Bai Choi and cooking Vietnamese-style

Last night as we walked around the old city after dinner we saw a game of Bai Choi being played in a square. It was a bit like bingo but with music, singing and dancing. Each contestant received cards with Chinese chess pieces on each card, and the dealer randomly drew bamboo sticks from a box which bore the name of one of the chess pieces. The dealer or his assistant would then sing a folk's song about the piece.  I learnt later that the songs conveyed values like love, friendship or patriotism but with some fun mixed in. When a contestant had a match they called out and received a yellow flag, and when someone was the first to receive enough flags they won a small prize. The people playing the game seemed to be having fun and it was quirky to see the performances.

There was another game down the street that anyone could play since it needed no Vietnamese language skills. Players would put on a mask so they couldn't see and would take a whack with a stick at a small hanging clay pot. Most missed but there was a satisfying cracking sound whenever someone managed to smack a pot. This was high excitement for the sleepy town of Hoi An.

Yesterday morning we took a cooking course. We started off by walking through the market and collecting our ingredients under the tutelage of our chef Dom.  I was intrigued when the chef picked out the live shrimp we needed for the spring roils, since the little guys tended to jump out of the basket once he picked a few for purchase. I guess they didn't want to be lunch, but that was their fate. We picked out some pork too and I asked the chef why all the raw meat was being sold in the open air - it was already getting quite hot. He said the animals are slaughtered early every morning for sale that morning and so no refrigeration was required. I believe this must be true and I think it is the way it's still done in many or perhaps most parts of the world. Dom had pointed out, as were surrounded by pork meat stalls, that there was no smell, which was true. It was still a bit weird to be surrounded by so many parts of pigs, which were alive earlier that morning. 

Elizabeth was able to hold a duckling, which I think would cost about a dollar each (we told her they will be raised as egg laying ducks rather than for the pot), and we watched a lady make fresh rice noodles. That's one thing about this place - just about everything is fresh, either by necessity or preference.

After picking out our ingredients we took a boat ride down the river. Along the way we saw many fishing baskets and large nets. The huge nets were attached to stakes driven into the riverbed, and simply lowered into the water at night with a light hanging above to attract the fish and other seafood. The nets are then raised in the early morning to reveal the catch. I was struck by how abundant the fishing must be here, where the fish simply just come to the fishermen en masse to be caught. 

We eventually transferred to a small rowing boat, where we all put on cone hats woven from reed or straw. This was the first time I had worn one of these hats that I see everywhere, especially by those toiling in the rice fields in the heat of the day. Although I felt goofy wearing one, it felt well suited for its purpose - keeping the sun off while providing for air circulation around most of my head. 

The cooking course itself was well organized and fun. Chef Dom provided good instructions in English and there were lots of staff to help us out when we forgot what to do or were at risk of burning something. We made four dishes  including spring rolls, beef salad and their famous noodle soup called Pho. The soup was interesting since we made the stock from  scratch with beef bones and vegetables. What gave the stock its distinctive flavours were the use of cinnamon bark and star of anise. The kids especially enjoyed the cooking experience. John actually added some vegetables to his dishes, which surprised me since he's usually picking out the vegetables.

Here's Elizabeth making rice milk used to make rice paper. She's rotating the big stone pot to grind the rice, which was soaked overnight.