Off The Beaten Path: Cooking on a Farm in Vietnam

After spending a couple of weeks traveling around Vietnam, I found myself with some free days in Ho Chi Minh City. This Vietnam capital shares traits of many other major cities with its bright lights, shopping malls, and a rush of people. Although, like most destinations, there were also many unique features that made this city different from the rest. In the past few days I had viewed a traditional puppet show (I may not have understood any of the Vietnamese but it was still entertaining), visited the Palace, explored a traditional Vietnamese medicine museum, and drank a Vietnamese iced coffee or ate some fresh mangosteen at every opportunity. With only a few days left in my visit, I wanted to find something that was a little more off-the-beaten-path that could provide a unique experience. One of my hobbies when I’m home is cooking and it’s definitely something that I miss when I travel for longer periods of time. I went to my trusty method of googling and comparing different experiences on websites like TripAdvisor. And that’s when I found the perfect experience for me: HCM Cooking Class.

As a vegetarian, I recognize how my food choices could potentially be more limited, especially when trying local fare. But I’m also a foodie and don’t let dietary restrictions get in the way of finding fresh, delicious, and unique foods. The HCM Cooking Class offered a vegan cooking class with four courses where I got to choose the dishes I wanted to make.

The next morning, a van was sent to my hotel and we picked up another American traveler also named Amanda. This Amanda was finishing up a three-month trip around Southeast Asia before beginning grad school back in the U.S. We chatted and recounted our experiences during our trips as we looked out onto farmers working in rice fields and tending to their livestock, and the lush green that bordered the paved road.

About an hour outside of the city we approached the farm. A pavilion housed our cooking equipment of three burners, hand tools, and some oil and spices. But our first mission during this experience was to visit the garden. A young man guided us into the garden that was laden with herbs like mint, basil, and cilantro, and plenty of fruits and vegetables including papaya, banana, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and mushrooms. While in the garden, we harvested produce and herbs to use in our cooking while munching on some of the fresh herbs along the way to taste their herbaceous solitary flavors.

For the last portion of our collection process, we entered a white tented area with large metal shelves inside. What were on those shelves? Mushrooms. I had never thought much about how farmed mushrooms were grown. I figured that they flourished on the ground like in forests in Pennsylvania. But on these shelves were plastic bags that had ground up tree wood chips inside where mushroom DNA was added. The tent environment, which was dark and moist, was supposed to foster higher mushroom production. The holes in the top of each bag allowed the oyster mushrooms to grow and be harvested more easily.

After we picked our produce to use in our cooking, we enjoyed some jasmine tea alongside some fruits like pineapple, papaya, and watermelon, and then we were greeted by our chef. Our instructor for the day was a 26-year old Vietnamese woman who had clearly mastered the art of Vietnamese cooking. The other Amanda and I had pre-selected our dishes and decided to share our food with each other during each round of eating so that we could taste even more dishes. Through all of our courses, every step of the way, our chef walked us through the preparation from which knife cut to use on certain vegetables, to cooking methods, and flavor profiles. During all of our cooking, cows and chickens wandered near the pavilion and seemed to greet us with smiles to their home.

The first dish to prepare was the appetizer. I made fried vegetable wontons with burning hot oil and the only way to retrieve my floating wontons was by using chopsticks. Thankfully I had become comfortable with chopsticks from my time traveling in Asia and a little because of my sister’s affinity for using chopsticks for spaghetti and other dishes at home. The other Amanda made fried mushrooms and both dishes were delectable. The crispy wonton was matched with the freshness and touch of spice in the dipping sauce which was a staple with many of the dishes cooked on this day.

Vegetable Wontons

The salad that the other Amanda and I had both chosen to prepare was a green mango salad with bbq tofu. This utilized fresh vegetables with some cooked and some raw for a complex texture combination while eating the dish. The tofu had an herbal coating and was accompanied with some of the traditional dipping sauce I had mentioned with the appetizer. I was a little skeptical about the warm and cold coming together but it made for a fresh and satisfying salad. Not to mention, the chef helped me to make the plating look almost as good as the food tasted.

Green Mango Salad with BBQ Tofu

The main course I made was a coconut tofu curry. I had been a fan of curries for a while and favorited them at Indian restaurants but making curry seemed like a difficult task. While making the disk, I learned the key to curry preparation is about letting the strong flavors of different spices and coconut milk melt together as they complemented each other. When I returned home from my trip, coconut curries entered my weekly menu. The other Amanda made bun chay (chay meaning vegetarian in Vietnamese) which is a vermicelli noodle dish with egg rolls, tofu, pickled vegetables, and fresh herbs which was absolutely delicious. As one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, I had been eating bun chay a lot in the past few weeks and decided to branch out to some new dishes for the class.

Coconut Tofu Curry

For the last course, dessert, I made a banana fritter with frozen coconut cream. I met again with the hot oil while using my chopsticks but in the end: hot oil-0 and chopsticks-2. My chef knew what she was doing so those victories were definitely thanks to her. The warm banana fritter melted the vegan coconut cream (almost like ice cream ) and made for a sweet finish to the day. The other Amanda made a banana cake that I could only take a bite of before being too stuffed to barely move.

Banana Fritter with Frozen Coconut Cream

I was so encapsulated by my day that I hadn’t thought about the time but by the end of our session we had spent to close five hours cooking. Being in the pavilion cooking with the cool breezes on the warm and humid day just felt right. At the end of the class, the other Amanda and I were given certificates of completion for the class and a packet of the recipes we learned to make. The dipping sauce that we made, as the chef described as one of the center pieces for Vietnamese cooking, I still use to this day at home while making marinated tofu or other Asian inspired dishes.

By the end of the class, we all had smiles on our faces. Our farmer guide, who also rode with us in the van to and from the city, was excited to hear about what we made and how we enjoyed it. Our chef was satisfied with the work we had put in and for her opportunity to share a piece of her culture and life with us. The other Amanda and I were delighted with the food we learned how to make (which was now in our bellies), the skills we had gained, and the hours we had spent exploring the flavors and techniques that are so critical and central in Vietnamese cooking.

How Vietnam taught me to be a more Lovable Traveler:

1. Engaging with cultures can take many forms. It can go beyond visiting museums and attractions right in a city through different off-the-beaten-path experiences.

2. Taking part in more off-the-beaten-path experiences can support the economies outside of major cities that may not normally see as many tourism dollars.

3. Learning in different destinations (whether it be skills, history, or recipes) can allow for a greater cultural exchange that goes beyond the destination. I know some people who may never have the opportunity to visit Southeast Asia or Vietnam but sharing a recipe that was openly taught to me can allow me to share some fond memories and a taste of Vietnam with them.

4. Being open to less traditional experiences in a destination can allow for interactions with interesting individuals who can share their knowledge. I am still so thankful for the chef’s knowledge of one of the best tofu marinardes and to finally have learned the truth of how mushrooms are farmed.