Xin Jao from Saigon! One of the most exciting experiences I have had here was to take a local Vietnamese cooking class through a reputable company, Saigon Cooking Class. It was located in a courtyard above a restaurant owned by the same family. The place was very modern and clean, and the experience was absolutely wonderful. Upon arriving we were served local lemongrass iced tea and given aprons. On this particular day, the menu included fresh spring rolls with pork and shrimp, glass noodle salad with squid, and chicken in a claypot with coconut water and ginger. We spent time preparing each course, then enjoying it before moving onto the next course. Everything tasted great. And after the class, I kept noticing some of the dishes we made on the local menus and ordered them at several restaurants, but none were quite as good as the ones we made. They even taught us about presentation of some of the vegetables with unique kitchen tools I hadn't seen before. I also learned that glass noodles are completely made from something called a mung bean, and are naturally gluten free. I have recipes for all of the dishes so if you are interested let me know!
Menu for the day
Lemongrass Iced Tea
Cooking set up with individual stations
Set up for the spring rolls
Sauce for spring rolls with peanut butter and fish sauce
What goes in a fresh spring roll!
My attempt at rolling the rice paper
Rolled spring roll
Voila - ready to eat spring rolls! So fresh and delicious!
What goes into the sauce for the glass noodle salad
Ingredients for the glass noodle salad
Prepping the salad
Adding glass noodles
Final salad with squid, decorated with cucumbers
Individual clay pot cooking stations
Marinating chicken with ginger
Chicken braised in the clay pot - so fun
Added some vegetables in the clay pot as well
Topped it off with rice, which soaked up the wonderful juices
The chef prepared a passion fruit dessert for us
I highly recommend this place if anyone is traveling here. It was such a fun experience!
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