I don’t know how I let myself get talked into signing up for Vietnamese cooking lessons, but I did. And I’m glad of it. The cooking school is run out of this charming restaurant in the old town of Hoi An.
Here, we met our guide for the evening, who (as it turns out) would also be our instructor once we arrived at the cooking school. The school was the highlight of a journey that included a guided tour of the market and a delightful boat ride up the Thu Bon River.
The market building in the old city of Hoi An is a two-block-long structure filled with small shops containing merchandise of every description, overflowing into narrow aisles and piled high above our heads. We learned how to tell good vegetable peelers and carrot-rose makers from bad ones, and how long a container of freshly grated coconut is good for (answer below).
The answer is: two days. On the first day, the liquid around the grated coconut is clear. The coconut is good. On the second day, the liquid turns milky, and the coconut is still good. On the third day, the liquid becomes yellowish. Don’t buy that one!
After the market tour — no, we did not buy a vegetable peeler, a carrot-rose maker, or any shredded coconut — we hustled to the waterfront.
The cooking school, it turned out, was not at the old-town restaurant but rather at a place significantly up river. Wonderful! A ride on our very own boat to our very own cooking lesson, followed by dinner.
The boat dropped us off at a private dock. The building and grounds of the Red Bridge Cooking School were lovely. (And yes, there was indeed a red bridge!) After a welcoming drink on the terrace and a tour of the extensive herb garden, it was off to school!
Dan and I each had our own burner, and we worked separately, but side by side. Our instructor was very encouraging and helpful. We made rice pancakes. Using them, we made vegetarian spring rolls. Later, we used the rice pancake dough, cooked thin, and cut it to make rice noodles, which became the basis of another delicious course. There was also a chicken dish somewhere in there. And something involving shrimp and squid. Then, it was off to the terrace-restaurant for a final course of fish — a surprise dish that we were too full to do more than taste a bit of.
It was all delicious!