My friend, N, and I didn’t have much of an agenda for Hanoi. We only knew that we were going to have meals in Bobby Chinn (wasn’t impressed by the way) and La Badiane and that we were going to walk around the Old Quarter on one of the days we were going to spend in Hanoi. The first hotel we stayed in was near the West Lake area and we spent our first day walking around the area and observing the everyday lives of the locals. We were just wandering around and walking to nowhere in particular when we stumbled upon the Hanoi Cooking Centre.

We took the afternoon class and were told to turn up at 2pm where we first taken to Chau Long Market just round the corner by one of the staff. He gave us an introduction to the local produce and it was also at that market that I saw roasted dog for the first time. We were told that dog meat is the most expensive compared to chicken, beef and pork. The market had quietened down by the time we went there, as most of the action takes place in the morning. So those who want to catch a glimpse of the bustling market, you’d do better to sign up for the morning class.

If you are the first ones signed up for that particular  session, you get to decide what the class makes. There are five different menus to choose from, each comprising four or five types of dishes. A vegetarian menu is included as one of the five. We opted for the menu “Recipes from Ha Noi & the North”.

 The ingredients for all the dishes are all prepared for you in advance to save time. Classes are conducted in English, and our instructor, Hung, a native Hanoian, demonstrated to us how to prepare the dishes before we dived in and got our hands dirty.

 

Clockwise from top left: Bean sprouts, pineapple and cucumber tossed in vinegar dressing; caramalised pork stew; deep fried seafood spring rolls; banana flower salad with bean sprouts, pork strips and peanuts. Both salads were great as starters to whet the appetite, while the deep fried seafood spring rolls were nice and crunchy to the bite. The caramalised pork stew, after having been placed in the oven to bake for 45 min, was a delight to eat with rice with its melding of caramalised sugar, fish sauce, and garlic.

Our dessert was made from crushed black sesame seeds and peanuts cooked in coconut cream and sugar. I’m not a huge fan of coconut milk so I didn’t really like the dessert.

 After all the hard work – OK, it wasn’t really THAT hard – we adjourned to the dining area to enjoy the meal we had prepared. The table was already set nicely for us and the staff brought our food up. The meal also comes with a glass of wine each but N and I chose not to have any and chose to go with lime (which locals call lemon) juice instead. I have to say that the food we prepared was delicious and the dishes were easy enough to prepare by yourself at home. Unfortunately I had lost my recipes when my bag got slit by pickpockets later that night! I’ll have to get N to scan me her copy. I enjoyed the experience at Hanoi Cooking Centre as it was very professionally run and the food and service were good.

44 Chau Long Street
Ba Dinh District, Ha Noi
Tel: +84 4 3715 0088
hanoicookingcentre.com