We had planned to take at least one cooking class while in Vietnam, and after some research, decided that Hoi An sounded like the best place... The most famous cooking school there is Red Bridge Cooking School, but after taking a closer look, we decided to attend the competing cooking school at Morning Glory Cafe. There were several reasons for that: 1. We dined at Morning Glory frequently and loved their food. 2. The classes seemed a bit smaller and more personal. 3. Their prices were more reasonable. 4. It was highly recommended by the locals.
We booked a class one day prior to the session, and showed up there the following morning at 10am. We were a little early, so we sat in their outdoor setting and sipped our strong Vietnamese ice coffee and engaged in some people watching while we waited for the other attendees to arrive.
Once everyone arrived, we were taken upstairs to their cooking demonstration room. The entire set-up was very impressive - it was spotlessly clean, with cooking facilities for each participant, and a good view of the instructor - both directly, and via an angled mirror behind her. Each cooking station had a gas stove top, preparation mat, and cooking utensils, all set up...
When we arrived, each station had one white Vietnamese eggplant in the middle of the preparation mat, so we cleverly figured out that our first dish was going to be eggplant related!
Our instructor, Ms Lu, has been working at the school for over 10 years since her early teens. Her English was very good, and we could all follow her instructions clearly.
Our first lesson started with an introduction to Vietnamese white eggplant, and how to trim and slice it appropriately, soak it in salt water for 10-15 minutes to remove bitterness, how to fry, flavor, and finally present it artfully...
Here is the recipe for delicious & healthy fried white eggplant:
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Fried White Eggplant
Serves: 1
Preparation Time: 45 mins
Cooking Time: 6 mins
Ingredients
1 small white egpplant
1 bowl water (cold)
1 pot water (boiling)
2 tbls vegetable oil
2 tsps Light soy sauce
1 tsp Brown sugar
1 tbls Green onion (1 cm round)
12 tsps Fish sauce
1 tsp garlic (chop finely)
1 tsp chili (chop fine)
Method
* Thinly slice eggplant halfway down. Flip over, rotate 90 degrees, repeat the slicing
* Soak eggplant in cold salted water for 30 mins
* Place eggplant in boiling water for 7 minutes. Place a heavy plate on top of eggplant to ensure that it is fully submerged.
* Remove eggplant from water and place between the bottom of two plates and squeeze, draining excess water from inside eggplant
* In a saute pan, heat 1 tbls vegetable oil until hot. Place eggplant in pan. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side. When done, it should be golden brown and crispy on the outside
* Mix soy sauce and sugar together
* In saute pan, heat 1 tbls vegetale oil until hot. Add green onion and fry for 2-3 minutes, adding fish sauce at the end of cooking time.
* Put eggplant on plate, top with fried green onion and drizzle soy sauce around
* Mix garlic & chili, place in center, and serve.
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Next we were taught how to make the famous Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls. The instructor's assistants placed fresh rice papers, a plate of washed and chopped herbs, slices of roast pork, halved pre-cooked shrimp, bean sprouts, rice noodles, spices and sauces for the dipping sauce on each cooking station, and we began rolling... Note the chives sticking out the top!
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Fresh Spring Roll
Servings: 2
Preparation Time: 3 Minutes
Ingredients
* Rice
* Raw Herb (lettuce, basil, coriander, chives)
* Marinated Pork loin - baked or steamed
* Boiled Shrimp, cut in half
* Rice Paper
Method
* Wet your rice paper both sides with wet towel
* One big chopstick of herbs on rice paper and a chopstick of noodle on top, 2 slices of pork loin, 2 slices of shrimp
* Cover noodle & herbs completely
* Fold the side of the rice paper
* Place chives decoratively, sticking out of end of roll
* Roll up rice paper to the end
* Serve with peanut sauce
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After the fresh spring roll, we began our instruction on two famous Vietnamese salads (it can also be considered an appetizer since it contains meat): Green Mango Salad and Green Papaya Salad. Since there is very little or no variation between the two, we chose to give you the Green Mango Salad recipe below.
Our instructor also showed us a whole banana flower, which is the main ingredient on the Banana Flower Salad, one of our favorite dishes in Vietnam.
Back to the Green Mango & Papaya Salads... Before we get to the recipe, we want to take the time to tell you about a great little tool that is used for preparing items for salads. Here is a picture - it's about 8 inches long.
And here's a close-up of the 'pointy end.' When you drag those little loops down the side of a fruit, the result is thin strips of the mango/ papaya etc that can go directly into the salad.
Here is Lu using the tool.
Here's the recipe
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Green Mango Salad
Servings: 10
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
* 1 tbl Vegetable oil* 1 tbl Red onion (chop fine)
* 3 tbl Lime juice
* 1 tsp White sugar
* 1 tsp chili (chop fine)
* 1 tsp fish sauce
* 1 tsp garlic (chop fine)
* 1 cup Roasted peanuts (crush)
* 200 gram green mango
* 1/2 cup mint leaves
* 1/2 cup basil leaves
Method
* Heat vegetable oil in skillet until hot
* Add red onion and saute until golden brown & set aside
* In a bowl, combine lime juice, white sugar, salt, chili, fish sauce, garlic, and half of the roasted peanuts
* Mix the dressing with the green mango, allowing it to soften and the dressing to drain through
* Mix half of the mint and half of the basil into the golden brown red onion and vegetable oil, making sure it has cooled to a warm temperature, ensuring the herbs will not turn black
* Place salad on plate. Top with red onion & herb mixture first, then top with the remaining peanuts, mint and basil.
(Hint: carrot & cucumber can be used instead of green mango.)
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Next up was the famous Hoi An pancake - which is made with a rice flour mixture, no dairy. We don't have the recipe for this one, unfortunately. We cooked these at our cooking station, with a little help from Lu. The instructions were only to cook the pancake for 10 seconds in the little pan before adding some bean sprouts and some herbs, and then folding in half - although in reality, the pancakes were on the burner for at least 30 seconds - even when Lu was demonstrating...
And here's the end product. The white triangles at the top of the plate are rice paper which you wrap around the pancake before consuming.
Next up: Main Course. We were asked if we were vegetarian - and 'vegetarians' were tasked with cooking one of our favorite dishes in Hoi An - fish with turmeric, wrapped in banana leaves. We ate this dish as often as possible - our favorite was at Cargo Club.
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Grilled White Mackerel with Turmeric
Servings: 1Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 12-15 minutes
Ingredients
* 1 tbls Vermicelli noodles* 1 tbls wood ear mushrooms (slice thin)
* 1 tbls Turmeric (grated fresh or powder)
* 200 grams white mackerel (cubed)
* 1 tbls vegetable oil
* 1 tsp fish sauce
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 pinch black pepper
* 1 pinch brown sugar
* 1 pinch chili (chop fine)
* 1 tsp garlic (chop fine)
* 1 tsp red onion (chop fine)
* 1 tbls Green Onion (1cm round)
* 6 banana leaves
Method
* Soak vermicelli noodles and wood ear mushroom in cold water for 10 mins to soften
* Cut mackerel into evenly sized small cubes
* In a saute pan, heat 1/2 tbls vegetable oil until hot, add turmeric and cook for 3 mins
* In a bowl, mix the fish with remaining vegetable oil, fish sauce, salt, black pepper, brown sugar, chili, garlic, red onion, green onion, and turmeric once it has cooled.
* Take two pieces of banana leaf and arrange on top of one another to create an 8-point star
* Lay fish down, centered just below the middle of the banana leaves
* Begin folding from the bottom up, then one side at a time, close by folding top down
* With remaining leaves, wrap the envelope. These leaves will char when cooking.
* Place on grill, cooking 5-7 minutes on each side
* To serve, remove outer charred leaves and place green leaf with fish on it onto the plate, folding excess leaf under the plate
(Hint: If using powdered turmeric, only toast it lightly before adding to fish.)
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The 'non-vegetarians' in the class cooked BBQ chicken on skewers. As you can see from the recipe below, you just toss all the spices into a bowl with some oil, and marinate the chicken and then threading a skewer through the chicken. The only trick was knowing which spice was which (no labels)!
Here is the end product, presented artfully, as always.
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BBQ Chicken in Kefir Lime Leaf
Servings: 2Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
* 10 skewers
* 200 grams Dark chicken meat (cubed)
* 1 tsp Vegetable oil
* 1 tbls galangal (chop fine)
* 1 tbls Lemongrass (chop fine)
* 30 lime leaves
* 1 tbls garlic (chop fine)
* 1 tbls chili (chop fine)
* 1 tbls shallot (chop fine)
* 1 pinch 5 Spice
* 1 tsp fish sauce
* 1 tsp brown sugar
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp black pepper
Method
* Soak skewers in cold water for at least 15 minutes* Finely chop 5 lime leaves
* Marinate chicken in oil, all the spices, and chopped lime leaves
* Let stand for 15 minutes, or up to several hours
* Fold chicken cubes between lime leaves
* Place two pieces of chicken on each skewer
* BBQ chicken, rotating every 2 minutes until done cooking
* Plate and serve
(Hint: Lime leaves should be young. This means they will be light in color and soft.)
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Actually, we didn't actually cook these dishes (the chicken and the fish) - we only prepared them. When we were done preparing, the assistants came around and collected everyone's meals and did the actual cooking in another room.
When our class was finished, we all sat in the dining room and were served the feast that we had made - it was delicious, and particularly satisfying because we made it ourselves! Hopefully we'll be able to perfectly recreate the dishes at home without Lu and her team looking over our shoulder...
Next time you find yourself in Hoi An, consider the Morning Glory cooking school - even if you don't consider yourself much of a chef! It's lots of fun. You'll also receive a booklet with lots of recipes, and one of those handy salad tools pictured above.
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