Travel Adventures: Hội An Vietnam

Hội An is a city on Vietnam’s central coast known for its well-preserved Ancient Town and many canals.  I enjoyed a wonderful cooking class there too!

Hoi An is Vietnam’s most delightful town, on the river with grand heritage architecture. The Chinese temples, Japanese merchant houses and tea warehouse provide an old world feeling. More than 800 historical buildings have been decreed by Unesco to be preserved. As a result the town looks as it did several centuries ago.  We were there during Tet, the New Years Celebration so the town was lit up with colorful, fun decorations and many people partying in the streets.

Hoi An is also a culinary mecca with food from both the north and south Vietnam cuisines. One of my favorites was the famous Morning Glory Street Food Restaurant.  This restaurant concentrates on street food and traditionally prepared Vietnamese dishes like eggplant in a clay pot, seafood salad with banana flowers and white rose (steamed minced-shrimp dumplings served with dipping sauce) to name a few.

I also took a cooking class here which is taught by the acclaimed Trinh Diem Vy; born and bred in Hoi An and owner of several restaurants in town.  The day starts with a visit to the market to learn about the key Vietnamese ingredients.  You can see the pictures of banana flowers, a woman making noodles and more.

The class is taught in a professionally organized envoirnment with your own gas burner, ingredients and kitchen gear.  We made Pho with shrimp, rice paper rolls, BBQ chicken and lime leaf with green mango salad and crispy Hoi An pancakes. I had so much fun cooking and eating!  I will be sharing some of the recipes when I get home in a few days.

We had lots of fun just outside the city as we bicyled through the many rice fields which surround Hoi An.  We came across the Tra Que Vegetable Garden, an impressive 500 year old organic vegetable commune. It was so serene and magical we stayed quite awhile watching as they tended the gardens.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  I look forward to sharing some of the recipes with you when I return.   See you soon.

Love & Hugs
Ingrid