OVERVIEW Embrace Vietnamese culture with a culinary class at the Old Quarter This hands-on experience starts with a trip to the local market to buy fresh ingredients and then heading to the kitchen where you will make four classic Vietnamese dishes (fried spring rolls, papaya salad, pho rolls, mixed pho) and Vietnamese specialty - egg coffee. After the class, you can enjoy lunch with all the delicious dishes you’ve just made. DETAILED ITINERARY 08:30 - 09:00 AM: Start with a welcome at our office at No. 47 Hang Bong Street and then head to Yen Thai market, a local market nearby where you can get a glimpse of local life, buy fresh food and have a better understanding of Vietnamese ingredients plus their substitutes. On the way to the market, you will pass by and get a brief introduction to Yen Thai Communal House, a National Historical and Cultural Relic of Vietnam. 09:00 - 11:30 AM: After visiting the market, head to the kitchen for the cooking class. Your cooking instructor will show you how to make four classic Vietnamese dishes (fried spring rolls, papaya salad, pho rolls, mixed pho) and Vietnamese specialty egg coffee. Our instructor will guide you step by step to make fried spring rolls first. This can be considered our ‘national’ dish for holidays and gathering feasts. It will require the flexibility of your hands to make even and lovely rolls. Then move to papaya salad with the main flavors of sour and sweet. This type of salad will help to neutralize and take back your appetite after a fried dish. Pho rolls and mixed pho are variants of our traditional rice noodles - Pho. These are locals’ favorites especially on summer days. For Pho rolls, we will learn how to skillfully separate and take out one uncut Pho sheet and also prepare ingredients to put inside and make delicious white and round rolls. As for mixed Pho, let’s roll your sleeves and blanch Pho noodles, it will require hot water to make them soft and warm. Let’s get to know what is also needed to make delicious mixed Pho. Get to know more about Vietnamese cooking as well as the story behind each traditional dish. Finally, coming to the dessert, we will have two different options as below: Option 1: Let’s make Hanoi’s signature drink - egg coffee. Prepare to taste the frothy egg cream with traditional Vietnamese brewed coffee. Feel free to get creative and decorate your own coffee cup using cocoa sauce. Option 2: We will make a lotus seed and green bean sweet soup which is characterized by their fragrant and sweet flavors, often showcasing Vietnamese lotus seeds, beans, and other natural ingredients. This type of nourishing dessert can cool you down on a hot summer day and also warm you up in a cold winter. 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM: Enjoy lunch with all the dishes made by you. Let’s take some photos together to save the moments and your ‘masterpieces’. Don’t forget that you will also be awarded with our Certificate!!