Cooking Class in Vietnam

By Child 1

From Thursday May 9th to Sunday May 12th, we vacationed in Phú Quốc, Vietnam. Vietnam has a unique culture that attracts tourists from all over the world, and has maintained itself for decades. One of the highlights well worth exploring is the food.

Screenshot courtesy of Google Maps

Vietnam's food is diverse, with everything from big, steaming bowls of phở (noodle soup) to chả giò (fried spring rolls) wraps in lettuce and herbs. Yet at the same time, it all upholds that Vietnamese signature taste of fish sauce, sugar and herbs.

While at the resort in Phú Quốc, we had the fortunate chance to take part in an exclusive Vietnamese cooking class. We also signed up to go to the market, fish sauce factory, and pepper farm before hand to see where our ingredients came from.


We drove to the market, and walked around trying not to get killed by motorcycles and soaking in the cultural essence of Vietnam. We saw fruit stands with mangos, bananas, dragon fruit, pineapples, mangosteen and little plums. We saw whole fish being chopped and live shrimp in buckets, herbs, meats, frogs, and trash lying around.

Then we went to see the fish sauce factory. It was by the sea, so boats could bring in fresh fish. Then the fish is left to ferment in huge tanks with plenty of salt for a year. It is then let out through taps in the bottom into bottles, and then it is processed and has sugar added before they sell it.

The barrels where the fish ferment and liquify.

The boats that bring in fish.

The finished fish sauce being sold nearby.

Next we visited the pepper farm. We got to see pepper plants growing. I ate a pepper, and it tasted exactly like black pepper. The pepper is picked and left in the sun to dry, and it becomes black pepper. Red pepper is made from the special red peppers, which are hand picked off of the plant. That is why it's more expensive. White pepper is made when they leave it in water.

After that we headed back to the resort and had a short break before we went to the restaurant for a cooking class. The chef came out and showed us how to cook pomelo salad, fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls, Vietnamese pancake, and chicken curry. First she demonstrated, then we got to make it. The next day the other tour guide wrote out the recipes for us so we could cook it again.

And that concluded the cooking class.

My grandmother is from Vietnam, so it was interesting to see it for myself. I enjoyed the tour, the cooking and the eating! Overall, it was a truly delicious taste of Vietnam, and every taste bud in me is wondering what could possibly come next.