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My Experience at Chef Duyen’s Hanoi Cooking Class

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One of my favorite things to do in a new destination is sign up for a cooking class to learn how to make traditional cuisine. It’s a fantastic way to meet the locals and immerse yourself in a new culture. I was already in love with Vietnamese food before I landed in Hanoi, so taking a cooking class was high on my Vietnam bucket list. A friend reached out with a stellar recommendation for Chef Duyen’s Hanoi Cooking Class and thank God she did, because it was one of my favorite memories from Hanoi. 

Over three and a half hours, I learned how to make savory and sweet caramel pork, banana flower salad with chicken and crispy fried spring rolls. Keep reading for access to these authentic and delicious Vietnamese recipes from Chef Duyen’s Hanoi cooking class!

Chef Duyen’s Hanoi Cooking Class

Local Market Tour

Chef Duyen’s english speaking home cooking classes always start out with a market tour. The $45 price tag includes hotel pickup, but since I was staying nearby (at the Central Backpackers Hostel – my FAV hostel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter), Chef Duyen picked me up on foot and we wandered through the street markets on our way back to her local villa.

We walked through street after street of vendors selling locally grown fruits and vegetables, freshly caught seafood, meats and traditional Vietnamese cuisine. Chef Duyen had tons of fun facts about each stand! She pointed out a special kind of bean that can be used as shampoo, buckets of snails that are not eaten but released into the river for religious reasons and explained the flavors and texture of the world-famous “century egg” that is aged underground for 45-100 days (because I wasn’t brave enough to try it).  

The local market tour was incredibly interesting, but be prepared. Once we left the tourist areas, we passed a stand selling dog meat. Although I knew dog was still eaten in Vietnam, hearing it is a lot different than seeing it in person. 

If you want to avoid eating dog or cat during your visit to Vietnam, be on the look out for these words: 

Thịt mèo = cat meat
Thịt chó and Cầy tơ = dog meat

Once we finished the market tour, we headed back to Chef Duyen’s kitchen to get started preparing a delicious feast of authentic Vietnamese food. Keep reading for all of the delicious dishes I learned to make in Chef Duyen’s Hanoi cooking class!

cooking classes in Vietnam

About the Hanoi Cooking Class

Chef Duyen’s class is consistently rated one of the best cooking classes in Hanoi! Her daily cooking classes are offered in heart of the city for $45 per person. Classes start at 9AM and last until around 1PM, usually 3-4 hours. Click this link for more information about Chef Duyen’s cooking class Hanoi and to get in touch to book your class.

Since I booked right when the city was reopening after COVID, I got a private cooking class Hanoi for a great price!

Recipe 1: Carmamel Pork

We kicked off the Vietnamese cooking class with a hearty and delicious main course: caramel pork. This sweet and savory dish includes rich pork belly, fresh coconut slices and deep fried quail eggs. 

Combine Ingredients and Set Aside for 10 Minutes

Start by combining the pork belly, fish sauce, salt, shallot and garlic in a mixing bowl. Set the bowl aside for 10 minutes to marinate. In the meantime, start deep frying the quail eggs.

Deep Fry the Quail Eggs

Heat oil in a wok for deep frying. Once the oil is hot, add the quail eggs and deep fry until golden. If you don’t have access to quail eggs, you can substitute five regular chicken eggs! Once fried, remove the eggs from oil and pat dry on a paper towel. 

Melt the Sugar and Cook Pork in Caramel sauce

Now that your pork has marinated, heat a small amount of oil in a pan and add the sugar. Cook until the sugar melts to golden brown and then add your pork to the pan. Cook for about two minutes, until the pork is completely coated in the caramel sauce. 

Next, pour in a little water – until the meat is just covered – and cook over very low heat until tender. This will take approximately 35 minutes. 

Add the Quail Eggs and Enjoy!

Lastly, combine the quail eggs and the pork and cook for three minutes. Serve with sticky rice and enjoy!

Recipe 2: Banana Flower Salad with Chicken

Next on the agenda for Chef Duyen’s Hanoi cooking school was the banana flower salad with chicken. When I lived in the Caribbean islands, I had banana trees growing right in my backyard! I am very familiar with banana flowers, but I had never actually used them in cuisine. Apparently it’s very common to cook with the banana flower in Vietnam and, mixed up with other ingredients in a yummy salad, it’s flat out delicious. 

Unfortunately, if you’re reading this post in the U.S., banana flowers might be a difficult ingredient to find. Check your local asian grocery store and maybe you’ll get lucky!

Slice the Banana Flower and Soak

Start by slicing your banana flower into thin strips. Add it to a bowl of water, pour in your rice vinegar and let marinate for ten minutes. 

Combine other Ingredients in a Mixing Bowl

Next, combine your bean shoots, carrots, coriander, lime leaf, peanuts and chicken to a mixing bowl. Remove your banana flower from the water, and squeeze out any excess moisture before adding it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. 

Make Dressing and Toss

Time to make the dressing! Whisk the sugar and lime juice together in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved completely. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. 

Pour dressing onto your salad, gently toss to combine and enjoy! If you want, you can add some poached chicken breast to your banana flower salad to make it a heartier side dish. 

Recipe 3: Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls

When it comes to Hanoi famous food, you can’t get any more authentic than the classic Vietnamese fried spring roll. Lucky for us, fried spring rolls are next on the agenda for this Hanoi cooking class! Although I actually prefer fresh spring rolls, I learned that deep fried is the way locals eat them in Northern Vietnam. The fresh variety is more common throughout the south. 

Keep reading to learn how to make delicious and authentic fried spring rolls.

Drain and Slice the Wood Ear Mushrooms

Let’s kick off this dish with one of my favorite ingredients, wood ear mushrooms! Since these spring rolls call for dried mushrooms, you’re going to need to soak your mushrooms for 15 minutes in warm water before getting started. 

Once your mushrooms are done soaking, drain them and squeeze out any excess moisture. Thinly slice the wood ear and brown mushrooms and add them to a mixing bowl. 

Combine Ingredients into Bowl

Add the pork, carrots, bean shoots, spring onion, shallots, pepper, noodles and your beaten eggs to the bowl with the mushrooms. Mix well to combine (I find this is easier to mix with your hands than with a spoon). 

hanoi cooking class

Roll the Mixture into Rice Paper

Place your rice paper wrapper on a flat surface and fill a small bowl with water to moisten your fingers. Add a spoonful of your filling to the bottom third of the wrapper and carefully fold it over to cover the filling.

Turn the sides of the wrapper in, taking care to squeeze out any excess air. This will prevent your spring rolls from breaking open when cooked. Continue rolling tightly and seal the end.

Deep Fry the Spring Rolls and Make the Dipping Sauce

Once you’ve rolled all your spring rolls, it’s time to get frying! Heat your oil in a wok and fry the spring rolls in batches. 

To make your dipping sauce, whisk your sugar and rice vinegar in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Add fish sauce, water, garlic, chili, carrot and green papaya and stir until combined. Serve with spring rolls and enjoy!

Enjoy Your Delicious Vietnamese Meal!

Chef Duyen’s Hanoi cooking class was hands-down one of my favorite experiences in Vietnam. Chef Duyen herself was so knowledgeable and kind, and you could tell how much she enjoyed teaching others about the local cuisine and her Vietnamese heritage. Her adorable son helped out during the cooking class and her husband joined us at the end to enjoy the meal! 

If you’re interested in other food-related things to do in Hanoi, consider booking a street food tour. I fully intended to book one during my time in Vietnam, but sadly ran out of time. Viator offers tons of affordable and exciting tours like this small group street food tour for only $28. If you want more of a DIY experience, check out my recent blog post about the best street food in Hanoi! This post is your how-to guide to experience the best food that Hanoi has to offer, including egg coffee, noodle soup (pho), banh mi and more. 

Chef Duyen’s Hanoi Cooking Class

Chef Duyen
Chef Duyen's Vietnamese class in Hanoi brings the dishes of the Vietnam countryside to the big city. The caramel pork with coconut and fried quail egg is the star of the show – mixing savory and rich pork with sweet and tangy caramel to create the perfect main course. Next comes the banana flower salad with chicken, the perfect side dish to any Vietnamese meal. Lastly, no Vietnamese dinner would be complete without a plate of crispy spring rolls with dipping sauce!
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Vietnamese
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

Caramel Pork

  • 500 g Pork belly Cut into pieces
  • 2 tbsp Fish sauce
  • 1/3 tsp Salt
  • 3 Shallots Finely diced
  • 2 Garlic cloves Finely chopped
  • 10 Quail eggs OR 5 chicken eggs Boiled for 5 min and peeled
  • 1 tbsp Sugar

Banana Flower Salad with Chicken

  • 2 petals Banana flower
  • 2 tsp Rice vinegar
  • 1/3 C Bean shoots
  • 1/2 small Carrot Peeled and cut into thin strips
  • 1 bunch Coriander Roughly chopped
  • 1 Lime leaf Finely sliced
  • 5 tbsp Peanuts Roasted and crushed
  • 1 small Chicken breast Poached and sliced

Salad Dressing

  • 3 tbsp Sugar
  • 2.5 tbsp Lime juice
  • 1.5 tbsp Fish sauce
  • 2 Garlic cloves Finely chopped
  • 1 long Red chili Deseeded and thinly sliced

Fried Spring Rolls

  • 2 dried Wood ear mushrooms Soaked in warm water for 15 min
  • 2 dried Brown mushrooms Soaked in warm water for 15 min
  • 200 g Pork shoulder Minced
  • 1 small Carrot Peeled and finely sliced
  • 1/3 C Bean shoots
  • 1 Spring onion Cut into fine rings
  • 3 Shallots Diced
  • 1 tsp Pepper
  • 40 g Vermicelli noodles Soaked in warm water for 10 minutes, drained and cut into manageable pieces
  • 2 Eggss Lightly beaten
  • 10 Rice paper wrappers

Spring Roll Dipping Sauce

  • 3 tbsp Sugar
  • 3 tbsp Rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp Fish sauce
  • 125 ml Water
  • 2 Garlic cloves Finely chopped
  • 1 long Red chili Deseeded and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 small Carrot Thinly sliced
  • Equal amount Green papaya Thinly sliced

Instructions
 

Caramel Pork

  • Place the pork belly in a bowl with the fish sauce, salt, shallot and garlic.
  • Set the pork aside for 10 minutes to marinate.
  • Heat oil in wok for frying the quail eggs. Once hot, add the eggs and fry until golden. Remove from oil and drain well.
  • Heat a little bit of oil in a pan and add the sugar. Cook until it melts and turns golden brown. Add the pork and cook 2 minutes until the pork is coated in caramel sauce.
  • Pour in a little water, until the meat is just covered, and cook over a very low heat until tender – approximately 35 minutes.
  • Add the fried eggs and cook for 3 minutes.
  • Serve with sticky rice and vermicelli noodles!

Banana Flower Salad with Chicken

  • Thinly slice the banana flower and cover with water in a bowl. Add the rice vinegar and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
  • In a separate bowl place the bean shoots, carrot, coriander, lime leaf, peanuts and chicken.
  • Remove the banana flower from water and squeeze out extra moisture. Add to bowl with the other ingredients.
  • For dressing: combine sugar and lime juice in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Add remaining ingredients and whisk the dressing.
  • Pour dressing onto the salad and gently toss. Enjoy!

Fried Spring Rolls

  • Drain the wood ear mushrooms and squeeze out excess moisture. Thinly slice the rehydrated mushrooms and add to mixing bowl.
  • Add the pork, carrot, bean shoots, spring onion, shallots, pepper, noodles and egg to the bowl and mix well to combine.
  • Place a rice paper wrapper on a flat surface and wet your fingers with water. Drop a spoonful of filling on the bottom third of the wrapper and carefully fold it over to cover the filling. Turn the sides in, taking care to squeeze out any air (this will prevent them breaking open when fried).
  • Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
  • Heat oil in wok and fry the spring rolls in batches.
  • For dressing: place the sugar and rice vinegar in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and mix together.
Keyword Caramel, Caramel Pork, Deep Fried Eggs, Pork, Quail Eggs, Vietnamese Recipes

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