You can now officially call it an addiction. After three cooking classes Amy and I are hooked. We love the discovery and cultural understanding that comes with cooking classes. Our third class was in Hoi An, Vietnam at the Red Bridge Cooking School. Our half-day class started with a tour of the local open-air market. And while rubber boots may have been a more appropriate footwear choice than the sandals we had on, we avoided the growing puddles of melted ice that was being used to keep the fish, pork and beef very fresh. Market tours always remind me of one of my favorite places in Philadelphia, Reading Terminal Market. With its stalls of seemingly endless culinary options, I love walking the aisles and taking in the sights, smells and fellow shoppers.
However, I have learned that in the developed world you often find local markets are less organized and sanitized. And while that maybe a turnoff at first, what I am coming to appreciate is that while these local markets are very different than the sterile supermarkets of the West, they provide access to fresh protein, vegetables and fruit for the local people at affordable prices. While not entirely responsible for the 30lbs I have lost in the last 5 months, I do believe that the significant reduction of processed food in my diet has been a major contributor. But I digress, back to the cooking class. After our market tour we boarded a boat for the scenic 15-minute ride up the river to the school.
Upon arriving at the school our instructor began the class with fresh spring rolls. This is one of the dishes I was most excited to learn about having enjoyed them in Hanoi and Hue. The fresh spring roll could not be further from the greasy egg roll of every U.S. Chinese restaurant. We started by first making our rice paper wrapper. A simple rice batter is poured onto a cotton cloth that is stretched over a large pot of boiling water. A ladle of batter is then poured into the middle and gently spread over the cloth using the bottom of the ladle, very much like making a crepe. After a minute or two of steaming it was time to lift them off and roll them with a delicious and healthy filling of bean sprouts, cucumber, carrot, spring onion and cooked shrimp.
Our next dish was a local specialty called Banh Xeo, also known as the Hoi An Pancake in English (see recipe below). The pancake starts with a ladle of rice batter flavored with turmeric for a golden color. To that you add cooked, chopped pork and shrimp. As the batter sets you layer on bean sprouts and spring onion. With a flip of the wrist you finish it by giving the top a quick sear. After removing from the pan, you roll the pancake in rice paper with mint, coriander, Vietnamese basil, carrot and banana flower, cut and plate it with a peanut sauce.
We made three other dishes in our three hours at the Red Bridge School. I would highly recommend the half day class to anyone visiting Hoi An. Classes cost $24/person, and after the cooking instruction ends you sit with your classmates to enjoy even more delicious Vietnamese cuisine.
In addition to the traditional food we had at Red Bridge, Vietnam has a lot to offer the foodie tourist. The influence of the French is ever-present with baguettes, pastries and plenty of proper pork bacon – which after the first three months of our trip in Muslim countries was a welcome sight. I had more than one lunch of a BLT on a baguette and an iced coffee or Saigon lager.
Finally, in a perfect example of “you don’t always get what you pay for,” one of our best meals in Vietnam was also one of the cheapest and from a cart on the sidewalk outside Café Goethe in Hanoi. Banh Mi is a street food popular in Northern Vietnam that in its simplest form consists of sliced pork on a baguette. What makes Café Goethe’s different it that they cook their pork donner kebab style, add pickled cabbage, fresh tomato and lettuce, topping it all with a spicy mustard sauce. And for 15,000VND ($0.75) it is an amazingly delicious deal.
While I have highlighted our best culinary experiences in Vietnam, overall it was not as amazing we expected. Maybe our expectations were too high; beyond the great food described here, we ate lots of mediocre Chinese and Western food. Unlike Thailand, in Vietnam the great food is a bit more of a search, and after a long day sightseeing sometimes we just did not have the energy to find the hidden gems. But when we did, they were worth the hunt.
Hoi An Pancakes (Banh Xeo)
Rice Batter:
- 1 cup dried rice flour
- 1 ½ cups fresh water
- Pinch of salt
- ½ tsp turmeric powder (or curry, saffron or food color powder)
Mix all ingredients together and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.
Pancake Ingredients:
- 150 grams finely cut shrimp, shelled and deveined (cooked or raw is ok) or any other seafood
- 2 thin strips of pork, chopped (cooked)
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 2 thinly sliced spring onions
- 250 grams bean sprouts
- Topping mix – mint, coriander, Vietnamese basil, carrot, banana flower
- Packet of rice paper or cabbage leaves
Add shrimp and pork to rice batter and heat 2 TBS oil in a small (5 inch) non-stick frying pan. Stir the batter and pour just enough into the pan to create a thin layer. Top with a few bean sprouts and spring onion. Fry over medium to high heat until the bottom of the pancake is crisp. Drain off excess oil and flip pancake over. Fold the pancake in half and turn out onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, adding a little oil to the frying pan for each pancake.
To serve, each person takes a pancake, adds a little topping mix and wraps it in a sheet of rice paper. Dip in peanut sauce before eating.
