Hoi An Archives - freespiritfood

Vying for the best: Ms Vy’s #Cooking Class, #Hoian

I’ve been meaning to write about our fabulous market tour and cooking class that we did on our visit to Hoi An late last year.

There are a wide number of cooking classes and tours offered in Hoi An and we chose Ms Vy’s for it’s reputation and ease of access…it was walking distance from our hotel, the Anantara Resort. We chose the half day Holiday Masterclass which includes a market tour as well as tastings and demonstrations in Ms Vy’s market restaurant before the class.

Ms Vy is also the founder of the well known Morning Glory restaurants in Hoi An and has written the highly successful Taste Vietnam cookbook, as well as opening the Home of Hoi An restaurant in Melbourne, Australia.

We met up with the group of about 20 tourists at the restaurant to then board a boat for a trip down the river to the Hoi An market. We were split into 2 smaller groups for the market tour.

Here we were shown and explained the different seafood, vegetables, herbs, meat, poultry and even cooking utensils on sale. Whilst we had actually walked through the market earlier on our way to the restaurant, having a knowledgeable guide to introduce us to stall holders and their produce was great. We even got to taste the different herbs on sale and visit the butchery section which is a far cry from what we are used to in Australia! (mind you, it was all super clean and super fresh)It was great for photos and videos took s we were with the guide at stalls that had been pre-arranged to visit rather than feeling self-conscious about taking photos without permission.

We then returned to the restaurant where we cooled down with an icy cold drink, before being given a tour around the market restaurant “stalls” which showcase how different noodles are made, unusual ingredients such as tripe, pigs brain, snails, silkworms and frogs are used in Vietnamese cooking. We had the chance to sample these delicacies if we wanted and also to get hands-on having a go at making noodles. This was a fun and different aspect of the cooking class not offered by others.

After this we were taken upstairs to a very well set up cooking school, where we were given our own cooking stoves, equipment and ingredients to learn how to make cabbage and shrimp roll soup, ban Xeo pancakes, green mango salad and green mango salad.

The large mirror over the main stove at the front of the class meant we could all follow the demonstration by the Chef teacher, and her clear instructions and her jokes made the class lots of fun.

Our favourite was learning how to make the delicious Ban Xeo pancakes, including the tip to just buy the packet mix at home from Asian grocery shops to meal it really easy to make at home.

The experienced chef teaching us was excellent and of course we got to enjoy our efforts by eating it all.

We were given the recipes and a special Vietnamese chopping utensil as a special gift.

The entire experience went for about 5 hours from 8.30-1.30pm and was very well run. Great way to learn a bit more about Vietnamese cuisine, as well as a great market tour.

Here’s a link to their website:

https://tastevietnam.asia/vietnamese-cooking-classes-hoi-an

January 14, 2019January 14, 2019

Shanthini1 Comment

Hoi An’s Miss Lien Thao tops street food stakes

We found numerous recommendations for Miss Lien Thao’s street food stall on Trip Advisor and online so headed out from Hoi An’s bustling old quarter, across the Japanese Covered Bridge to find out for ourselves.

The area across the bridge is known as An Hoi island and is where the night markets full more stalls selling cheap souvenirs, touristy bars and restaurants are located. We walked along the Hoai riverside which is all lit up with lanterns and light installations, away from the hustle and bustle to find a quieter row of street food stalls tucked at the end of the point.

Here locals and streetwise tourists were tucking in to delicious local food at local prices. Miss Lien Thao herself welcomed us warmly and we were immediately seated at the end of a long communal eating table, sharing with another Australian family who were already tucking in to delicious looking dishes.

The menu is enticing and we wanted to try local specialities…so ordered white rose dumplings, fried “open wontons”, beef noodles, stir fried chicken and sweet battered pork. Everything was absolutely delicious. Definitely a place to go back to.Our Australian neighbours said the whole fish was very good too.

The chilli jam which is made by Thao is also highly recommended and adds a sweet hot kick to the dishes.

It was a fun night watching the family helping out at the stall and the children running around having fun, and entertaining the guests.

All up with beers the meal was excellent value for money and a great experience.

Here’s a link to the Trip Advisor reviews for address and details:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Restaurant_Review-g298082-d4547223-Reviews-Lien_Thao-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html

October 3, 2018

Shanthini1 Comment

Flavours of Hoi An at Home

After enjoying our dining experience at Home Finest in Saigon so much recently, we couldn’t resist dining at their sister restaurant Home Hoi An.

Much more casual but still upmarket, the great news is that the menu, whilst including some of the nationwide favourites like Pho, includes Hoi An specialities with a focus on fresh seafood including crab, squid and prawns.

We started with deep fried seafood spring rolls. We were expecting standard rice paper rolls but were surprised instead by a delicious concoction of seafood encased in crumbs and deep fried to perfection, served with a delectable dipping sauce. The presentation in miniature hanging baskets was also superb.

For mains we opted for the grilled beef in piper lalot…thinly sliced beef grilled to perfection and wrapped in betel leaves with a topping of fried shallots, a Vietnamese speciality which we had not yet tried. We also had pork spareribs in black peppercorn claypot. We enjoyed both dishes but once again wished there were more of us to try some of the other specialty dishes from Hoi An that are featured on the menu.

Once again no room for dessert unfortunately but you can be assured there are tempting items such as homemade tropical fruit ice-cream and roasted pineapple!

As with Home Finest, here in Hanoi Bao and his team deliver the goods with warm and attentive service and fabulous food.

Situated in the middle of the night time action on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Home Hoi An is a great place to stop for dinner as you explore the vibrantly lit streets that are night time Hoi An.