Cooking class

Falling more and more in love with Vietnamese foods, we decide on another cooking class, this time for the specialties of Hue. Below, a beautiful calamari served to us in a riverside restaurant/stall at the end of the night market. It was served with a very spicy sweet and sour dip. Quite frankly it looks better than it tasted, though it wasn't rubbery, since it wasn't overcooked ;-)


Our cooking class offered a trip to the market, but we'd been the day before and had gotten plenty of market experience already . A lovely Danish family took the class as well. Dietre a pig farmer, his wife Anita, a vascular surgeon and their three kids 10,12 and 14.
Here we have chicken bullion powder, sugar, chili powdere, pepper, peanuts, peanut butter and sesame seeds.


Everything was laid our for us and it was a very hands-on class.



Thiep, our teacher was good at showing and directing someone to take over a given task.






Using a scallion brush to oil the little ceramic dishes for rice flour dumpling which are steamed and later topped with shrimp and garlic/scallion topping. Not our favorite, tasted a bit like glue, kind of slimy and not too tasty even with the goodies on top.





Hue pancakes, cooked in lots of oil, very hot oil.....


The trick to getting it cooked and not doughy is to turn it before adding the filling of sprouts, pork (or whatever meat you want) carrots and mushrooms.


It should be crispy. Then its drained of the excess oil, see the strainer in the bowl below.


Its eaten wrapped in lettuce and herbs (cilantro, holy basil, cervil, whatever you want) and dipped in peanut sauce. Now that IS delicious, and one I hope to be able to duplicate at home.



Spring roll filling includes egg yolks and other finely chopped ingredients which need to be cooked.


The store bought rice paper wrappers need a little water to make them pliable for filling.











Now its time to complete our beef noodle soup. We'd started the class by smashing a bunch of lemongrass and putting it to boil with the beef bones and a little fish sauce for an hour or so while we attended to the other things.


First we mix a little oil and chili powder with some stock and cook it in the ladle, then let it float into the soup. Each bowl is prepared separately.


Meat is put in the ladle and lowered into the stock to cook this is done twice letting some stock and chili oil into the ladle each time. Then this is added to the noodles and served with scallion greens and maybe a bit more chili oil ;-) for those of us whose taste buds can take it. What a feast we had!
-On the road with Kathryn