Gain new culinary skills as you learn to cook delicious Vietnamese food on this half-day tour in Ho Chi Minh City, including a visit to Ben Thanh Market. Under the guidance of an expert chef, you’ll choose local ingredients and try your hand at Vietnamese cuisine in a cooking class. Then enjoy your 4-course meal in the company of newfound friends! Numbers are limited to20 people, ensuring an intimate experience with a small group of like-minded food lovers. Your Vietnamese culinary tour begins at with pickup from your Ho Chi Minh City hotel. From there you will visit the centrally located Ben Thanh Market, known as one of liveliest and busiest in Ho Chi Minh City – formerly Saigon. Created in the early 17th century near the Saigon River and later formally established by the French, Ben Thanh is the oldest surviving market in Vietnam’s largest city. Follow your guide past clothing and souvenir vendors until you reach the food stalls filled with the mouth-watering aromas of specialty dishes as well fresh vegetables, meats, sweets and spices. Learn from your guide about various ingredients, including Vietnamese herbs and spices, and start collecting produce for your cooking lesson. After the market tour, transfer to the Vietnam Cookery Center for a hands-on lesson in Vietnamese cuisine. In this traditional setting you’ll have all of the equipment and ingredients you need for your small-group cooking class, with plenty of opportunities to interact with the chef and your fellow cooks. Enjoy the fun atmosphere as you prepare simple, healthy and delicious dishes such as papaya salad, Vietnamese chicken curry, fried rice and sweet white bean in coconut milk. After your Vietnamese cooking lesson, sit down and enjoy the fruits of your labor! Each day, a different 4-course meal is prepared (see Itinerary below for a sample menu). When you've had your fill, you will be dropped off at your hotel with new insight into Vietnamese culture and how to prepare its scrumptious cuisine!
