M:

Wednesday - cooking day and eating day with a cooking class in the morning and a special restaurant in the evening.

(PS If you are wondering about the photo for today's entry, read on!)

For the cooking class, we organised with our hotel to do both the visit to the markets to see the foodstuffs and the cooking class itself. Like many activities here there is a kind of aggregation process, with tourists from a number of different sources coming together for an activity.

So it was that we met Mai - our guide, it turned out, the owner of the cooking school, along with two other pairs of Australians. The walk through the market at about 0830 was much better than an earlier visit at a later time of day, as the crowds were much thinner. We were taken to a number of stalls selling different foodstuffs and Mai and our chef explained them to us. You really had to stay close to the guide, because the combination of ambient noise, Vietnamese names for some things and accent when speaking English made it difficult at times to understand. (This presented some challenges at different times during the day, but the procedures for cooking were always very clear indeed, with plenty of assistants on hand who further explained things or guided clumsy hands.)

We then moved off to the Mai Home restaurant where the class proper was to take place, to be joined by two Swedes and two Danes, one of whom appeared to have Vietnamese ancestry. We were welcomed with tea and dried ginger while a few administrative matters were dealt with and then moved on to an explanation of Vietnamese traditional cooking vessels and implements before heading upstairs to the classroom - a very well set out room with demonstration bench, cooking benches and tables for dining.

The chef and Mai provided primary instruction and modelling, with great clarity. We chopped and sliced and carved and measured in a very well organised way, and between activities, assistants cleared away almost magically, they were so unobtrusive. They also tendered assistance to clumsy hands trying to do things like making tomato roses. We had a ball making the several dishes with our group. I'll let Anne explain the menu and activities.

A:

The whole thing was lots of fun after I had got over some embarassment at having difficulty cutting the tomato rose as it had to be paper thin and proved trickier than first appeared. The next step, still together around the same round tables, was preparing the ingredients for "Tomato Soup with Egg" which required slicing the tomato into six and cutting the spring onions. We then left this to one side and in two groups prepared the ingredients for the "Fish Spring Rolls" and "Caramel Pork in Clay Pot". Our table prepared the pork and left it to marinate, while the other table sliced the mushroom and shallots for the spring rolls. The chef gave a spectacular demonstration of chopping mushrooms using four knives at once after which we all applauded.

Then we went to the smaller tables where everything we needed was ready for us, including a single gas burner each and we put the ingredients together for the spring rolls- seven ingredients!- under clear and precise directions. Then we rolled them up, again with precise instructions, inside the stringy rice paper provided and placed them on a small tray. We made the "Dipping Fish Sauce" to go with them, and then cooked them in the hot oil. We used soy oil and Mai said this is preferable to olive oil as it is lighter. After cooking them we ate them at the round tables by placing them inside a lettuce leaf with mint and noodles- delicious. The cooking of the pork was next and while it sat in the pot we quickly cooked the soup. Then we ate the lot and dessert- "Sauteed Banana in Coconut Milk" which we didn't prepare. We were told with some humour that we had all passed and were given a certificate and book of recipes and chopsticks each. The class finished precisely on time at 12.30 and we would certainly recommend this as well as the two cooking courses we did in Italy.

M:

After lunch we walked back to our hotel. We have been meaning for days to get a picture of Anne in front of the hotel, so I crossed the narrow street (Cong Quynh) and took up position on the kerb to take the happy snap on the iPhone. Having taken the still that appears in the album, I thought a bit of video with the traffic going by might be nice. Just began recording when all of a sudden - whack! A guy on a scooter tried to grab the phone. Fortunately (a) I had a pretty good grip, and (b) I was a good catch. The phone flew up into the air and by the time I had caught it, I could see the unsuccessful thief heading off down the street on his bike.

The camera was recording the whole time, and it turns out for one brief blurry moment, the thief's face appears. I dedicate today's entry to his failure and my foolishness. Learn from my lucky break! (The video is now up too) (A: The staff from our hotel saw this happen and came running to our aid- we quickly reassured them that all was well but that better care is needed.)

The Huong Lai restaurant

This place is given plenty of positive commentary on Tripadvisor pages, and based on our experience, it is all well deserved. What follows is effectively my TA review.

This restaurant provides first class service in an attractive and comfortable setting. The menu provides an interesting and delicious change from some of the standards of Vietnamese food with which one becomes familiar after several days, so anyone planning on a visit should maybe save it until the latter part of their stay. The service is second to none - with no excuses necessary for a staff that includes a few trainees.

This is because the restaurant provides training opportunities for street kids - and anyone who gets a place here will be off to a flying start. Our young trainee did a great job. I tried to find out how long she had been training, but neither my Vietnamese nor her English were up to the challenge!

We paid about 32 dollars for a set menu for two of entrees and mains along with beer, juice, tea and two desserts. This means prices are moving into the mid range for Ho Chi Minh City, but the sense that the profits are supporting a worthwhile cause makes it an easy option (along with the fact that even at this the prices verge on ridiculous by Australian standards.) And the food was delicious! PS - book ahead - the place was full by 7 - the word is out.