Cooking in Hoi An

It was our final day in Hoi An so we'd booked a cooking class for the morning which started with a guided tour around the local markets. The guide informed us about the range of foods being sold, many of which we'd never seen or heard of before. He explained to us that at 3am the animals are culled, 5am the meat is cut, 6am the meat arrives at the market and at 7am the market opens. The meat is good until 10am and afterwards the price of meat halves due to the heat - a bargain that might come along with food poisoning. Some of the unsold meat is also cooked for lunch for those on the market stalls. After the market, we had a short trip on a bamboo boat and had a go at purple clawed crab fishing for fun. The cooking class then began where in total we cooked five dishes - Pho Bo, Fresh Spring Rolls, Banh Xeo, Aubergine in Soy Sauce and Banana Flower Salad. We learnt how to make rice paper from scratch using traditional methods that had been passed on to the chef as a child before electricity came to his village in 1996. It was so fascinating to learn the process using traditional equipment where every step required a knack to get it right. All the food tasted delicious and was an absolute feast. Even better that we can keep the recipes to try back in the UK!

In the afternoon we took a quick trip to Tra Que Vegetable Village where we could wander and watch local farmers cultivate their crops, working on their allotments. There was such a variety of foods being grown, all extremely well maintained on the neatly kept allotments.

After walking the evening market streets one last time we came across an unbelievably smiley local in an oversized NY baseball cap selling a few dishes from her food truck. No idea why but we just couldn’t stop smiling around her so we enjoyed a banana pancake and a donut from her truck. Walking past later on she recognised us and asked if we wanted another to which we didn’t, however on the third pass, we decided to return and purchase more food; yet again this was served with a huge smile. Dan noticed himself using the two skewers served with the pancake as chop sticks half way through eating to which we both laughed at.

Today we had our final fitting and are super happy with the tailored outfits (2 suits for Dan, 2 pencil dresses and a blazer for Jess and a blazer for Hannah). They're now being shipped back to the UK as we have no space to carry them. That certainly was an expensive parcel to send back!

We finished the evening with another drink of Mot. When speaking to the guys running the small shop, they apparently serve 3000 cups a day - not bad at 50p each. After showing an interest in how the guys poured the drink so dramatically, they invited Dan to have a go. It wasn’t a complete disaster but lets just say Dan didn't quite have the technique although gave it a good try.

As we left Hoi An today we noticed lots of people burning paper outside their homes. This wasn’t waste paper but brand new paper they'd specifically bought to burn consisting of paper money, paper clothing and paper food. Apparently this is a ritual at full moon as a way to remember the dead as mentioned by our tour guide at the market.

We have absolutely loved Hoi An despite the rainy weather and we now understand why so many travelers rave about the place. After a fantastic few days, we now head to Nha Trang.Read more