Thailand & Vietnam Odyssey: Cooking class in Hanoi

We love to cook and we love to eat. Our trip was full of new and delicious smells and flavors. While we avoided the BBQ bugs in Thailand, we couldn’t resist taking a cooking class in Hanoi to learn how to prepare some of our favorite Vietnamese dishes.

Based on Trip Advisor reviews, we sought out Apron Up Cooking Class taught by Chef Nhi.

https://www.apronupcookingclass.com/

We started by deciding on a menu: Pho Bo (beef noodle soup), Bun Cha

(BBQ pork noodle and the meal President Obama had with Anthony Bourdain (https://www.cnn.com/videos/travel/2016/09/14/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown-hanoi-1.cnn/video/playlists/anthony-bourdains-parts-uknown-best-moments/)),

Nem ran (fried springroll), Nom du du (papaya salad), and Café trung (Hanoi egg coffee) for dessert. Once our menu was planned it was off to the market to find the ingredients for our meal.

The market was a very narrow street lined with vendors on both sides of the street and again, multiple motorcycles zipping up and down, pulling up to a vendor to purchase the needs for an evening meal. Some hopped off their scooters while others stayed on their rides and made their purchases over the handlebars. The market had every smell possible in another sensory overload, most good, and some less than desirable.

Our chef explained to us that with often limited refrigeration many families will come to the market twice a day and purchase only what they need for the next meal. The butcher where we purchased our pork was on an open-air table on the sidewalk of the street. Chef explained that the table would turn over four or five times a day with a fresh pig being brought from the farm constantly as the product was sold out at the market. While we did not purchase a snout, or tongue, or ear, all parts of the pig are bought and used in various recipes.

The photos below should probably come with a warning to some (especially those who might be vegan), however the experience was beautiful and wonderful to us.

Chef Nhi

The butcher

No thank you, no snails today

Fish scaling

We were told that these women made the best noodles in Hanoi and indeed, they were amazing.

After returning from the market we began preparing the filling for the spring rolls then wrapping them in very fragile rice paper.

Spring roll ingredients: wood ear mushrooms, shitake mushroom, glass noodle, shredded carrot, bean sprouts, minced pork shoulder, diced shallot, egg yolk, fish sauce (goes in everything), black pepper.

To soften the rice paper, we dab it with a vinegar/water mixture. Wrap it up and fry the rolls in a hot wok. (Class secret: fry the rolls twice and they will be less oily)

Serve with dipping sauce

It's SO HOT!

Bun cha ingredients: pork belly, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, sugar, honey

Mince everything up and after the mixture sits for about an hour, shape into meatballs and grill. The meatballs are served with fresh rice noodles and dipping sauce.

The dipping sauce for both the spring roll and the bun cha is made of fish sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, water and black pepper and mixed well with papaya, carrot, garlic, and chilis all finely chopped

Hanoi Pho Bo has a ton of ingredients and is simply delicious. Its texture was lighter than the Pho restaurants in Washington that we’ve been to and we were told that the addition of basil leaves, bean sprouts, and sauces is a South Vietnamese tradition.

The Egg Coffee was to die for. In an electric mixer whisk together egg yolk, condensed milk, sugar, a few drops of vodka (kills any egg yolk bacteria and adds some flavor), and a small pinch of salt. When the egg mis smooth and thick like custard, pour it in a cup then add strong Vietnamese Robusta coffee. The custard will float on top of the coffee. We put a little cocoa powder on top to make it even more magically delicious.