A Six Senses Cooking Class

It’s a warm Thursday afternoon on the island of Con Son, the largest island in the Con Dao archipelago, 230km south-east of Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. A strong on-shore breeze is blowing, an early precursor of the monsoons which usually arrive later in the year. It’s blown all the guests off the long white strip of beach in front of the Six Senses resort, a stunning new 5 Star property which recently won the Chicago Museum Modern Design Award for its enhancement of the natural beauty which surrounds it. I’d been hoping to take one of the Vietnamese basket boats out on the water – they’re the round boats made of bamboo and plastic or resin which Vietnamese fishermen use as dinghies –  but it’s too choppy. Instead I decide to check out the cooking class being given by Nhan Nguyen, the talented Vietnamese sous chef at the resort.  It’s being held at 4pm in the market area which is a wonderful recreation of a Vietnamese fishing village built from 1200 antique doors. I’m joined by some other guests, among them a couple of Aussies – Sara Hole and her 5 year old daughter, Lily, a keen mum’s little helper. Nhan is going to show us how to make Vietnamese rice paper rolls (goi cuon), crispy rice pancakes (banh xeo) and a sweet soup dessert with lotus seed. We start with the rice paper rolls and I learn two important things: always place the shiny side down on the board, then roll up.  And don’t dunk them in a bowl of warm water (as we tend to do in Australia) – just gently brush on both sides with your finger tips or with a brush dipped in water. They shouldn’t require more water than that – Lily’s a deft hand at this. We fill them with strips of carrot, onion and beans; some sliced boiled pork belly; halved cooked prawns, lettuce leaves, coriander and basil leaves and some fresh rice noodles.  The dipping sauce is made with pounded garlic and chilli, then fish sauce, water, sugar and lime juice are added to make a pungent sweet-hot sauce. Now it’s onto the crispy rice pancake (see recipe), a delicious combination of flavours. The pancake batter is made with rice flour, water and turmeric and is fried on the outside until crispy, then steamed through to cook the filling.  It’s then folded over and drizzled with the same dipping sauce. For dessert, tiny sweet island bananas are coated in caramelized sugar, then flambéed with rum. They’re served with lotus seeds which are boiled first in water to soften – sugar, salt and freshly sliced ginger is then added and they’re simmered another 15 minutes. Nhan is a terrific teacher and his enthusiasm and knowledge remind me of our own Luke Nguyen, whose food programs on SBS TV (and now available on DVD) have taught us so much about Vietnamese food and culture. Earlier that day, I’d gone with some other guests to visit the local markets and was astonished by the range and variety of fresh vegetables and fruits available on the island (I’ve posted some photos on my Facebook page). We’d also visited the museum and looked at the prisons and “tiger cages” where Vietnamese prisoners were held by the French and then the Americans, a sobering reminder of the recent dark history in this country  and of the resilience of these remarkable people. I visited Con Dao as a guest of Travel Indochina, a Sydney-based company which organises bespoke tailor-made programs for individuals or small groups in south-east Asia. More info: www.travelindochina.com.au The Six Senses properties in south-east Asia are renowned for their commitment to the environment and support of local communities. More info : www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesConDao/