19 April 2012 ~ Hanoi Cooking Center

Listening to: Lucious ~ Don't Just Sit There
I took a Vietnamese cooking class at the Hanoi Cooking Centre.

We went to the market beforehand to see the types of ingredients we would use, and buy a "special treat" to cook up.

I'll share the pictures of market in the next post (and warn anyone who is squeamish to maybe skip it).

There were 10 of us in the class - 4 New Zealanders, 3 Aussies, an American couple from Georgia and me. One of the Aussie's was my cooking-mate.

Our instructor was very good. She explained which types of fish sauces to use when, how to improvise on utensils, and make delicious food!

Our first course was Pho Bo (Beef Noodle Soup). The broth was already made as it takes 8 hours to prepare. Now I just have to find a butcher to sell me a pig's trotter (and cut it in half).

Next up was West Lake Prawn Cakes. Here are the ingredients as we got ready to make the batter and marinate the shrimp.

We also made green papaya salad, Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce for fresh spring rolls) and Pho Cuon (Fresh Spring Rolls).

For dessert was Banana Che - grilled bananas with coconut milk and sugar, sprinkled with sesame seeds and peanuts.

 Everyone got this nice apron as a souvenir, as well as all the recipes.

It was a totally cool morning!