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I found it quite interesting to experience cooking a typical dish in Hoi An for the first time since my recent trip to Vietnam. I visited Hoi An in early September out of curiosity because Hoi An was featured in the foreign press for its ancient beauty and traditional craft villages. The most special is probably the food in Hoi An, this is the highlight that impressed me the most on the trip.
I don't know how to describe the feeling, but the taste of Hoi An food is really strange but highly delicious. A friend recommended me a cooking class in Hoi An after I was curious if there were any cooking classes here. The cooking class had about 5 people and I was pretty excited.
The first dish I cooked was Cao Lau. I know this is a specialty of Hoi An that has existed for a long time. A special feature of this dish is that the noodles are quite large, served with char siu meat, and accompanied by many vegetables. The sauce of this dish is a combination of bone broth and gravy, which is strange but creates an unforgettable taste. In my opinion, this dish is not too difficult to cook, but the preparation of ingredients is quite long, and many stages such as marinating the char siu meat, then cooking it and having to make Cao Lau fibers, so the cooking time is long. However, this is a delicious dish and I love it.
The second dish is called Banh Quai Vac. This dish is similar to dumplings but the taste is completely different. The ingredients are also quite simple: rice flour, shrimp, and minced pork. The most difficult step for me is probably kneading the dough because pouring too much water will make the dough mushy and the cake will not be delicious. Shrimp and meat are stir-fried and seasoned with fish sauce, pepper, and sugar, then put into the dough and kneaded into cakes. The cake is steamed for 20 minutes and then enjoyed.
I highly appreciated the cooking class because we got to go to the market and choose the freshest ingredients and the instructor was very enthusiastic and gave detailed instructions. The main disadvantage is that the kitchen space is a bit small and quite hot because it is summer. If I have the opportunity to visit Hoi An, I think this is an experience worth trying.