For most of us, the art of cooking is largely through subconscious observation. I know for me at least, growing up many days were spent talking with Mum in the kitchen or watching my Nonna cook without much involvement. Although I do believe I absorbed a lot of that subconsciously, it wasn’t until I started on this journey did I realize that real lessons and step-by-step instructions make all the difference. My Mum in particular has taught me so much already and I’m grateful that she has been there, holding my hand through all the recipes I’ve endeavoured to make.
Today, I was taught by a complete stranger.
I’d never taken a cooking class but was referred to the classes at South Melbourne Market some months ago and opted for learning how to cook one of my absolute favvvvourite foods: Vietnamese Phở.
As a 17-year-old, leaving Australia for the first time and landing in Ho Chi Minh City was a complete culture shock. Everything about Vietnam was different to home and as much as I came to love learning about this new culture, one thing I still felt some trepidation about was the food. I was fussy at the best of times and feared not being able to eat anything for two weeks.
All of that changed on just the second day. Walking out of our hotel and around the surrounding streets, we discovered a little restaurant called Phở 24. We sat down and ordered (as best we could) this beefy noodle soup that ended up becoming my staple for the rest of the trip. The mix of sweet and spicy broth, tender thinly sliced meat and soft noodles made for a delectable meal which I wouldn’t soon forget.
Coming back to Melbourne, I was elated to find that I would be able to find Phở in places like Footscray and Richmond and now learning to cook this year, it was definitely on my list.
I hadn’t been to South Melbourne Market before and loved how it felt like mixing pot of so many cultures and cuisines. Walking down the side of the market looking for the LG Kitchen, my friend Emily and I passed Spanish paella, Mexican burritos, fish and chips, and of course the famous South Melbourne Market Dim Sims.
We finally found the class and were introduced to a small group of other students and our chef for the day Van Le-Hugh. She told us a bit about her Vietnamese heritage and how Phở is a meal that she particularly loves to enjoy with her whole family, a communal meal.
Van said that while Phở is available at many, many restaurants around Melbourne, often it is oversalted and laced with excessive MSG and that making it at home is best.
She took us through two types of Phở, one with chicken and the other with beef. The class was a mix of detailed demonstrations from Van as well as all of us getting involved where we could. It’s true that the only real way to learn to cook is to be hands-on and Van encouraged that throughout the class.
Phở as a recipe is easy yet complex. It involves making a stock over 3-5 hours which has a whole host of ingredients in it to flavour it just right. For the beef stock, Van used: pork and beef neck bones, peppercorns, red asian onion char grilled, carrot, radish, a large piece of ginger char grilled, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and rock sugar.
The stock is then added to noodles and very thinly sliced rump steak beef which is thrown in raw and cooks in the soup. As well as the beef steak, beef balls and brisket can also be added for extra umph.
Phở is served with a side dish of bean sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil, lime wedges, fresh chili and hoisin sauce which can be added as desired.
It was a great experience being in a class amongst others that share a passion for cooking and having such a wonderful teacher showing us the tricks of the trade. At the end of each recipe we of course got to taste the Phở and I wasn’t disappointed. It was real and authentic, just like that of Ho Chi Minh.
In the coming weeks I’ll be trialling my own Phở at home without the comfort of a Vietnamese chef next to me. I’m super excited to cook this for my groups of friends and hope I can pull it off! See the next post for full recipe details x
South Melbourne Market hosts a huge range of cooking classes in all cuisines for an affordable price considering all that you learn and of course all that you eat. They sell out way in advance so it’s best to get in ASAP. Check out their website here and Van Le-Hugh’s Blue Kitchen Facebook page here.
My Year in the Kitchen 