Hoi An Cooking Class.

Today it was an early start to go to our morning cooking class in Hoi An. The cooking class started at ten but we had to get there hours earlier to walk around the markets to look at some of the unique ingredients.

Green Tea leaves

Fresh Fish

Lots of colourful vegetables

 

Cinnamon bark

Two ladies showed us where they got all the fresh seafood , and where to get the different herbs and spices in the market. We got to try some cinnamon which was in its original form, as tree bark. It was spicy and sweet at the same time. When we finally got back to the restaurant which had the cooking class we found out that only our family was doing the cooking, so the cooking teachers layed out all the ingedients and tools we would need on a table.

First we made fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. We did not make the spring roll base, but it was rice paper. We each dipped our piece of rice paper into a bowl of water. Then we put in the ingredients that we wanted into the spring roll. There was pork and shrimp (but I didn't have that,)there was green salad with mint leaves, papaya and carrot. Then we had to wrap them up. It was quite a challenge for us to fold them up. Finally we then got to eat it with a yummy dipping sauce, and it was delicious. I ate all of mine.
We also got to make Hoi An Pankcakes, Crispy Calamari, Grilled Beef with Lemon Grass and Chilli, and Grilled Chicken with Lemon Grass. I have copied the full recipes at the bottom if you want to make them, and eat them.

We had an excellent learning how to cook day. Even dad enjoyed it.

FRESH SPRING ROLL

Ingredients:

50 gr lean pork, 50 gr shrimp                  25 gr green papaya                                       Shallot, garlic, salt, stock cube

15 gr carrot                                             Few green salad, fresh mint                          Vinegar, sugar, rice paper

Methods:

Lean pork, cut fine. Shrimp leaves the shell apart, cut along the back. Marinated with salt, peper, stock cube, shallot, garlic. Stir fried them in 2 minutes Green salad and fresh mints all cut fine. Green papaya salad, carrot cut into small threads and soaked in solution of vinegar and sugar for 15 minutes, then squeeze dry. Put the rice paper through water for 30 seconds until it is soft

Set it on the plate, have salad, mints on the top then having some papaya salad, carrot threads and cooked pork and shrimp. Roll the whole things tightly as be demonstrated. Served with sweet and sour fish sauce.

HOI AN PANCAKE

Ingredients:

Prawn, clean well and take the shells off and cut along its back. Spring onion is cut fine. Filet pork, clean and cut in thin threads. Rice flour, eggs, fresh milk, bean prout.

Methods:

Put rice flour, egg, milk in big bowl and mix well. Then put spring onion in.

Add a litlle cooking oil into a hot pan and heat up the oil. Have some prawn and pork on the pan and then have a bia spoon of mixed flour in. Wait until the pan cake turns into yellow and put some bean prout in. Wait in 1', it is cooked now. Served with sweet and sour fish sauce, green salad and rice paper cake.

CRISPY CALAMARY

Ingredients:

Calamaries are cleaned well and cut in rings, add a tiny bit of lime,

Corn flour, crispy powder, beer, egg, milk, pepper, chopped garlic and red onion. All are mixed well, and the mixture has to be thick.

Methods:

Dip the calamary rings into dry flour ( corn flour, crispy powder) and then dip into the mixture, then deep fry in hot oil. Take the calamary out when they all the dark yellow. Served with plum chilli sauce or mayonaise + chilli sauce.

GRILLED BEEF WITH LEMONGRASS AND CHILLI

Ingredients:

100 gr filet Beef                            1 teaspoons lemongrass              1/3 teaspoon white peper,

1 teaspoon stock cubes                  2 teaspoons Garlic + Shallot       4 pieces Banana leaf

1 teaspoon Chilli                            a little salt                                   1 teaspoon Hosing sauce( Grilled sauce)

Methods:

Lemongrass: discard the bottom 1cm, finely chop the next 3cm as well as garlic, shallot ,chilli.

Cut another piece of lemongrass using the next 6cm for the ganish. Put lemongrass, garlic, shallot, chilli, pepper, salt, stock cubes, ( add cooking oil ) on the beef and mix all together. Plate mixing beef on the banana leaves. Add the piece of lemongrass on the top of the mixing beef as a garnish. Wrap the beef up 3 separate banana leaves. Leave mixing beef about 15' to 20' for marinate and then grill for 5 minutes on each side. ( You can use aluminium peper instead banana leave )

• You can also grill these on the BBQ, for this you need to add chopped lemongrass, garlic, red onion and chili while marinating the beef. Remember to add the juice on top of the beef while you grill them so that beefs don’t get dried out and all ingredient flavors will be absorbed.

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH LEMON LEAVES

Ingredients:

100 gr filet chicken                                    2 spoons lemon grass                                 1 spoon garlic

1 spoon shallot                                          1 spoon chili                                              Few lemon leaves

1 spoon stock cubes                                  1 spoon hoisin sauce                                 ¼ spoon pepper

¼ spoon sugar                                            2 spoon cooking oil                                   4 pieces banana leaves

How to cook:

Lemongrass: Discard the bottom 1cm, finely chop the next 3 cm as well as garlic, shallot, chilli

Cut another pieces of lemongrass using the next 6cm for the ganish. Put spicies: lemongrass, garlic, shallot, chilli, hoisin,stock cubes, sugar, peper, cooking oil and mix with chicken and lemon leave together. Leave them in 15 minutes. Plate the chicken on the banana leaves. Place the pieces of the lemongrass on the top of  the chicken as a garnish. Wrap the chicken up separate banana leaves and grill for 7 minutes on the each side

* You can also grill these on the BBQ, for this you need to add chopped lemongrass, lemon leave, garlic, shallot, chili while the marinating the chicken. Remember to add the juice on top of the chicken while you grill them so that chicken don’t get dried out and all ingredients flavors will be absorbed.

from  Junior Masterchef Charlotte

Hey from Hue.

By popular demand I find myself back on the computer to tap out the next installment in the travelling Carr's blog extravaganza.



After leaving Hanoi in an enormous rush as the taxi that was to take us to the train station did not arrive and we still had not left the hotel at 6.30 for our 7.00 departure by train to Hue, we ended up in 2 small taxis driving like maniacs with their hand constantly on the horn (same as every other driver in Hanoi) but we made it with about 2 minutes to spare to break out a can of beer and celebrate the fact that we made the train at all.
First class is what the ticket stated but if you looked at the state of the toilet before we left you could be excused for thinking we must have entered the wrong carriage. That said, 13 hours rattled away, and through the night we all got some sleep, especilly Lee who only woke once.
On arrival at Hue we hopped into a mini cab and went around 3 hotels until we found one we liked for a whopping $22 per night for 4 of us including breakfast. This would be about the average price in Vietnam for a hotel room, so great value. A restaurant meal with drinks usually $10-$15 for 4 of us.
www.Binh_Minh_Sunrise_III_Hotel_Hue_VietNam_814/

Hue is a very pretty town that was the capital about a thousand years ago when the emperors where around and has a real vibrance to it. On the first day we hired cyclos that are like rickshaws with a local pedalling like mad from behind and went to the Citadel. This was where the king had his residence with over 520 hectares in total. It is fringed with a moat and inside lays the ruins of a city of many beautiful structures that years ago would have been on a grand scale to rival anywhere in the world. The Vietnam war saw the demise of the fabulous place as the Yanks took it upon themselves to drop thousands of bombs on this place and level most of it. And for this very reason it makes it that bit more interesting as they have not tried to rebuild it but leave as is with only minor maintenance, so a lot of it is overgrown and a bit mystical. Walls and ponds with ivy growing through them lets the mindseye wander as to its former glory but we all agreed that if this was in our backyard we also would leave as is, as it is truly enchanting.

 

On the way back we stopped at a local cafe and treated our 4 cyclo drivers to a refreshing ale or two, and we played cards and ate peanuts for an hour.

The following day we were up and off on a dragon boat ride up the Song Huong  ( Perfume River) in search of historical monuments and tombs lost in time in the jungle.

Had a great day, I'll let the pictures tell the story.
See you next time.

Paul

Hanoi.

We flew from Laos to Hanoi in less than an hour. We flew over the clouds and smog and we could see the tops of the mountains. Maisy and I played games on our DS's, and looked out the window some of the time. When the plane was just about to land, we could see lots of rice fields. They looked like lots and lots of palettes of eye shadow.
A mini van then drove us into Hanoi and we could see all the tall skinny houses and buildings. They are all so colourful and interesting.
Our hotel is called 'The Gecko'  www.hanoigeckohotel.com
 and it is in the old quarter of the city. The people here were very helpful.
The streets are so small and crowded with motorcycles, cars, bicycles and people. You can't wait for the traffic to stop if you want to cross the road because it never ever stops. You just need to grab someone's hand and remember to look left first, then just weave through the traffic holding your breathe until you get to the other side.
Everyone is trying to sell something. Each street sells one type of thing. There is Silver Street, Fabric Street, Sugar Street, Medicine Street, Coffin Street. It is too easy to get lost.
Dad felt sick when it was time for dinner, so Pete, Gail, Mum, Maisy and I went out for a delicious dinner at Little Hanoi. I think Dad missed out big time. It was the best dinner so far.
The next day we walked down to the lake, Hoan Kiem Lake, which was covered in green slime. A 500 year old turtle popped up near the edge. Everyone ran to see it because it meant something would happen as this turtle hardly ever comes to this side of the lake. He popped up before and Ho Chi Minh died. Last year he popped up and there was a big flood. I hope this time it brings good luck.

We met a lovely girl called Flower. She is only 21 years old and she is married with a 10 month old baby. She was so nice she ended up showing us all over the city. Her English was excellent and she was so clever and funny.

We walked around the streets and watched the people mostly sell and prepare food. I can't write about some of the poor animals that were being killed on the footpath and sold for dinner. Flower stopped to tell us stories at every corner. We learnt about the war between the north and south of Vietnam. There were many deaths and still unexploded bombs are hidden around Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. An awful chemical was used to clear the trees but it was so bad that babies were born with horrible deformities.

The Vietnamese flag has a red background with a yellow star. The red represents the blood from all the wars and the yellow is for the dream of living in harmony.

We left Hanoi to go to Sapa and then Halong Bay. When we came back we stayed at the same hotel. That night dad was better so we went to have Bia Hoi and sat on the street corner eating peanuts.
The next day we went on a walk to Ho Chi Minh's tomb. Even though it was closed and I couldn't see it, it was really big. I'm not sure if I wanted to see a dead body that had been around for 42 years. Around the tomb were soldiers marching all in time. It was funny how they marched up the stairs. They blew their whistles if we got too close. Ho Chi Minh was the president of Vietnam until he died in 1969. All the north Vietnamese love him because he made Vietnam an independant nation. China ruled Vietnam for 1000 years then the French ruled for a hundred years and then America controlled for 20 years. Now Vietnam is a Communist country that rules itself.

After complete some school work, we went to Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. There were lots of little acts like dragons swimming in circles and spitting water and buffalo's fighting. It was really good even though it was in Vietnamese and I couldn't understand what the story was about.

On the way back to our hotel we took a cyclo ride around the old quarter. It was a bit crazy being in all that traffic. Dad calls it 'utter chaos' and mum says it is 'harmonious mayhem'.

That night Kien, the hotel manager, invited us for dinner. It was a big dinner with lots of rice, vegetables and meat. Then we had to get the overnight train to Hue. A kind man from our hotel walked us out onto the main street, and waited for his friend to come with a minibus. By that time it was 6:30 and our train was leaving Hanoi at 7:00. We were all getting a bit worried, so dad had to tell him that we weren't going to wait anymore. The man then pulled over 2 taxis, and 3 people hopped in each. The funny thing was that my small suitcase went in the boot, while dad had to squeeze his huge bag in the 2 seats we were sharing. Then the taxi driver almost took off with Pete's head in the door. So Pete had to jump into the car with his suitcase. We sped across the mad streets of Hanoi and got to the train station just in time. We had to run up the railway tracks to get on the train and then it choofed off.

Charlotte

Ha Long Bay.

On Wednesday we all went to Halong Bay.We got there by a bus it took about 3 hours from Hanoi. When we finally got there we went straight on to the Calypso Junk.
www.luxuryhalongbaycruise.com/Calypso-Cruise

We were very lucky to have 1 night on this beautiful boat.

I was also lucky to share a cabin with my extreeemly loverly, beautiful ,delightfull, joyfull and most generroues of every thing  espesially beds and space, sister Charlottie. 

When we got going we all went on the top deck of the Junk and saw thousands of beautiful lime stone islands  jutting out of the sea.  Everyone sat on the deck while I read the Lonely Planet Guide about Halong Bay. There are 1969 karst islands in Halong Bay. The words Ha Long means descending dragon and the bay is a World Heritage listed area.

After that we took kayaks into the middle of a group of joining karst islands. The first thing we saw was heaps of monkeys. They were everywhere. They jumped off rocks swinging upside down in trees. I wanted to go join them. They were  having too much fun. 

The way we got into  the hidden lagoon was  by paddling into a little cave  and when the tide goes up you can’t get in or out.

That night after dinner, we went squid fishing off the side of the boat. I was really determined that I was going to catch a squid. You get a long piece of bamboo with a bit of string tied to the end and a little plastic fish with a hook on it. You hang the hook just in the water under the lantern light and jiggle it up and down for a long time. Eventually when you see a squid you try and hook it.

When I saw a squid, I put the hook down low and then jerked it up and caught it. When I lifted it out of the water, I screamed and dropped everything and ran up stairs. Charlotte screamed to but she tried to get it but Gail got it in the end but dad let it go. There was so much screaming mum didn't get a photo, she was freaked out and ran away with me.

The next day we went to a cave which was the biggest cave I have ever been in. There were lots of stalactites and stalactmites that had been growing for thousands of years.

By Pirate Maisy

A Birthday to Remember.

We thought it was time to take the driving control into our own hands and hired 3 motor bikes for the day.  At $5- each bike we had freedom and our chance to write our own episode of
Top Gear Vietnam. Team Clarkson on the red Honda was Paul, with Maisy in front telling him where to go and when to change gears.  Team Hammond on the black Yamaha was myself with a feverishly sick Charlotte behind only just hanging on with one hand while taking photos with the other. Team May on the other red Honda was Pete and Gail with the map, technical expertise and previous Vietnam experience.

And then we were off.

Sapa is located at the very north of Vietnam in the mountains bordering China, at an altitude of 1800m it is often covered in a blanket of cloud and can be very cool. My birthday brought out the sunshine and clear blue skies for one glistening day. It was a perfect day for exploring Sapa and the surrounding area. We took off heading north for about 45 minutes to the Silver Waterfall. The road out was potholed and littered with gravel. Mostly, there was no shoulder, just a sheer drop on one side and a rock face on the other. I had never doubled anyone on a bike before nor ridden on the right hand side of the road so the first 20 minutes was quite intense. I managed to survive the first 10 minutes with two bee stings to my neck and one flying stone to my top lip. The tears came, firstly from the wind in my face but as soon as I found my way on the bike the tears of laughter took over.

We continued north to a lookout point with spectacular views of the mountains and valley below. On the way back into the small town of Sapa we saw a cockfight by the side of the road and had to stop for a look. There were no blades attached to the legs as they were in training but it was still a very vicious game with a clear winner.

Back in Sapa we found the highly recommended Chocolate and Baguette coffee shop and celebrated my ten and three quarter birthday with a rather good coffee and citrus tart. We met up with our lovely Sapa girls who walk around the streets selling handicrafts and talking the talk. We made pinky promises with them that we would buy from them tomorrow.

Pulling out of the coffee shop was a very near miss for Team Clarkson who came within millimetres of colliding with a scooter girl from nowhere. If not for the long anchors of Paul’s legs at just the right moment it could have been a dreadful 24 hour trip back to the nearest hospital in Hanoi.

Heading south this time we ventured off road and took a hard left down a rocky track and found ourselves in a very remote little hillside village. Away from the town and sealed road, life here was slow and hard work. Everywhere we looked was a picture from another world. All sorts of animals roamed the fields, rice paddies clung to the hillsides and soil-crusted people blended in with the earth. We passed a group of children playing on the side of a hill and turning back to see them as the laughter turned to screams, we saw a small baby sliding down the rubble only to be stopped metres below by a stalky shrub. Life, once again left to chance, saved by mere fortune.

 

Further along this track we followed two women carrying heavy baskets and stopped to talk to them when they rested on a rock at the top of a hill overlooking a spectacular farming valley. We found out they had walked 7 kilometres from Sapa carrying these heavily laden baskets which must have weighed more than 10 kilos, full of vegetables and a 5 litre bottle of rice whiskey. They had little English but were good communicators and we learnt a lot about their daily lives and families. They lived a tough life but were so happy to spend time with us.  Paul and Pete decided to give them each $10 USD and their day became a party.

They broke open the bottle of rice whiskey and shared it with us. Tasting more like methylated spirits than any other whiskey we had tasted before. This may have been the start of Paul’s next bout of sudden and rapid bowel movements. 
When we rode back to the other side of the valley we could look back and see the little figures still sitting on the rock swilling from the bottle as the sun went down.

A well deserved rest for these two ladies

Sharing rice whiskey.
The man behind is one of the ladies sons.
He never helped them carry any of their heavy packs or talked to us.

Trying on Maisy's sunglasses

Maisy could probably fit a bit more in this style back pack than the one she has

My perfect day was not over yet. Our hotel for the three days was Sapa Rooms. www.saparooms.com
 They are an eco-friendly group that work together with the local community supporting ethnic minority groups with education and health care. They employ local youngsters and train them in hotel management and cooking and give them the opportunity to move to Hanoi to work in their sister hotel Six on Sixteen. Highly recommend both.
We enjoyed a fabulous Vietnamese mountain meal of mixed hot pot. Everything was fresh and ever so delicious. A recipe I will have to learn and perfect when I return home.

A delicious stock of lemon grass, chilli, pineapple, ginseng, goji berries, and other medicinal mountain herbs.
A great choice after a big day of trekking around the Sapa trails. Made with a beef, pork and vegetable stock. Served with a selection of organic chicken, wild pork, beef, many leafy green vegetables, tofu and noodles.
                                                                                                                                From the menu.


Can you smell it?   Mmmmmmmm yum!



Thank you for all my lovely birthday wishes.
As you can see I had an awesome day.
Lots of love from Lee.     xxxx

  

Sapa.

Last night, our friends from Canberra (Gail and Pete) and my family got on an overnight train from Hanoi. It took us eight and a half hours to get to Sapa. Sapa is located at the top of Vietnam in the mountains.

The traditional people who live here are called the Hmongs. The Hmongs live in small villages, each is a different tribe. There are 5 different tribes, the flower tribe, the black tribe, the white tribe, the green tribe and the red tribe. All the woman and children go out every day to try and sell things to the tourists.They dress in their traditional clothes which are colourful and thick to keep them warm. The little children are so cute. We saw really young children with tiny babies strapped to their backs and they were just running around playing.


How tiny are these kids with even tinier babies on their backs.



These girls were so cute. They were playing in the market place and we had to join them.



Everyone is trying to sell you something.
They all say, "You buy from me. Buy from me."

On the first day we met 2 really friendly lady Hmongs. Their names are Song and Pai. Pai is 25, and is married and has 3 children, and Song is 22 and also is married and she has 2 children. After a while, they wouldn’t leave us alone telling us stories and making us laugh, so dad and Gail had to do a pinkie promise that they would buy from them tomorrow.  

Song and Pai

We then walked through the markets (their grocery store). There are lots of fruit and vegetables, dried food, and worst of all a whole section full of dead animals and animals being killed and cut up, including dog, fish, eels, cows, chickens, pigs and other things we couldn't work out...

That night we stayed in a hotel called  ‘Sapa Rooms ’, it was a nice room with 1 king sized bed, and a small double. Dad and Mum got to share the king bed while Maisy and I got squashed into the small double. There was also a TV with a dvd player, so when the adults were having dinner Maisy and I watched 2 movies we hadn’t seen before, Planet 81, and the 2^nd Shrek. They were both great movies, even though I fell asleep during Planet 81.

That night I was sick with a bad cough and I couldn’t fall asleep again after I woke up in the middle of the night. I had a very bad sleep, but the next day was excellent.

Mum will tell about it in her blog post. Happy Birthday Mum.xxxx

Love from Charlotte.