I booked a homestyle cooking lesson through Airbnb with Phung and her family. This was a new experience and as it was just me they had decided to keep their kids at home – 2 girls aged 5 and 18 months who they claimed were very noisy but to me they were just normal kids that age. Phuong took me to the market to do some last minute shopping. Most Vietnamese shop daily and it’s usually in the morning between 6 and 8am. As this was 5pm the market was mostly closed but there were a few stalls open. We bought mushrooms, fresh noodles and home made fish sauce. It came in a small water bottle and was much better than the factory made one – it certainly smelt very pungent!
Then it was back to the house in the pouring rain for some hard core chopping. Phuong’s husband Hai is the cook in their household and in contrast to the professional cooking lessons I had attended this time nothing was pre-prepared. On the menu was deep fried spring rolls (made with beef, noodles and lots of vegetables), Bun Bo Hue (a lemongrass scented broth made with pork ribs and beef served over noodles which is traditional for Hue), mushroom salad and mung bean pudding. While we chopped and stirred Phuong and Hai told me about their lives with their kids and how they had run an AirBnB Homestay but had moved to a smaller house so that Phuong could be closer to work. She had just quit her job as an auditor for the Export Import Bank to start preparing for a Masters in Banking. Hai worked as a civil engineer on big infrastructure projects. The cooking lessons were just for fun and also because they wanted to practice their English. The daughters could speak English as well even though they were so small. I really enjoyed this as I felt like I was a treasured guest at their house and having dinner with their family – highly recommended!
Anna's Travels 