Cooking up a Storm!

Okay, so I've been a little lax in updating the blog with the rest of my visit to Vietnam.  So, here's a synopsis of our incredible second day in Ho Chi Minh City.  As we searched for ideas for things to see and do in HCM, Stephanie suggested taking a cooking class.  Despite the fact that I have a chronically unhappy digestive system, I checked out the menu and figured I could customize my creation so I could also enjoy some tasty Vietnamese food.  In my opinion, the class was a bargain and for an extra $5 we signed up for the optional trip to the market where we would procure the ingredients for our class alongside our chef.  This turned out to be one of the best days of our trip!


We met up with several other participants in our class at Ben Tahn market in the center of Ho Chi Minh.  From what I can remember we socialized with a lady on holiday from Australia, an American who had relocated to Vietnam with her French boyfriend, and a group of folks from one of the Nordic countries (we think).  This wasn't my first trip to a farmer's market (I've been in the States and shopped open markets in Seoul and Paris), this was, however, the most shocking.  I think the best way I can explain the experience is to say that I was on sensory overload.  There were so many options to choose from and beautiful produce abounded.  Had I been shopping alone, I would have been literally spinning in circles trying to decide what I wanted!  I saw fruits and vegetables that were completely unknown to me.  I also saw marine life and amphibians displayed in ways that were beyond my imagination, along with bits and pieces of animals that don't usually make it to the supermarket.  Here's a taste of the sights we took in at the market...

These stalls are shaded to beat the heat of the day.

Shellfish galore!

Incredibly beautiful produce!

Transacting business

A not so pleasant sight--headless, skinless froggies meeting their end.  The ladies in the back were preparing a new bunch of frogs by whacking them against the pavement.  I could hardly stand hearing the process, so I moved on quickly.

A creative way of packaging the crab.

More gorgeous produce!

These certainly were fresh fish!  One even managed to escape the pan while we standing nearby.

Onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes...

The parts that don't generally make it to the meat department in a US supermarket--brains (bottom left), intestines, liver, kidneys, and more intestines (which according to Stephanie were "very clean").

Bits and pieces of pig.

All sorts of fruits--including many I had never seen before.

More fresh fish!  We stopped here for prawns for our spring rolls.

I have to admit, it was somewhat unsettling to see where my food was coming from.  Developing countries, like Vietnam, do not necessarily have first rate sanitation processes and I witness some stomach churning sights.  I'll spare you the details, but as we left the market I wondered if this would be the day that I would acquire a foreign bacteria.  Thankfully, this never happened!  With our chef at the helm, we grabbed a cab and headed over to the cooking school which is situated above a very posh restaurant, and the fun began!


We gathered around a huge table where we found a plateful of fresh ingredients from our market outing.  Our first task was learning to make proper spring rolls and our chef led us through each step.  So as not to forget when I tried to make them later, I photographed the process.  Enjoy!

Our fantastic chef, Huong.  He was quite a character!

Peanut dipping sauce for the spring rolls--it is so delicious!

Step 1:  Wet rice paper wrapper and place a bunch of lettuce in one corner (if indeed a circle had corners)

Step 2:  Pile on top of lettuce a small bit of bean sprouts, thai basil, and rice noodles.

Step 3:  Add fresh mint and strategically place prawns in a heart shape with the beautiful pink side down.

Step 4:  Fold the other sides (go with me here) in to the center and carefully roll burrito style so that everything is tucked in.  Stop when you get to the prawns and add two chive stalks for color.

See, everyone's doing it!

Delicious spring rolls all ready to be served with the fabulous dipping sauce!

Proof that even I can do this!

We turned this plate of drab greens...

...into this fab salad!

My salad.  I have to admit, I ate only a few tentative bites after the market experience.

Our cooking class menu for the day.

This is where we turned up the heat and started a bit of actual "cooking".

Each of us  had an individual burner and wok.

Sauteing veggies.

Fried rice ready to be carefully wrapped up and steamed in a lotus leaf.

Steph and I with our final presentation of the fried rice.  What an accomplishment!

The cooking class filled a good part of our day, but we had more ambitious plans for the afternoon.  We all had purchased fabric at the market the day before and we wanted to get things custom tailored.  Our hotel made a recommendation and off we went to the city center in search of a shop.  It was a trial and error process from the moment we located the suggested tailor and we ended up taking our material to two other shops to get what we wanted.  Our final creations were ready to be picked up on Tuesday evening right before we headed off to the airport (photos to come)!  It had been another hot and busy day, so we grabbed another round of pho for dinner and headed back to the hotel to relax before bed.  Before we made it back to the room, we decided to go check out the shopping center adjacent to the hotel.  We all needed water and after such a great cooking class we thought it would be fun to take back some of the Vietnamese ingredients so we could reproduce the recipes.  Plus, we decided to surprise the science department to some yummy spring rolls when we returned to SFS.  The grocery store reminded me of what I had seen in Europe and we were able to stock up on rice noodles, rice papers, and fish sauce.  Always with camera in hand, these are a few pictures I snapped as we wandered around and on the way back to the hotel.  

A statue near the market.

More crazy attempts at crossing the street with motorbikes a bit too close for comfort.

Yes, even the Colonel is known in Vietnam.  Ga is the word for chicken (and marriage, depending on how you pronounce it).

Chaos and interesting wiring solutions.

Motorbikes are multi purpose instruments--you can use them for driving and sleeping!

I've become accustomed to a pretty hectic and busy lifestyle in Seoul, but being a tourist in a foreign city was absolutely exhausting.  I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've gone to bed before 10pm in a long time, but that sleep was so sweet.