to introduce us to the different types of fish and seafood that are native to southern Vietnam. As we progress through the stalls, there are trays of crabs that are sitting perfectly still in neatly assembled rows. To the naked eye, they seem to be either dead or asleep until your hand moves towards them and suddenly their claws break ranks and lunge for your fingers. Kylie was having a lot of fun playing with one particular crab and thankfully her reflexes were still fairly sharp as he was extremely feisty and very much alive.

Khang, Market tour – Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Market tour – Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Market tour – Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Feisty crabs, Market tour – Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Progressing towards the meat market, Khang makes a classic declaration to the group, “In Asia, we eat everything moving”. I think we had worked that out when we saw the frogs at the market in Hanoi! To my right there is a stall selling every single part of a pig, from nose to tail, with each organ or body part neatly displayed for the passing customers to purchase.

Pig for sale, Market tour - Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Pig for sale, Market tour – Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

As we purchase ingredients required for the day’s cooking lesson, Khang explains how different products are made and where they are used. Our group heads further into the market, through the narrow alleys and passages to look at fermented vegetables, dried fish, fresh noodles and all manner of food available for sale.

Market tour – Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Market tour – Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Our market tour concludes and we make our way back cross town to the Hoa Tuc restaurant to prepare for the cooking lesson. The cooking school is held upstairs above the restaurant and is beautifully appointed with elegant furnishings, rich purple accents and Vietnamese kitchen wares available for sale. Just as we take our seats at the long bench, our market guide Khang reappears without his glasses and has now performed his own Clark Kent/Superman transformation into super Chef Khang.

Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Chef Khang, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The menu for Tuesday comprises of Fresh rice paper rolls with prawns, pork and rice noodles served with peanut dipping sauce; Green mango salad, baby spinach and BBQ chicken with satay;  and Fried rice with lotus seeds, prawns, chicken and vegetables in a lotus leaf and I’m excited that I finally learn firsthand how to create my own rice paper rolls.

This is the first cooking class where I get to be seated for the entire session and something that I could very much become accustomed to, especially as all the ingredients and their exact quantities have been already individually prepared and ready for use.

Before preparing the rice paper rolls, the first process is to prepare the peanut dipping sauce. Khang was extremely patient and clear with his instructions as he stepped us through each step involved in preparing the sauce. The novelty factor was using an Asian-style china soup spoon for all the measuring and stirring, and just like the chopsticks in the previous cooking class, these spoons are now part of my key kitchen utensils.

Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Peanut dipping sauce, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

With the sauce prepared and pushed to the side, we set to work on preparing the prawn and pork rice paper rolls. Khang showed us how to soften the rice paper on the plate with wet fingers rather than soaking them in a bowl of water, and then demonstrated how to assemble all the ingredients together to create the end product, complete with chive decoration. For the next five minutes we prepared and perfected our own rolls. Typically, the first one was passable and the second one was almost restaurant quality. Once we had finished preparing our rolls, we moved to the dining table to enjoy our own handiwork. The dipping sauce was fantastic and the rice paper rolls were equally delicious – this dish is now going to be a staple at home.

Pork and prawn rice paper rolls, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Pork and prawn rice paper rolls, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Pork and prawn rice paper rolls, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Pork and prawn rice paper rolls, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

It was tempting just to sit and continue eating all day but Khang enticed us back to our seats to start the next dish. Whilst we were eating, the kitchen elves had cleaned down our work stations and laid out a new set of ingredients to use. The next step in the process was to finely chop garlic, shallots and combine the satay paste to marinate the chicken. Once the marinade had been prepared, our bowls where whisked away for the meat to be barbequed while we set to work on the dressing for the salad.

Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Armed with our trusty Asian soup spoons, we measured out the ingredients required for the sweet and sour dressing, stirred to dissolve and set aside. Khang introduces the class to a new kitchen tool that will be used to “julienne” the green mango and carrot. We practice finely chopping the vegetables with the crinkle-cut blade to prepare the salad before adding in a few sprigs of watercress, Vietnamese basil, baby spinach, sliced shallots and chopped peanuts.

Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

In the space of a few minutes, we had all assembled a very elegant salad to accompany our char-grilled chicken, which had now magically appeared on our plates. The only thing left to do was to head back to the dining table and consume our latest efforts. Yum!

Green mango salad with char-grilled chicken, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Green mango salad with char-grilled chicken, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Whilst the menu so far seemed to be simple and easy to re-create, things took a more complicated turn when we returned back to our preparation stations. Our next dish was to prepare a Lotus fried rice in lotus leaf, which was essentially a dish that the King used to command to test his royal chefs. So far on our tour, the dishes we had been learning were all designed to impress future mother-in-laws only! Faced with small portable stoves and a large wok, we set to work cooking the fried rice aided by Khang providing the necessary instructions to ensure that the dish was created to an imperial standard.

Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Lotus fried rice in lotus leaf, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

With the rice pushed to one side temporarily, the hard work was yet to come. Khang demonstrated the next stage of the process by lining a bowl with the lotus leaf and then filled the bowl with the fried rice mixture. Flipping the bowl over, the rice was wrapped in the rest of the lotus leaf to form a small parcel. If I thought that part was tricky, armed with scissors I needed to cut holes into the lotus leaf to be able to form a decorative bowl and expose the fried rice inside before decorating with lotus petals.

Lotus fried rice in lotus leaf, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Lotus fried rice in lotus leaf, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

And we’re finished! After all that exertion, it was time to assume our royalty positions and eat our rice, which tasted great especially with the addition of the lotus seeds, although I’m not sure where I can source them back home in Melbourne. In between mouthfuls, our passionfruit dessert which had been kindly prepared for us, was served for our enjoyment. It truly was a feast fit for a king.

Lotus fried rice in lotus leaf, Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Saigon Cooking Class, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Chef Khang rematerialised to present us with a booklet which included our recipe sheets and a personalised message. It was such a great morning and a fun and memorable cooking class. Having now undertaken three classes in Vietnam, it was satisfying to know that we had now learnt several new recipes to add to our culinary repertoire which we could perfect in our kitchens back home.

We have already spent two nights in HCMC but have yet to see the key monuments, so the focus of our afternoon activity will be a city tour. Our first stop is to visit the Reunification Palace which is of significant historic importance in Vietnamese history. If this building could talk it could tell a few hair-raising stories about its occupation by the French, followed by the Japanese and then by the King of South Vietnam until the events of 1975 saw a dramatic conclusion to his reign.

Reunification Palace, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Reunification Palace, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Reunification Palace, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Reunification Palace, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Reunification Palace, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

While Binh was somewhat apologetic for the 1960s décor inside, I thought I had (stylishly) stepped back in time with lavish furniture and elaborate chandeliers in the key meeting rooms – almost like a retro version of “The West Wing”. The whole tour was fascinating, including visiting the basement which served as a bunker and communications centre during the war.

This year will mark the 40th anniversary since the end of the Vietnam War and the next stop on our city tour is a very sobering visit to the War Remnants Museum. The grounds of the museum display tanks and aircraft used in the war, whilst inside there are some very graphic images and heartrending stories shown inside the various galleries, I was thankful for the opportunity to visit and to learn more about that period of time.

After the visit to the museum concludes, the tour takes a European perspective and we continue towards the city centre to visit the impressive Notre Dame Cathedral, which is the largest church ever built in the French empire. Built with materials imported from Marseilles, the church is extremely beautiful and if you close your eyes slightly you really do feel like you are in Europe.

Notre Dame Cathedral, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Notre Dame Cathedral, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Metres away from the cathedral, lies the General Post Office which is just as impressive. The building was design by French architect Gustave Eiffel so it was elaborate in both detail and grandeur. Such a shame I don’t send postcards anymore!

General Post Office, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
General Post Office, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

We were within walking of our hotel which is where we bid adieu to our local guide Binh as today is our last guided day in Vietnam. Although we only had Binh’s company for a couple of days, we really enjoyed his humour and affable manner.

EON Heli Bar, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
EON Heli Bar, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
EON Heli Bar, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
EON Heli Bar, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
EON Heli Bar, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

As soon as Binh was out of sight, Kylie and I set off across town to locate a distinctive building that stands out against the city skyline. With impressive views of Ho Chi Minh City, what better way to enjoy our final Happy Hour in Vietnam by watching the sunset from the 52nd floor at the EON Heli Bar. Using the tall building as our beacon, we arrived in time to secure a table with a stunning view and watch the sun set over Saigon.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g293925-d4305638-Reviews-EON_Heli_Bar-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

Kylie and I are responsible for sourcing our own dinner again and ever since arriving in Vietnam, I’ve been wanting to indulge my Francophile fantasies and experience Vietnamese-French fusion cuisine. La Fourchette is a small, French bistro that is included in Insider Journey’s list of recommended culinary discoveries in HCMC, and has an unique interior that is reminiscent of a Parisian establishment despite being in a suburban Asian street.

La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Kylie and I make ourselves comfortable with a bottle of Beaujolais and look over the extensive menu – there are so many dishes that it takes a little while to decide what to order for our dinner in Vietnam. Selecting a cross-section of hot and cold dishes we chose Tuna tartare with wasabi and sesame seeds; Smoked duck salad with red capsicums; Veal shoulder cooked with tomatoes, white wine, olives and spices; and Fresh fried salmon fillet with leeks fondue.

La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Tuna tartare with wasabi and sesame seeds – La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Smoked duck salad with red capsicums – La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Veal shoulder cooked tomatoes, white wine, olives and spices – La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Fresh fried salmon fillet with leek fondue – La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Flambe bananas in rum with vanilla ice cream – La Fourchette, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Dinner was superb with generous-sized dishes, great service and a relaxed ambience. I couldn’t resist trying the Flambee bananas in rum with vanilla ice cream to finish off our evening.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g293925-d1122177-Reviews-La_Fourchette-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

Disclaimer: All entries regarding the Vietnam Culinary Discovery tour within this blog reflect my own personal insights and experiences throughout my holiday and I was solely responsible for meeting all travel expenses incurred.

Vietnam Culinary Discovery – Day 9, Hoi An – Ho Chi Minh City

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

Sunday 7th December, 2014

Although we are staying at a beautiful resort in Hoi An, breakfast is an extremely light affair as we are starting the day early with a tour of the local street vendors as well as meandering around the local markets. All through our time in Central Vietnam, it has been constantly raining but today we are greeted with some sunshine and blue skies which immediately lifts my spirits.

Our guide Huy takes us to an area just outside the Old Quarter where lots of families are gathered together to enjoy their own breakfast before starting the day. The stall is rather busy so we walk in and find the next available seat, watching everyone eating and enjoying the fare. Eventually a few spots start to free up and Kylie and I are able to sit together and start eating the dishes that Huy has ordered for us. Accompanied by large, fresh baguettes and sliced cucumber and onion, we grab a spoon and dig in. The first dish is a wet curry consisting of braised beef, fresh herbs and vegetables, not unlike a massaman curry although extremely delicious and even better with fresh bread to mop up the liquid. Unfortunately it was introduced as a curry and not its local name so I can’t add any more information, although I will say that I could have kept eating this if the second dish hadn’t arrived at the table.

The second dish, which I think might be Dong Opla which is essentially an egg dish, with fresh pork meat, cured pork and chilli as it’s main components. Served hot, the egg yolk cooks in the curry although again, the baguette comes in handy. A wonderful start to our morning tour, but we still had a few hours of eating ahead of us.

Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Only a few metres further down the same street, we duck into a small alley to try a dish that reflects Hoi An’s Japanese influence, with thick tumeric-coloured Udon noodles, crispy rice crackers, eggs, shrimp, crushed peanuts and grilled meat called Mì Quảng. The thick noodles add quite a lot of substance to the dish, making it dangerous to eat more than a couple of spoonful’s despite its wonderful, fresh flavour.

Mì Quảng - Street food tour, Hoi An - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Mì Quảng – Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Directly across the road, we arrive at a very special cart to meet Hoi An street food royalty, Madam Khanh, the Banh Mi Queen looking resplendent and regal in her high chair (or throne?) and pearls.

Madam Khanh, the Banh Mi Queen, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Madam Khanh, the Banh Mi Queen, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

I’m slightly concerned about the quality of the pate in the cart window – it kind of looks like it has been there since 1972 – but nevertheless Kylie and I head into the restaurant area behind the cart and eagerly wait for Madam Khanh to prepare our Banh Mi.

Slightly unique to our previous Banh Mi tasting experiences, Madam Khanh uses kimchi and generous portions of sweet chilli sauce in her sandwiches making it crunchy, spicy and sour all at the same time. Extremely tasty and delicious, the sweet chilli does linger on the palate, making it impossible to taste the aged pate.

Banh Mi – Madam Khanh, the Banh Mi Queen, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Banh Mi – Madam Khanh, the Banh Mi Queen, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Still at Madam Khanh’s, we order a Vietnamese iced coffee (Ca Phe Sua Da) and Huy has arranged for two servings of coconut rice and mung bean to be brought to our table for Kylie and I to enjoy. It was tempting to sit for a while and continue to enjoy the warm sunshine but it was time to resume our tour.

Coconut rice and mung bean, Street food tour, Hoi An - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Coconut rice and mung bean, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g298082-d4308916-Reviews-Madam_Khanh_The_Banh_Mi_Queen-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html

Passing by a vendor grilling pork over hot coals, Huy purchases a small container to taste on our way to the next destination.

Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

A few minutes later we arrive at a busy road with a street vendor selling a Black sesame soup. Although this dish has a soup-like consistency, it is actually a popular Asian dessert made with white rice, toasted black sesame seeds, sugar and water. Looking somewhat like tar, the soup was quite sweet and delicious and very easy to digest. I could have gone back for another bowl as it was that tasty, despite the interesting appearance.

Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Black sesame soup, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Black sesame soup, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Huy then leads us to a local neighbourhood market, Cho Hoi An to look at the fresh produce on sale for the morning, stopping every now and then to either buy new kitchen utensils cheaply (my current obsession), take photos or try another food sample. Even the skinned frogs are starting to look familiar as we wander through the meat and poultry stalls.

Cho Hoi An (Hoi An Market tour) – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cho Hoi An (Hoi An Market tour) – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cho Hoi An (Hoi An Market tour) – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cho Hoi An (Hoi An Market tour) – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Across from the market, Huy purchases Banh It La Gai, a small cake with jelly-like outer casing and a distinctive black colour which comes from the boiled leaves of a thorn leaf plant that is commonly found in the central part of Vietnam. Inside the gelatinous cake is sticky rice, sugar and banana leaf.

Banh It La Gai, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Banh It La Gai, Street food tour, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Our car arrives at the market to take us to the nearby Tra Que village, to visit a working farming community and walk around the herbs and vegetables being cultivated there. The market gardens are not too dissimilar to the one that we had visited in the North with the same ordered and manicured landscape of coriander, lemongrass, mint and basil. Huy leads us to a small museum displaying artefacts depicting how a family in the community used to live and work their allotment.

Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The museum also has a small restaurant called Waterwheel where we are given a refreshing drink of ginger and basil seeds to try along with intricate parcels of shrimp and mint tied together with chives as a snack. The shrimp parcels are amazing and look elaborate despite there only being three ingredients. Given the food we had already consumed during the morning, it was inconceivable that Kylie and I could eat more than one or two parcels, yet a whole tray appeared at our table.

Shrimp, mint and chive, Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Shrimp, mint and chive, Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ginger and basil seed drink, Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Only a couple of people were working in the fields given that it is a Sunday morning, however one small woman came to a pool of water, walked into the well and filled two large watering cans of water placed as a yoke on her back, and proceeded to water her garden. I’ve done some serious Body Pump classes in my time, however my thighs and shoulders hurt from just looking at her carrying the heavy weight on her shoulders as she made repeat trips!

Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Tra Que Village – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g298082-d2068091-Reviews-Tra_Que_Vegetable_Village-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html

We leave the village and head back to Hoi An for one last restaurant visit and tasting at Bong Hong Trang Restaurant to see where the best White Rose dumplings are made (according to our guide). The restaurant is fairly simple in décor and as we grab a table inside, I can see a large communal table at the back where several young girls are sitting down making dumplings. I stood and watched for a while, thinking that it looked to be somewhat easy, so I grabbed a chair and some dough and attempted to make the rose shape myself but I found out the hard way that there is a lot of skill involved in making those things.

White Rose dumplings, Bong Hong Trang Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
White Rose dumplings, Bong Hong Trang Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

With my career in dumpling making now in tatters, I went back to our table and ate a few White Rose dumplings with a new found appreciation for the skill involved in preparing them. The dumplings are delicious and beautifully presented but at this point, I can’t eat any more food.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g298082-d1994933-Reviews-Bong_Hong_Trang_Restaurant-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html

It’s time to pack up and leave Hoi An, make our way to the airport in Danang for the next leg of our tour, however we were unable to previously visit the Marble Mountains as scheduled due to the incessant rain, so Huy has revised our schedule to fit in a tour and some much needed exercise before our late afternoon flight.

Just as we arrive it starts to drizzle but it’s dry enough to make the walk safely. The caves within the Marble Mountains were used by the Viet Cong as a makeshift hospital, which are now home to shrines and small chapels. Incredulously, the US also used the summit for helicopter landings during the war. There are many well-preserved pagodas and Buddhist temples throughout the park with amazing architecture amongst the rainforest. It felt great just to walk and climb over the mountains to see the incredible views of the city below.

Marble Mountain, Danang – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Marble Mountain, Danang – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Marble Mountain, Danang – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Marble Mountain, Danang – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Marble Mountain, Danang – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Marble Mountain, Danang – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

At this point in our trip, we were also meant to visit China Beach but Kylie and I opt for an early arrival at the airport and say goodbye to our Central Vietnam guide, Huy.

A short flight later and we arrive in Ho Chi Minh City and meet our new guide, Binh, who will be looking after us during our stay in southern Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, HCMC or Saigon, call it what you will, the city feels vastly different from Central Vietnam – for one thing, it’s not raining, it’s warm and it has a distinct Western or modern feel about the city. As our car heads downtown towards the hotel, Binh help us find our bearings and where there are suitable places to eat for dinner.

Much later in the evening, Kylie and I take the opportunity to explore our new surrounds and enjoy the warmth of the evening air. After our experiences in Hoi An, the ability to choose our own restaurant for dinner is almost exhilarating. During our wanderings we found a popular restaurant called Hoa Tuc with a wonderful ambience and a lovely outdoor dining area. Hoa Tuc is a restaurant specialising in contemporary Vietnamese cuisine, and also runs the “Saigon Cooking Class” that Kylie and I will be participating in on Tuesday, so it’s almost like a mini-stakeout.

We are wanting something light but the menu is extensive with lots of delectable food. On the specials board, we choose the Pan fried fillet of Vietnamese snapper with sautéed pineapple and coriander in an effort to acquaint ourselves with the local fish and the Spicy char-grilled beef with kumquat, mustard sprout, lemongrass and white eggplant salad because it sounds like an authentic contemporary dish.

Hoa Tuc Restaurant, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Pan fried fillet of Vietnamese snapper with sauteed pineapple and coriander, Hoa Tuc Restaurant, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Spicy char-grilled beef with kumquat, mustard sprout, lemongrass and white eggplant salad, Hoa Tuc Restaurant, HCMC – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The cocktails on offer, as ever, are great. The salad was the first dish to arrive at our table and exceeded all expectations. The flavours were excellent and we made a mental note to ask for the recipe when we were scheduled to return in a couple of days. I’ve tried Thai eggplant but this is my first experience with white eggplant and it’s very similar to the apple or Thai variety.

The fish dish on the other hand wasn’t so wonderful but we came to the conclusion that it was also partly our mistake. The fact that it was on the specials board, coupled with the fact that it was Sunday, should have rung alarm bells but we were probably too tired to think strategically. The mass of sautéed pineapple was used to mask the flavour of fish no longer in its prime, so we took that experience as a lesson learned. Nevertheless, it was a great restaurant in a beautiful setting with good service.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g293925-d1569216-Reviews-Hoa_Tuc-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html

Fed and watered, we went to bed looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure to the Mekong Delta.

Disclaimer: All entries regarding the Vietnam Culinary Discovery tour within this blog reflect my own personal insights and experiences throughout my holiday and I was solely responsible for meeting all travel expenses incurred.

Vietnam Culinary Discovery – Day 8, Hoi An

~ culinaldi ~ Leave a comment

Saturday 6th December, 2014

A week has almost passed since our first cooking class in Hanoi, and this morning Kylie and I are excited to be able to experience our second class at the famed Ms Vy’s cooking school in Hoi An.

Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Our “Holiday Masterclass” is scheduled to start at 8.30am so we arrive early at the Market Restaurant and Cooking School and are treated to a special welcome drink before our class begins. I’ve been on culinary tours where you get a shopping list or bag to take to the market, however things got a little serious when we were each given a Vietnamese-style straw conical hat to wear as part of the market tour. On the short walk to the dock, a few local residents and fellow tourists were having a few laughs at our expense. When in Hoi An, I guess …

Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Boat trip, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Boat trip, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The tour starts with a short boat trip along the Thu Bon River to the Hoi An’s Central Market near the Old Quarter. Once at the market, our guide leads us to a small stall situated on the outskirts of the main building. Here our guide starts to teach us about the key elements of Vietnamese cuisine, as samples of differing spices and herbs are passed around the group for tasting. I’ve always been intrigued as to how chives and spring onions are expertly shredded and used as decoration for a number of Asian dishes, and within a matter of seconds the stall holder “splits” the morning glory herb using a kitchen tool called a “splitter”. She then used a stainless steel conical tool to demonstrate how to peel a carrot which is then fashioned into a decorative flower. As soon as I saw these utensils, I knew I just had to have them for my own kitchen, all for the bargain price of 90,000 VND ($5 AUD).

Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

After the demonstration, we then head into the meat section of the market to look at the fresh produce, then past the noodles, towards the fish market and through more fresh fruit and vegetable stalls. The market was relatively quiet for a Saturday as it is a full moon day, which requires practising Buddhists to fast and make particular food offerings. On the way back towards the boat, our last stop is at a fruit stall to try fresh rambutan and other tropical fruit native to the area.

Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Central Market Tour, Holiday Masterclass, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

We arrive back to the Market Restaurant via the same route, return our conical hats and freshen up with a another cold drink. At this point, I thought we would be heading upstairs to commence our cooking lesson however our hostess asks us to follow her towards a stall inside the restaurant hall where we commence a special informative food tour which takes us on a unique tasting journey right around the entire perimeter of the ground floor, coupled with live cooking demonstrations. The Market Restaurant is quite a unique dining experience where popular street food and traditional Vietnamese cuisine is offered at different stations under one roof, resembling an upscale hawker style market or something akin to Sizzler, Hoi An style. The first stop is to watch rice paper being transformed into large crackers, where we take a sample and try some chilli paste that has just been prepared.

Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The next stage of our tasting journey takes us to the dumpling station where the group is shown how rice paper is made on a drum before someone is asked to volunteer and have a go themselves. Throughout the demonstration, a team of chefs are busily preparing a variety of different dumplings for the day’s trade and our group is invited to try the famous White Rose dumpling with a special fish sauce and other freshly cooked varieties of dumplings.

Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting – White Rose dumplings, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

We continue onto the next station where chefs are making thick noodles from wet sheets of rice flour, effortlessly cutting the sticky dough into perfectly formed pieces. From the next stall, beef and betel leaves are being grilled over hot coals with the smoky aroma wafting towards us. Thankfully there are hot samples waiting for us to try when we arrive at the station. The next station is cooking baby crispy pancakes (Bánh căn) in hot oil where we are offered another sample in small dishes for tasting.

Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Continuing around the market we learn about how rice was traditionally ground in a stone mill to create rice flour before watching rice vermicelli being created through an industrial looking machine. At the next station, a woman is finely shredding green mango on a homemade wooden mandoline slicer before progressing across the stall to use a special kitchen tool to slice banana flower into edible pieces. With two-thirds of the market covered, we arrive at the dessert station to try candied coconut and ginger pieces as well as a delicious sample of steamed coconut pudding.

Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour – Bahn Mi, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

But wait … there’s more. We then sampled cooked pieces of root vegetables used in Vietnamese cooking before moving towards the next station, which resembled both a small delicatessen and bakery, housing baskets of fresh baguettes which could only mean that we were about to learn about Banh Mi. With slices of cured pork meat, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables shown around the group, the attendant at the stall made fresh Banh Mi for everyone to sample and enjoy.

Food tasting tour - Spicy Lemongrass Frog, Ms Vy's Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Food tasting tour – Spicy Lemongrass Frog, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The last station of the food tour was a selection of traditional fare or Vietnamese worker’s cuisine. From steamed pots of pig’s brain to stir fried frogs, we were all encouraged to taste samples but unfortunately I seemed to be quite full from all the other tastings.

Now it was time to head upstairs, freshen up and prepare ourselves for the day’s cooking class. Kylie and I found a seat towards the front of the room and met our instructor, Lulu, who would be teaching us four Vietnamese dishes over the next couple of hours. Our individual cooking stations were rather unique with a large banana leaf doubling as a chopping board and all the condiments and utensils prepared and ready for our first dish which was a soup, Cabbage leaf parcels with shrimp mousse in broth.

Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

We sat and watched Lulu demonstrate the preparation of the shrimp mousse, all the while listening to her funny insights on cooking for her in-laws and anecdotes from married life. It seems like most soups in Vietnamese cuisine are used as some sort of marriage-suitability test.

Cabbage leaf parcels with shrimp mousse in broth – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cabbage leaf parcels with shrimp mousse in broth – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cabbage leaf parcels with shrimp mousse in broth – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cabbage leaf parcels with shrimp mousse in broth – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Once the shrimp mousse was prepared for the class, we started to prepare our soup broth by first gently poaching a couple of quenelles of prawn mixture. Once cooked, it was time to prepare the parcels using the steamed cabbage leaves at our station and the blanched spring onion to tie it all together. The parcels and vegetables simmered on the gas stove for a few more minutes and very shortly, we had created a very elegant and tasty dish worthy of any future mother-in-law’s palate. We were able to enjoy the soup immediately as our station was being cleaned and prepared for the next dish by our kitchen fairies.

Cabbage leaf parcels with shrimp mousse in broth - Cooking class, Ms Vy's Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cabbage leaf parcels with shrimp mousse in broth – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The next order of business was to prepare the ingredients to create a marinade for our BBQ chicken and lime leaves dish.

BBQ chicken and lime leaves – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
BBQ chicken and lime leaves – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
BBQ chicken and lime leaves – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

It all seemed to be as relatively simple as throwing in the required quantity of ingredients into the bowl, mixing it all together with the plastic gloves provided, threading the chicken onto wooden skewers and watching it being whisked away and cooked for our enjoyment later.

Banh xeo – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Banh xeo – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Banh xeo – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Banh xeo – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Banh xeo – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The next dish, the classic Banh xeo, was a little more complicated to prepare with Lulu demonstrating how to prepare the batter mixture at the front of the class room before we lit up the gas burners again to create our crepes and fillings. It was fun to dispense with the traditional kitchen utensils and cook only with a set of wooden chopsticks. The tricky bit was turning the crepe over in the hot oil in order to create the half-moon shape, and then having to roll up the Banh xeo on a sheet of soft rice paper, but somehow all the effort paid off. Like most food, Banh xeo is best consumed when hot so as soon as we finished cooking and taking our obligatory photos, it was time to eat again.

Banh xeo - Cooking class, Ms Vy's Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Banh xeo – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The last dish of the day was to make a Mango and prawn salad, to accompany our BBQ chicken for lunch. Lulu demonstrated how to use the Vietnamese vegetable peeler to first peel the green mango, and then using a knife to make lots of deep cuts into the mango, the peeler was then used again to create the thin julienned shards of mango to be used in the salad. It took a little bit of getting used to actually holding the mango in one hand and being familiar with the odd shaped peeler, but eventually I got there and was quite pleased with the mound of chopped fruit I had created for my salad.

Mango and prawn salad – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Mango and prawn salad – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Mango and prawn salad – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Mango and prawn salad – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Mango and prawn salad – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Two hours seemed to fly by and suddenly our class was finished and it was time to head back down stairs to the market dining area and eat our BBQ chicken and salad. But before we left, Lulu gave everyone an envelope containing the recipe sheets and our very own Vietnamese peeler to take home as a gift.

Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
BBQ chicken and lime leaves with mango and prawn salad – Cooking class, Ms Vy’s Market Restaurant and Cooking School, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

We enjoyed our lunch immensely, accompanied by hot green tea, ice-cream and candied ginger and coconut to finish.

http://msvy-tastevietnam.com/the-market/

Young tailor preparing for full moon, Hoi An - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Young tailor preparing for full moon, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Feeling extremely full, we had to head back to our tailor for our second fitting for the items that we had ordered the previous day. I think I was a little thankful that I was trying on a couple tops and not pants! While my tops were starting to take shape, there was still some more work to be done and another fitting was scheduled later in the evening.

Cargo Club, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Cargo Club, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Vietnamese Iced Coffee, Cargo Club, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

The rest of the day was free for Kylie and I to do some shopping and enjoy the walking around the Old Quarter without our guide, and even to put our feet up and enjoy a Vietnamese coffee break. Ms Vy seems to have a monopoly of culinary enterprises in Hoi An, including a contemporary European-style café and patisserie called the “Cargo Club” which we decided to stop at and watch the world go by.

Old Quarter, Hoi An - Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Old Quarter, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Much later that evening we regroup with our local guide and have our final fitting before heading out for happy hour and dinner. There are some fabulous restaurants in Hoi An with many of my friends recommending their favourite places to eat. I was hoping to try “Mango Rooms”, however Huy was quite insistent that we should try Mango Room’s sister restaurant, “Mango Mango”. Having experienced many facets of cuisine during our trip, I was looking forward to trying Vietnamese fusion cuisine.

Just as we arrived, owner and chef Duc Tram was just leaving to head towards his Mango Rooms restaurant across the river in the Old Quarter. Kylie and I were hoping that we would get the opportunity to watch Duc in the kitchen and ask about the inspiration for the Vietnam-Latin American-Japanese inspired menu, however he didn’t return to Mango Rooms for the evening.

Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Orange Mojito cocktail, Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

Instead we went upstairs onto the balcony and were entertained by a few boys street performing outside in the rain over a few cocktails. The restaurant has a distinctive ambience contributed by the dim lighting and red accessories and accents within the main dining areas. After a while we moved inside to order dinner, deciding to share the following: Glorious Morning (morning glory, basil and tomato topped wth marinated anchovy in olive oils and herbs with balsamic dressing); A Geisha Fish (tempura pieces of red snapper in Japanese-Vietnamese style and tossed with green pepper, garlic and sesame seeds); Buddha Boogies (seasonal vegetables sautéed with garlic and fresh herbs, served with grilled eggplant, feta cheese and tamarind sauce) and Daisy’s Farm (mixed green, watermelon, orange wedges and apples topped with grilled duck tenders in balsamic orange dressing).

“Morning Glory”, Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
“A Geisha Fish”, Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
“Buddha Boogies”, Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery
“Daisy’s Farm”, Mango Mango Restaurant, Hoi An – Vietnam Culinary Discovery

To my mind, Mango Mango was extremely expensive and some of the dishes presented didn’t quite make the grade. The salad dish looked like it belonged at a family barbeque rather than at a restaurant table. The eggplant on the “Buddha Boogies” was not grilled but heavily smoked and burnt over a gas flame and the resulting flavour overwhelmed the rest of ingredients on the dish. The duck dish hit the mark on taste but failed on temperature and the fish wasn’t that memorable. In hindsight, it probably was a good thing that the chef had left the building.

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g298082-d1218436-Reviews-Mango_Mango-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html

Ignoring the rain, we walked back home for a good night’s sleep to prepare for our final culinary adventure in Hoi An.

Disclaimer: All entries regarding the Vietnam Culinary Discovery tour within this blog reflect my own personal insights and experiences throughout my holiday and I was solely responsible for meeting all travel expenses incurred.