Cooking Adventures in Vietnam

One way to make your trip to Vietnam a memorable and fun one is to join a cooking class. There are several cooking classes all over Vietnam but the one that I recommend are the cooking classes in Hoi An. Why? Because cooking schools are a plenty here and you would want to stay longer in this beautiful city.

Since cooking classes are very popular in Hoi An, once you check in and inquire with your hostel, they might give you a different recommendation. As for me, I already know where I wanted to go because of a friend’s recommendation and it wasn’t the same thing that the hostel was recommending. If that’s the case, you would need to go to the school a day in advance to make sure that you have a spot as they can fill really quickly.

Cooking classes in Vietnam are different from cooking classes in Thailand and are a bit more expensive than Thailand. A few questions you want to consider while looking for a school is as follows: How much time you have to do the cooking class? Do you have a whole day? Half Day? How much you want to spend? Do you want to visit a market, etc. The cost of classes vary depending on how much you want to do.

Or if you simply just want to go to the same place I went to, here’s what I did:

The real reason why I quit my job: so I can wear triangular hats and sell fruits in Vietnam

My Vietnam travel buddies and I  took a half  day cooking class. The class starts around 8 am and the first stop is a visit to the market and an orientation to Vietnamese food ingredients. They will also offer a free taste of the fruits. Make sure that you try them even if they are weird looking. They’re super super good. I used to eat too much of these fruits while growing up in the Philippines and I have to say that South East Asia has the sweetest fruits in the world.

After trying out the fruits will be a quick walk to the market and an introduction to Vietnam’s vegetables.

 Hoi An Market

Which also leads to the introduction of spices…

Can you guess which one she’s holding is spicier?

The last stop before going to class is to go to see and experience Hoi An’s wet market.

Hoi An’s wet market

After the market trip is you guessed it~ cooking time!

Here are the stuff we made in order:

Cabbage leaf parcels with mushroom

Vegetarian Rice Paper Rolls (made with tofu skin)

Ban Xeo- Crispy Pacake*

The spices that we used

Grilled Tofu

And my favorite Green Mango Salad**

*Making and eating the cirspy pancake or Ban Xeo makes this cooking class so worth it. Ban Xeo, is one of the most delicious Vietnamese food you can ever try.  Do not leave Vietnam without trying it even if you are not going to do a cooking class.

**My apologies for the misinformation and mistyping papaya salad instead of Green Mango Salad on my last post on Hoi An. Corrected it already. 

Since I am vegetarian, all the pictures here are vegetarian dishes. If you’re a meat eater, you’ll be able to choose the type of meat you want to cook.

I highly highly recommend the school I went to called Morning Glory Street Food Restaurant and Cooking School. Their school is located in the old town and the classroom is just above the restaurant. It cost me around $30 for the half day class. The teacher is not only excellent, but also very very entertaining. We had a very engaging experience and a memorable one. At the end of the class, you will also receive a recipe book for everything you’ll make including some more extra recipes.

To more yummy adventures,

Anna