If you’re looking to have an authentic Vietnamese experience while holiday-ing in Hanoi, we recommend immersing in the local culture and trying your hands at cooking some Vietnamese dishes!
We love cooking and there are actually many cooking classes offered all over Hanoi – however we didn’t want to take the chance and instead booked ours online in advance. We got ours from Apron Up Cooking Class via Klook as there were many good reviews and the price was also value for money at just $42 per pax (they have an ongoing promo at $39.50 now). Here’s the details of the cooking class including the activity information and itinerary.
Activity Information
- Duration: 3 hours
- Starting time: 4 sessions each day (9am, 11:30am, 4pm and 6:30pm)
- Transportation: Walking (about 10 mins walk to the market)
- Language: English speaking guide
- Pick-up, Drop off: Make your way down directly to the cooking class location
- Menu: We prepared 5 dishes, including Phở Bo (Beef noodles), Bún chả (Grilled Pork Noodle), Nem (Spring Roll), Nộm đu đủ (Papaya Salad) and Cà phê trứng (Egg Coffee)
- Website for more details: https://www.klook.com/activity/8132-Hanoi-Cooking-Class-VIETNAM/
We were suppose to have our class at 11:30am but due to some last-minute changes, we managed to reschedule to the later class at 4pm. So thankful we did that as to our surprise, we were the only ones for the cooking class in that timeslot, compared to the earlier timeslot which had about 8 other people! So YAY to a private cooking class ? Fret not, the classes are held in small intimate groups around 6-10 people, so there’s definitely enough time for everyone to learn.
We arrived at around 3.50pm and after a round of introductions, we headed to the local market to get the necessary ingredients for the dishes we’ll be cooking. It took about 10 minutes walking distance to the market, during which our English speaking guide Nhi was very informative and friendly! She shared with us about how each street’s name actually relates to the products they sell on the street. For example if the street was called “Gold Street”, every shop on that street will be selling gold!
The market experience here was quite an eye opener as compared to the wet market we have in Singapore. Usually the markets in Singapore will open at around 6-7am and close around 3pm. Over here, the market is open the entire day with fresh produce delivered twice a day. On the little market tour, we got all the ingredients like herbs, spices, vegetables, meats. Nhi brought us to the different vendors at the market and liaised directly with the owners, from deciding on the amount of ingredients to buy and paying for it. The locals here were very friendly and the price of ingredients are really cheap. The overall market tour including walking there and back took about 30 minutes.
Once we were done shopping, we headed back for the cooking class and got started with some prep work. Our guide shared with us the different ingredients for each dish and step-by-step cooking process in the traditional Vietnamese way. It was very easy to follow along despite us being new learners!
Preparing the fillings for the delicious spring rolls! We also learnt the proper technique to roll the spring rolls and how to make it crispier. A very yummy dish wrapped with minced pork, carrots, mushrooms and glass noodles.
Making the simple, but extremely smooth and creamy egg coffee! We whisked egg yolks, condensed milk, sugar and salt for a few minutes to get the creamy consistency.
Now for the best part, tasting our culinary masterpieces! Every dish was amazing and it was extremely satisfying to see and taste how good it turned out after all that hard work.
With our instructor and guide for the day, Nhi!
Overall, the entire experience was very educational and authentic. At the end, we received a complimentary cookbook detailing the recipes we had just prepared and also a little certificate to remind us of this new experience. If you are a fan of Vietnamese cuisine and would like to learn how to cook these dishes the traditional way, I recommend going for this cooking class the next time you’re in Hanoi.
Booking through Klook was also fairly easy, all you had to do is select your preferred experience, key in your details and you’re done! You’ll receive a confirmation email with your voucher and present the voucher on the day of your visit (hard copy or e-voucher is good). Check them out HERE.
Apron Up Cooking Class
Address: 66 Bat Su Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Via Klook: https://www.klook.com/activity/8132-Hanoi-Cooking-Class-VIETNAM/
Website: www.apronupcookingclass.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cookingclassinHanoi
Contact: +84 0942 406 686
Email: apronupcookingclass@gmail.com
With lots of love,
An Affair With Food
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This blog was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me.
Many thanks!