Thai Cooking Class...

Chiang Mai, THAILAND - Stacy was suffering from a bout of traveler's tummy so he was not up to attending the cooking class at the Thai Orchid Cookery School, so I was on my own.

The class was held at a local family home that they had arranged to support a cooking class. The day started with a great tour of a local market and to purchase produce for our class. Then it was off to the school for some cooking.

The instructors would demonstrate each dish and then we would go to our individual cooking stations and try it for ourselves. We made Tom Yum (spicy Thai) soup with shrimp, deep fried spring rolls (picture is me assembling the spring rolls), panang curry, pad thai, green papaya salad and steamed banana cake. Very proud to say that all of my dishes actually turned out great. They also gave us a cookbook so hopefully I can replicate my cooking skills for Stacy when we get home. It was a fun filled day.

Yummy! Banh Xeo!

Saigon, Vietnam - Today we made the trek up to Banh Xeo 46a which supposedly has the best Banh Xeo in all of Vietnam.  Banh Xeo are rice batter pancakes that are cooked quickly until they are crispy and contain shrimp, pork belly and bean sprouts.

You then add herbs and roll the Banh Xeo pancakes in rice paper or green leaves like a lettuce wrap.  

We took a cab up to where we thought the eatery was but got our wires crossed and had to walk about 5 blocks further to get there.  Down a narrow alley we  walked until we saw a sign that said "Banh Xeo 46A".  We sat down on the little plastic stools and ordered a large Banh Xeo and some BBQ pork with rice vermicelli.

The pork came out first and it was excellent, crispy, sweet and caramelized it went perfect with the cold noodles, peanuts, sprouts and herbs.

Next came the main attraction  the Banh Xeo!   It was folded in half about the 10" long and 6" wide stuffed with bean sprouts, pork belly and shrimp.  On the side  were lettuce leaves and vietnamese herbs like mint, basil and other small peppery leaves.  It was excellent and well worth the trek up there.

Total cost for the Banh Xeo, BBQ Pork w/vermicelli, and two lemon juices was about $7.

Best BBQ in Asia

We took the train from Hoi An (Da Nang, actually) to Nha Trang last night.  It was about a 9 hour train ride.  Vietnamese trains leave a lot to be desired!  They may have been nice 5 or 6 years ago but they are pretty rundown these days. Holes in the curtains, tray tables held up by twine, tinny speakers playing vietnamese pop, not exactly the swiss efficiency and comfort we  were used to in Geneva.

Nevertheless we made it to Nha Trang in one piece and got checked into our hotel which is quite nice and a bargain at $18/night.  We had originally planned on being in Nha Trang for only 2 nights & 1 day but it is nice enough here that we decided to spend a couple extra days so will head to the mountains and cooler temperatures (hopefully!) of Dalat on Friday.

Today we were looking for a place for lunch and saw that tripadvisor had highly rated a restaurant called  Texas BBQ & Steaks.  It was just around the corner from us and we had noticed as we were walking about but hadn't paid too much attention thinking it was probably some poor ripoff of BBQ.  The reviews were great though so we decided to give it a shot and OMG it was awesome! 

We shared Buffalo wings as an appetizer and Betsy had a "pulled pork" sandwich and I had a jalapeno cheeseburger.  Everything was excellent and we spent a lot of time talking to Wayne the owner.  He's originally from Memphis where his family has run BBQ restaurants and he has lived in Vietnam for about 9 years.  He was bored being semi-retired and decided to open a BBQ restaurant in Nha Trang about a year ago.  He imports all the food from the US so it tastes like authentic American BBQ.

This was one of the best if not the best BBQ restaurants we've been too!  We will definitely be going back to Texas BBQ before we leave.  Sometimes you get tired of noodles/rice all the time and it is nice to have something that reminds you of home.  Plus I got some good rib-smoking tips from Wayne that I can try out when we get home!

Red Bridge Cooking School

Yesterday Betsy and I took a half day cooking course at the Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An.  It was great fun and we got to eat our creations so thankfully they turned out!

First we got a tour of the market which was nice as we'd walked through but didn't really know what a lot of stuff was so it was nice to have it explained.

After the market tour we hopped on a boat and went down river about 4km to the cooking school.  The cooking school is right on the bank of the river and you cook under a thatched roof that is open on all sides.  The class was a combination of demonstration and hands-on cooking.  The chef made a seafood salad consisting of squid & shimp along with shredded greens, papaya, chili, garlic etc stuffed into a hollowed out pineapple.

We then got to make homemade rice paper and fresh spring rolls out of the rice paper we had just made.  The next dish we made was a Hoi An speciality called Banh Xeo.  It was essentially a crispy pancake made of rice flour, water, shrimp, bean sprouts and green onion.  Once this was fried up, various Vietnamese herbs were put on top such as basil and mint and it was rolled in rice paper like a burrito.  It was then dipped into a peanut sauce!  Our last dish was stewed eggplant in a claypot.  We worried that it would be too mushy but it was delicious.  Eggplant, garlic, lemongrass, chiles, green onion, tumeric, salt, pepper  and sugar all stewed with some water.  It was all delicious and we had a great time.  We'd highly recommend the Red Bridge Cooking School if you are ever in Hoi An.

Pay as you like...

SINGAPORE - The other night we headed to one of the many hawker markets for dinner. While Stacy saved us a table, I stood in line waiting to order a masala filled dosa (crepe-like pancake that can be filled with what you like). When my order was complete I asked how much...the reply was "pay as you like". There were no prices listed so you just handed the guy as much as you felt like or you could afford. I gave him $S4, so he proceeded to add a couple more items to my plate....I think I was giving him too much money.

Eating In Singapore

Fish Head Curry

In Singapore it's all about the food! This is definitely one of the great food cities in the world and we have been doing our best to experience as much of the cuisine as we can.  

We've settled into a bit of a routine now.  We wake up about 8 and meander out of the hotel to get some breakfast around 9. Breakfast consists of a coffee which isn't cheap here and a pastry or pastries.

Once we are done with breakfast we have to start  planning for lunch.  So far we've hit most of the major hawker sites.  A hawker market is a collection of  stalls usually outdoors but covered that serves up any number of dishs.  Each hawker generally specializes in one or two dishes and there are separate stalls for beer, juice, desserts.  Basically it is a really good food court!

Most of our lunches and dinners then have been at hawker markets as they offer the best value, often the best food and are where the locals generally go to eat.

Last night however we decided to hit Little India and try one of Singapore's specialty dishes, Fish Head Curry.  It was very good and there is a surprising amount of meat on a fish head.  We didn't eat the eyeballs or tongue (as many do) but we did pick it surprisingly clean as you can see in the picure.

Hello Tokyo

So Betsy like most young girls went through a phase where she loved horses.  Tonight she renewed her love for horses only this time it was the horse she ate at dinner.  Yes horse (see pic left), and not just any horse but raw horse or as the Japanese call it "basashi". 

We met up with my cousin Kevin who's lived in Japan 10 years and he was kind enough to show us around Tokyo today as well as answer all our questions about the country and its people.

Later we went out for dinner with him to a place that was almost like a tapas bar in that you ordered many small plates to be shared.  We ordered about 10 dishes including tuna sashimi, yakitori (Japanese version of sate, in this case chicken with leeks), cold soba noodles, korean style omelet, gyoza (potstickers) and a sashimi plate that contained many items we had never had raw such as calamari, shrimp, octopus, scallops.

The highlight though was the horse meat.  It was sliced thin and was completely raw, you dipped it in a chive/garlic/ginger soy sauce.  It was very lean with a little chew to it but very nice.  It was  so good it was the only thing we ordered a second helping of.

Of course this was all washed down by copious amounts of beer and sangria.  A great meal and a great night, thanks Kevin!