Learning to Cook Vietnamese in Vietnam

One of the most amazing things that I brought back to California with me was the ability to cook Vietnamese food – and that is all thanks to a cooking class I took while I was in Hoi An. Located on the coast of the East Sea in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam, Hoi An is a quaint seaside town and utterly charming in every way.

My friend and fellow blogger Karen Bianchi invited me to join this cooking class with the Green Bamboo Cooking School which is run by the sweetest Vietnamese girl named Van. The cool thing about this cooking school was that I got to select what I wanted to learn how to make in advance. Van sends an email with loads of options so it is a great concept to cater to people with dietary needs like me! I decided to make the vegetable curry.

The full-day class started with a tour of the local market where Van takes the ground around the market to purchase the items needed for all the dishes we would be cooking that day. We all rocked those straw rice paddy hats while roaming around the market.

Despite the fact that it was pouring rain, the market was going strong and the Vietnamese women donned rain ponchos as they gathered their items from the market.

After collecting all our ingredients, we hopped in the car and made our way to Van’s home where the cooking class takes place. We threw on some aprons and got ready to do some chopping, cutting, slicing and stirring.

The great thing about this class was that you are cooking your dish for everyone, therefore you get to try several different dishes based on the number of people in the class. With about ten different people in our class, that meant different dishes.

We sipped on local Vietnamese beers while whipping up a storm in the kitchen. As each dish was prepared we stopped to sample what the fellow chefs-in-training had made.

Here are some of the dishes that we made!

Vegetable Curry

This was the dish that I cooked. The big giant nut looking things at the top are called lotus seeds. The other ingredients that went into making this dish included taro, sweet potatoes, carrot, tofu, mushroom, lemon grass and fresh coconut milk. I actually “milked” the coconut myself! It is not an easy process.

Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp

This dish was very tasty and turned out beautifully. The mint garnish pairs perfectly with the green papaya. This dish is also commonly made with pork and in Vietnamese is called Goi Du Du.

Bánh Xèo

This was actually my favorite dish of all. I love wraps, tacos, burritos – pretty much anything I can hold and eat. This is the Vietnamese taco in my opinion – only a thousand times healthier. Ironically, it isn’t called a taco but a pancake. Bánh xèo is a classic Vietnamese dish and often made with pork. I omitted the pork and just used shrimp since I don’t eat any other meat besides fish. Super tasty and not too awfully difficult to make.

And for dessert we had passion fruit which is one of my favorite fruits! This fruit is rather hard to come by in the states so whenever I find it, I buy it. You can find it in ethnic food markets in the states so be on the look out!

When traveling on the road for extended periods of time, it is often difficult for me to bring back any souvenirs from my travels. Learning how to cook Vietnamese was something that I could “bring back” home with me that all my friends and family could appreciate. I highly suggest taking a cooking class when in Vietnam and if in Hoi An, go with Green Bamboo!