Vietnam Day 26: Cooking up a Storm!

One of our top experiences of the entire trip came on our second last day. We signed up for a cooking class at Charming Homestay, and it did not disappoint!

We were greeted by our lovely host, Nhi, and her assistant Ha, at Nhi's home. Ha took us straight out to the local market to show us around and buy the food we'd need to prepare our meal. 

Vietnamese markets are so colourful and fresh. The meat is all butchered daily, and there are so many fruits and vegetables that we can't find at home. Beth, in particular, loved learning all their names, and we did some sampling as well. 

Two different beans slow cooked.
They add coconut and condensed milk
to make a sweet treat!

Such a cool tool: 
A peeler that
juliennes veggies!

When we got back to Nhi's place, she led us through all the steps for preparing a feast! We made mango salad with sautéed beef, fried spring rolls (banana and shrimp or ground pork and veggies), and the famous Vietnamese chicken with lemongrass and chili. Nhi was so organized and clearly used to managing a group like ours in her home kitchen. She was also extremely careful about allergens for Erin - a great place for a cooking class if you're celiac. 

Rolling her own shrimp and banana
spring rolls!

Rolling gluten-free ground pork spring rolls!

Another cool tool: onion shaver

Sauteeing with long chopsticks

Hot, Tired, and Hungry!

The kids were right in there making their own dishes, including chopping the raw meet, sauteeing lemongrass, and using the long chopsticks to turn their spring rolls. We were all so impressed!

Grinding up the peanuts for the salad

Of course, the end was the best part! It was DELICIOUS!!! 

It was such a fun experience and we came away with such a great skill, a set of recipes, and an amazing Vietnamese memory! 

Vietnam Day 24: Lantern Making

Hoi An is known for its beautiful lanterns lining every street. They come in a variety of shapes: rice garlic, sunset garlic, papaya, cake, lotus, ink bottle, umbrella, and UFO, along with countless patterns and colours. A popular thing to do when visiting is to go to a lantern-making workshop, which Erin, Beth, Adventure Girl, and Neve were interested in doing. So the four of us set out to learn all about it on our first day in Hoi An. 

We arrived at the charming space of Hoi An Handicrafts, and were welcomed with a cold tea and the strong smell of wood glue. We were escorted to a low table for four that was covered in dried glue, and surrounded by lanterns, hung floor to ceiling on the walls. Creativity flowed through the room. 

We were first asked to choose the shape of lantern we wanted to make, and were brought a pile of bamboo sticks. We strung them on two wires: top and bottom until they curled in a circle. 

We pushed the sticks into two iron frames and secured them by twisting off the ends. Then came the most fun part: choosing the fabric! 

We had a really fun time singing along to the music, learning a new skill, laughing at our mistakes, and getting help from the talented teachers who roamed the room. In the end, we were super pleased with our designs and can't wait to hang them up at home!

Vietnam Days 24-27: Hoi An Old Town

I'm going to come right out and say it: we LOVED Hoi An! It is such an atmospheric town! It's hard to even pick a favourite thing...the lanterns, the winding river filled with colourful rowboats, the lively markets, the incredible fruit selection, the restaurants... it's all good! 

Coconut coffee

We really enjoyed wandering and people-watching. We ate breakfast our first morning here across the street from a whole coconut operation. Right before our eyes, coconuts were transformed from whole fruit, to de-husked fruit; then, the water was poured out and the flesh carved out. Next, there was someone grinding dried flesh into coconut flakes, while someone else sold drinks of coconut cream; it was truly coconut in every possible form all in one stop! It was fascinating to watch. 

We did our best haggling for fruit in the market and brought home an entire watermelon, mangosteen, custard apples, rose apples, rambutan, bananas, yellow mango, and longan. We wandered stalls and luxuriated in doing some souvenir shopping since we only have to carry our bags home at this point. 

The absolute best was watching the river come alive at night with the glow of lanterns. People start to gather around 5 pm, getting into rowboats (or motorboats at the far end), each lit with its own coloured lantern or two. People release paper lanterns from the boats themselves to add additional colour to the river. Its reflection sparkled with colour and light!

We enjoyed several five star dinners along the riverfront with incredible food like slow roasted duck curry, pumpkin curry served in a mini pumpkin, braised pork rib, mango and papaya salad, and more! Craig and Erin had a date night, thanks to Alex and Beth, at The Spice Route. Erin's herbaceous cocktail with local Hoi An gin and herbs was delectable. 

Eggplant in clay pot
Pork skewers with make-your-own rice wraps

Dumplings

Morning Glory Signature feast!

Date night!

We will now inundate you with photos of our favourite place. What a perfect way to end the trip: not wanting to go home!