Chef Van (front row to the left of me) and her students at the end of the day (that's why it's a little messy)
It was "back to school" for us today and the classroom has never been as much fun or as filling. We, along with seven other travelers (two from Austria, three from Brazil, one from Germany and one from Australia) were the students of Chef Van who runs the Green Bamboo Cooking School.
Green Bamboo Cooking School
Start to finish it was an exceptional experience. First up, all nine of us had to select the dish we were going to prepare. Beth chose Five Spice Beef Stir Fry and I chose Honey and Garlic Shrimp. The dishes ran the gambit. In addition to ours, there were two vegetarian, three squid, one pork and one chicken dish. After selecting our dishes we were taken to the local market to get the ingredients that would be required. It was about 9:00 when we got to the market and it was still bustling with activity. The fish and meat section opens around 4:00 am. The vegetable and spice area comes to life around 6:00 am. Chef Van carefully selected the ingredients and gave us a little education on them, especially the herbs and vegetables. She shared with us that most Vietnamese eat a small breakfast out and then go to the market daily to purchase food for the noon and evening meal. This cycle is repeated daily so all the food is as fresh as possible.
At the market...….we were all given the stylish cone hats to wear. They're very common everywhere we have been so far. At one point this morning in the market I started following the wrong group of hats!
Once we had everything we needed, we made a quick stop for a Vietnamese coffee before heading to her cooking school. The school can accommodate up to twelve students per day. While I'm not 100% sure, it seemed to be on the bottom floor of her home. It was clean, modern and loaded with all types of pots, pans, knives, cutting boards and other necessary supplies.
Vietnamese coffee. It's quite good and contains a little sweetened condensed milk. A little bit packs a punch!
Every participant prepared their dish under the watchful eye of our expert instructor. All the dishes required various tasks such as cutting vegetables, chopping herbs, peeling and butterflying shrimp, cutting and cubing the beef ( there is a very specific technique to assure tenderness), etc. In terms of difficulty to prepare, it looked to me like the squid was the most difficult. Thankfully through all the cutting, peeling, slicing and dicing there were no injuries reported.
Totally focused on the task at hand...…...pulling the head off shrimp and butterflying them
The start of something very tasty!
Everyone worked hard and had a good time
Beth's Five Spice Beef Stir Fry was one of the first dishes to be prepared. The taste was exceptional and the skill she showed flipping everything up and out of the pan was a sight to behold. Chef Van was beaming with pride as Beth sent flames shooting 2-3 feet in the air on her second attempt. Just the way she had been instructed. Everyone loved the stir fry and gave Beth a very nice round of applause for her effort.
FIRE! Just like Chef Van had instructed. Check out the smile on both of their faces
Stir frying the vegetables...……….the masterpiece is almost ready.
After a couple of more dishes it was time for my Honey and Garlic Shrimp. The shrimp cooked very quickly and were set aside while I prepared the sauce. When Chef Van sampled my sauce she quickly got a very peculiar look on her face. It was a look of "something's not right". As the herbs and spices were going around I guess I dished in something that isn't normally included. She recovered quickly and assured me that it would be alright and to "carry on". As it turned out I guess whatever extra I put in was acceptable. Everyone complimented the dish and if I had any clue what my "secret ingredient" was I'd bottle and market it.
She's trying to figure out my secret ingredient.
Honey and Garlic Shrimp...……..plus a secret ingredient
The food fest continued until all nine of us had made our chosen dish. We started the day as complete strangers from all parts of the world. When the day was over we had bonded over nine different dishes. We parted as Master Chefs with full bellies!
