Today we got up at a early-ish, after a good night's sleep and headed out straight after breakfast. The streets felt a little weird and quiet after last night's night market and bustling night life.
The reason for the up and out, was to make it in time to the meet up point for our half day cooking class, in the Ancient part of Hoi An. Once the whole group was assembled we headed down to the local market. Our guide (and chef) Mi-Mi introduced us to various herbs and ingredients that are used locally. Part of the market included vegetable section, noodle section, seafood section and fresh meat section. The meat is not refrigerated as it is normally slaughtered in the morning and it goes straight to the market. By around 3pm all the meat is sold already. If there is anything left over they normally make it into pate and steam it.
After the market we hoped on a boat and headed down river to the Red Bridge cooking school.
There Mi-Mi, demonstrated the following dishes, which we then did our best to replicate:
1. Hoi An Pancakes (Banh Xeo)
2. Seafood Salad with Tra Que Herbs (Goi Hai San)
3. Fresh Rice Paper (Banh Uot)
4. Fish Sauce (Nuroc Mam)
5. Fresh Rice Paper Rolls of Shrimp (Cha gio Tom Tuoi), using our freshly main rice paper
6. Quang Nam Style fresh rice noodles with chicken (Mi Quang Ga)
It was interesting to learn so much and then to be able to make it ourselves. The girls were great at trying make the dishes themselves. They did need a bit of help with some things, and Maxine definitely did not like the splattering hot oil.
Chef Mi-Mi also taught us how to make tomato roses and cucumber fans as decorative items to add presentation. We attempted to make our own, but it is going to take a LOT more practice to make them look anywhere as good as the Mi-Mi's.
Once we were done with all the cooking, we got to relax a bit and enjoy all the food we cooked for lunch. And then afterwards, we got dropped off back in town. As it was HOT, we decided to head back to the hotel to get our schooling done and then cool off in the pool (or maybe all three of them).
Before we knew it, it was time to find some dinner and we headed out again into the night market. It was great to sit down, enjoy a cocktail and just watch the people go by. A nice end to a lovely day. Tomorrow is a short flight to Ho Chi Min.
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