Cooking Class

Yesterday some of the teachers from school and myself went to a Vietnamese cooking class.  This is not something I would usually choose to do but when I was invited along I thought why not, Matthew is away so I thought it might give me something to do on the weekend.  Not being much of a cook I was a little nervous but I was assured that it would not be very difficult and that they pre-prepare a lot of the ingredients.  So 815 on Sunday morning saw me heading into District 1 to cook!
First stop was the markets which I always enjoy but it was made even more interesting because our 'tour guide' pointed out so many different things plus we could take photos - often the Vietnamese will shy away from having their photos taken - they don't even like you to photograph there produce which confuses me a tad - apparently photographing them takes away part of their soul so that I get but - their produce!!

Anyway - it's amazing how over time things have become so everyday - like the hanging meat, no fridge present it's just hanging there but we regularly buy our meat from the markets so it's no longer so surprising - mind you there are still things that make me cringe like the plate of eyeballs!

After the markets we headed off to the cooking School.  It actually was really fun, this is what we made

Nothing was that hard because the "kitchen fairies" had already done so much of the preparation - yes we chopped and diced but all our potions were laid out for us.  The Spring rolls were fine except we only made 3 and that took long enough - imagine making them for my family, I would need 103 it would take me forever.  The Banana blossom was easy as well - but take note of the flower chili and the fancy cut carrot which had to be cut with such care and patience - something I don't have a lot of particularly in the kitchen. Finally we made Pho, something I really love but can not see myself ever cooking in the traditional way which is steaming bones for 2 hours then cooking for 10 hours adding all kinds of spices - maybe I will cheat and use ready made stock then add the spices.  The rest of Pho is easy it is just adding things just before you eat it - we actually have it at least a couple of times a week either from the numerous Pho Shops or when our  Housekeeper makes it.  The highlight of the class of course was eating everything we made - now I just have to remember how to cook it - which really is not going to happen whilst I live here - cooking pfft!

Pho

Banana Blossom Salad

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