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Taking online Vietnamese cooking classes is one of the most delicious ways to visit the country without physically traveling there.
A cuisine we adore and a country we have explored, the food from Vietnam remains one of our top favorites.
However, recreating Vietnamese food at home always felt intimidating. The dishes look complex and knowing what goes into the delightful sauces was a mystery.
As lovers of Vietnamese food and culture, we were excited to partner with The Chef and The Dish for an authentic Vietnamese cooking class.
From the comfort of home, we learned how to recreate banh mi and fresh rolls with a private Vietnamese chef.
Here’s how The Chef and The Dish transported our kitchen to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city.
Vietnamese Cooking Classes With The Chef and the Dish
The Chef and The Dish offers fun virtual cooking classes with chefs from around the world. What we really like about them is their focus on traditional and authentic dishes.
Using Skype, you connect with a chef from that particular country and enjoy a private cooking class.
If you are not yet familiar with The Chef and The Dish cooking classes, you can try out their Wednesday Night Supper Club.
From Vietnam, The Chef and The Dish offers three different private cooking classes.
One class teaches you how to make the iconic pho soup. There is also a bun cha or Vietnamese meatballs cooking class.
And finally, banh mi and fresh spring rolls, the Vietnamese cooking class we took.
Guiding us on this culinary adventure was chef Le Ly from Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon.
A cooking instructor at the famous Hoa Tuc Restaurant, she had an excellent command of the English language and the necessary patience of a teacher.
If you are looking for a tasty escape to Vietnam, consider any of the Vietnamese cooking classes from the Chef and the Dish.
And, don’t forget to use your coupon and get $15 off any class with code Chef15.
1- Learn to Make Authentic Vietnamese Dishes
Vietnamese cuisine can seem intimidating. After eating our way through Vietnam, we came across many dishes we thought would be challenging to recreate.
One of our favorite Vietnamese appetizers is fresh spring rolls. Knowing that we would learn to make it with The Chef and the Dish got us excited.
Spring rolls are delicate to make without being messy. We were very pleased with how ours turned out after learning the technique to soften and roll the rice paper with chef Le.
As chef Le told us during our class, with “Vietnamese food, presentation is important and dishes have to look nice.”
Now, we feel confident to make our own spring rolls again and have already impressed our friends with our Vietnamese cooking skills.
Another key aspect we learned from our Vietnamese cooking class is the combination of flavors and texture.
For our banh mi, we marinated the pork tenderloin with a surprising combination of sweet condensed milk, fish sauce and soy sauce.
Scrumptious and great tasting, we were amazed.The tasty savory and sweet seasoning paired perfectly with the crisp baguette and pickled vegetables.
The intricacy of flavors and texture is key in Vietnamese food and it’s exciting to learn how to bring the flavors to life.
AUTHENTIC FOOD QUEST RECIPE: Authentic Vietnamese Broken Rice Recipe
Watch Our Vietnamese Cooking Class Experience
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2- Connect With a Local and Learn About the Local Culture
You don’t need to leave home to learn how to cook food from another culture. An online Vietnamese cooking class allows you to travel from home while doing something fun.
While cooking with chef Le, we got to know more about her family and growing up in Vietnam. She is from the Mekong Delta in the south which has a different cooking style from the north of Vietnam.
When making the bahn mi sandwich, we talked about the differences in styles. Not only for banh mi but for other popular dishes like pho soup.
Very approachable, chef Le answered our questions with a smile while adding additional context from her own experience.
The ease of talking with her made it feel like we were taking this Vietnamese cooking class with her in her kitchen in Ho Chi Minh City.
Each step along the way we learned more about the culture while savoring the aromas in our kitchen.
No matter your knowledge of Vietnam or Vietnamese cuisine, chef Le will gently guide you. You’ll learn about the history and traditions while getting to know a local and the tastes of travel.
3- Go on a Vietnamese Shopping Adventure
Taking online Vietnamese cooking classes may mean introducing new ingredients into your kitchen pantry.
Vietnamese sauces, for instance, are an essential part of the cuisine. Fish sauce, also known as nuoc mam, is the most iconic Vietnamese sauce.
To prepare for the live private cooking class, you will have a call with a Kitchen Assistant from The Chef and The Dish.
Our call was scheduled a few days before our class and the purpose was to review the ingredient list and answer any questions.
We really appreciated this concierge service from The Chef and The Dish. At the time, we were on the island of Crete in Greece exploring the local food specialties.
And, unfortunately, Vietnamese ingredients were hard to come by. During our call with the Kitchen Assistant, we discussed substitutions which was a great help.
For your Vietnamese cooking classes, you can rest assured that all your questions will be answered by your Kitchen Assistant.
From where to find ingredients to substitutions for dietary concerns, you’ll have all the information you need for a truly authentic Vietnamese cooking experience.
If you are lucky enough to have Asian or ethnic grocery stores near you, half the fun is shopping there to find the ingredients.
Your culinary journey to Vietnam begins way before the actual cooking class starts.
4- Eat an Awesome Meal
After eating many banh mi sandwiches across Vietnam, the bar was very high. We were unsure whether our homemade banh mi sandwiches would live up to our expectations.
Fortunately, we were proven wrong. Our banh mi sandwiches were full of flavor and incredibly delicious.
Chef Le introduced us to new flavors and cooking styles that replicated the sandwiches we savored in Vietnam.
Our most exciting accomplishment was making the spring rolls, and in particular, learning how to roll them using rice paper.
We couldn’t believe how well they turned out, even though it was our first time making spring rolls.
The flavors were fresh and the dipping sauce we made elevated the experience.
The best part of the Vietnamese cooking class was the eating. After standing on our feet for a little over two hours, tortured by the inviting aromas, we couldn’t wait to eat.
In preparation for the cooking class, The Chef and The Dish provided drink recommendations to complete the experience. For this Vietnamese cooking class, a white wine was recommended.
We chose to accompany our Vietnamese meal with a floral rosé wine from Crete.
In the end we enjoyed a fabulous dinner. Quite different from what we would typically make, and yet so fresh and flavorful.
Your Vietnamese cooking class will instantly transport you to a restaurant in Vietnam. After cooking with chef Le, you’ll be guaranteed a delicious meal.
Simply sit back and relish the efforts of your hard work.
READ MORE: Banh Mi – The Best Vietnamese Sandwich To Fall in Love With
5- Have Your Own Private Cooking Party… Hint, Great for a Gift!
If you are looking for a fun night with friends or a loved one, explore food and culture with a private chef.
The Chef and the Dish makes it easy to travel the world with your own personal chef over Skype.
For over two hours, you’ll have a dedicated chef working with you step-by-step and answering all your questions.
You and your friends will have a chance to learn to make traditional and authentic Vietnamese dishes taught by a private chef.
What’s really great about the personalized class is that you can adapt the recipes for your taste. Need a little more or a little less spice? Simply let your chef guide you.
During the session with the Kitchen Assistant, you’ll learn how to best place your computer so that the chef can see how you are cooking.
This comes in handy while making your meal. For instance, when preparing the pork for our banh mi sandwiches, chef Ly was able to instruct us to add more liquid in the pan based on what she was seeing.
Food lovers and travel lovers will love the gift of learning something new. For birthday celebrations, anniversary or special holiday, a virtual cooking class will surprise and delight.
Beyond special occasions, a Chef and the Dish online cooking class is perfect at any time. For a fun date night, girls night out or evening with friends, invite a private chef into your kitchen.
Make memorable experiences as you take a virtual culinary journey around the world.
The Chef and the Dish also offers unique gift certificates to redeem for live online cooking classes.
6- Have Fun and Enjoy The Experience
Vietnamese cuisine is celebrated for its exquisite flavors. Cooking Vietnamese food combines a number of ingredients with contrasting flavors and textures.
Not having some of the key ingredients and working with substitutes made us nervous before the class.
We were questioning our ability to make authentic tasting banh mi sandwiches and spring rolls.
Before cooking, together with chef Ly, we went over our list of ingredients and the alternative products we had.
We had what we needed, she told us, and that immediately put us at ease.
At that point, we simply relaxed and had fun. All along the way with her calming and encouraging demeanor, we began our virtual trip to Ho Chi Minh City.
We started by preparing the sauces and cooking the pork and prawns. Once everything was ready, we tackled the delicate task of making the spring rolls.
The last item on the agenda was putting the Vietnamese sandwich together. We were quite surprised by the complexity of flavors that goes into this seemingly simple sandwich.
As you embark on your Vietnamese cooking classes with the Chef and the Dish, allow yourself to have fun.
There is no need to fret about any part of the experience. Your chef will guide you and the Kitchen Assistant will prepare you for an exclusive culinary journey to Vietnam.
How to Book Your Virtual Cooking Classes With The Chef and The Dish
Book your Vietnamese Cooking Classes with The Chef and The Dish directly on their website and transport your kitchen to Vietnam.
How Does It Work: Pick a date and time that works for you. Classes are offered daily anywhere around the world. The time shown for the private cooking class is in your local timezone.
Once you booked your class, you will receive a confirmation email with detailed instructions on the next steps.
Classes: Three Vietnamese cooking classes are offered.
Pho where you learn to make the most iconic Vietnamese soup.
Vietnamese meatballs or Bun Cha, a classic specialty from Hanoi and northern Vietnam.
Banh Mi & Fresh Spring Rolls, the private cooking class we took
Each class lasts about two hours. Get $15 off any cooking class with code Chef15.
Alternatively: For $60 you can try out a virtual cooking class with The Chef and The Dish during their Wednesday Night Supper Club.
More Local Food Experiences
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Best Authentic Vietnamese Peanut Sauce Recipe For a Creamy Dipping Sauce
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The 10 Best Vietnamese Cookbooks You Want to Have In Your Kitchen
10 Fabulous Reasons To Take a Cooking Class On Your Travels
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Love Vietnamese Cooking Classes? Pin It!
Special thanks to The Chef and the Dish for transporting our kitchen to Vietnam. All views and opinions expressed are our own. Full bellies and happy taste buds too.
Rosemary is the editor-in-chief and strategist at Authentic Food Quest.
Traveling slow since 2015 with her partner, Claire, she has explored the cuisine in 45 countries and more than 240+ culinary cities.
Her writing about local food specialties has been featured in Lonely Planet, Business Insider, Honest Cooking, Food Insider, and Huffington Post.
As a food and travel writer, Rosemary has co-authored three books, including one in collaboration with Costa Brava Tourism.
Rosemary is an avid runner when she’s not eating and exploring new destinations. She has run ten marathons and counting.
Before Authentic Food Quest, Rosemary held senior-level strategy positions in advertising.
Find out more about Authentic Food Quest
These are such fun classes, i love doing cooking classes is such a great way to learn and enjoy
So, true, Bella. Cooking classes are so much fun. Have you done any virtual ones? Cheers.
I bet these classes would be so much fun, my husband and I both love to cook and international cuisines.
Then, this is perfect for you, Jen. Since you both like to cook, a class with a private chef will help you take your skills and techniques to a new level. Highly recommend the experience. Cheers.
Online cooking classes sound so fun! It would be perfect for a date night in!
You are so right, Tisha. Perfect for date night with an amazing meal at the end. Try one out and see what you think. Cheers.
I can see why these classes would be fun. Trust me, I could use all the help that I can get when it comes to cooking. Vietnamese food is delicious!
Such a fun class! I don’t know much about Vietnamese cuisine so I could definitely benefit from it!
A truly fun class and a tasty way to learn about the local culture too. Thanks for stopping by.