Vietnamese Street Food

Hot evenings call for crisp cool meals and the food from Vietnam fits the bill perfectly. It is the use of lime, chilli, salty fish sauce and a little sugar that gives that classic fresh sour, hot, salty sweet combination.

I first wrote about the food of Vietnam almost exactly four years ago http://annsfooddiary.blogspot.com/2014/07/ when a visit to a South London cafe brought back happy memories of holidays and new food experiences

Last week I returned to the modern and welcoming atmosphere of the kitchen at https://kentcookeryschool.co.uk where chefs James and on this occasion particularly Bella shared their knowledge and skills with seven of us. The three hour evening session includes  hands on cooking culminating in a delicious feast with plenty to take home for later

Vietnamese platter for one

• Pork and Lemongrass Patties
• Mung Bean Fritters
• Goi Cuan (Fresh Spring Rolls)

Garlic, lemon grass and ginger are the main seasonings for these tasty minced pork patties complimented by a chilli and garlic infused dipping sauce

Pork Patties

Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce)

Just look at the vibrancy of the vegetable and herb filling for the Goi Can to which we added shredded pork and juicy just cooked prawns.

Mint, coriander, spring onions, cucumber and pepper

Perhaps the simplest and certainly the cheapest dish were the fritters. These combined yellow split peas (soaked overnight) blitzed in a food processor with spices and herbs flour and bicarb. Spoonfuls added to a deep fat fryer turned in minutes to crunchy on the outside soft and spicy within. This led to the usual, slightly rueful discussion that none of us own a fryer (I am sure a little oil in a wok would work turning the fritters frequently)

It was a fun evening, we all learnt new techniques and a gained a renewed enthusiasm for adding spice to the weekly menu.

Kent Cookery School has something for everyone, follow them on facebook to take advantage of the latest courses and great last minute discounts.

The Sondes Tea House

This seemingly endless summer sunshine gives the perfect excuse for outdoor eating and a secluded beautiful garden in the heart of the east Kent countryside was the setting for a delicious lunch.

The Sondes Tea House close to Selling station was once a village pub, its specialty tea menu runs to five pages but to say this place is only a tea house doesn't tell the full story. The room which manages to be cosy and airy at the same time is creatively decorated with tempting reclaimed collectables and antiques many of which are for sale. The tea display is a work of art.

and just look at the cakes

For the three of us lunch was the priority and what a spread. The menu is entirely vegetarian and stunningly presented. We all opted for a main with mixed salad or rather salads as you can see our mains of egg hog, mushroom and cashew flip and spinach and goats cheese tart was each served more salads than we could count.

Here is the main display

  and the lunches

To complete the occasion we each selected a different tea. The Sondes sells a wide range and also has an adjacent General Store crammed full of tempting goodies. Here is my Rhubarb Tisane