Tours out of Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam
Day trip from Saigon
Shop at Tan Dinh, then cook the south
Half a day, beginning in one of the city’s best neighbourhood markets and ending at the table with four dishes you cooked yourself, including the ones people ask about at home.
Overview
Why start at the market
Southern cooking is sweeter and more herb-heavy than the north, and much of what makes it work is bought fresh that morning: herbs by the bundle, fish from a basin, rice paper, palm sugar, tamarind. Tan Dinh market, beside the pink church in District 3, is where a lot of the neighbourhood shops, and it is small enough to walk in an hour without losing anyone.
The class is in a home-style kitchen a short drive away, with a cooking station for each pair. You make four dishes that belong together as a southern family meal: fresh spring rolls with prawns and pork, a sour fish soup with tamarind and pineapple, caramelised fish in a clay pot, and a crisp rice pancake. Then you sit down and eat them.
- Length
- About 4.5 hours
- Start
- 08:30
- Finish
- Around 13:00
- At the market
- About 1 hour
- Cooking
- About 2.5 hours, then lunch
- Class size
- 12 at most
Day by day
How the morning runs
Day 1
From Tan Dinh market to the table
Getting the pancake crisp on the second try
08:30 — the cook and a guide collect you from your hotel, or meet you at the market if you prefer to walk. 08:45 — Tan Dinh market: you shop from a list, learning which herbs go with what, how to pick fish, and why there are six kinds of fish sauce.
10:00 — to the kitchen. An introduction to the base flavours of the south: fish sauce, palm sugar, tamarind, lime and chilli, and how the balance shifts from dish to dish. 10:15 — the soup first, as it takes longest. Then the clay-pot fish, which needs caramel made properly and not burnt.
11:30 — the spring rolls and a peanut-hoisin dipping sauce, then the pancake, which takes a couple of attempts to get crisp. Everybody manages it by the second.
12:15 — lunch at the table: what you made, with rice, and a glass of something cold. 13:00 — back to your hotel, with the recipes by email.
Price
Price
| Option | Per person (USD) |
|---|---|
| Shared, maximum 12 | from 49 |
| Private, 2 people | from 95 |
| Private, 4 people | from 65 |
Ingredients, the market visit and lunch are included. Private classes can change the menu, including vegetarian or vegan versions of every dish.
Included
What is included
What the price includes
- Market walk with the cook
- All ingredients
- Cooking station for each pair
- Lunch and one drink
- Recipes by email
- Hotel transfers in District 1, 3 or Binh Thanh
What it does not include
- Extra drinks
- Tips
- Travel insurance
Practical
Diets, children and kitchen heat
We can adapt every dish for vegetarians and vegans, using soy sauce and mushroom stock in place of fish sauce. Allergies to shellfish, peanuts or gluten are manageable with notice. Children from about eight can cook alongside a parent; younger ones enjoy the market and the rolling. The kitchen is fan-cooled rather than air-conditioned and warm near the burners, so dress lightly.
Tan Dinh is covered. A shower in the wet season only makes the walk to the car wetter.
Not for everyone
Who this does not suit
Confident cooks looking for advanced technique may find the pace gentle; ask about a private class, where we can go further. It is not the best choice for anyone who dislikes the smells of a wet market, though you can join at the kitchen instead. If you want to try as many dishes as possible rather than cook four, the street-food evening covers more ground.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Do I need cooking experience?
No. The dishes are chosen to be achievable, and the cook is at your station throughout.
Can I cook these at home?
Yes. The recipes use ingredients you can find in most Asian grocery shops, and we note substitutions.
Is there a vegetarian version?
Yes, every dish. Tell us when booking.
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Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.
Or talk to us:+84 766 045 399