~ Curious Charlie ~

Ba'get's Vietnamese Street Food Masterclass @ Saturday, February 13, 2016

Thursday 4th February
Charlie attended the event as a guest of Ba'get.

This week's event is a hands-on masterclass with Ba'get, an authentic Vietnamese Eatery with locations in the CBD and out west. Predominately a lunch spot the city locations are open till 6.30pm, perfect to grab dinner on the way to class as we often do.

We love Vietnamese food! With all the textures, herbs and freshness of it all. According to the front of house manager I've been here three days in a row! Which isn't true, I was here last week, yesterday and again today. :P

Mekong Breeze Cocktail

A rum cocktail; herbaceous, fresh, exotic; reminiscent of a warm evening by the Mekong.

Tonight with a cocktail in hand we're looking forwards to a hand-on workshop and learning new skills and recipes, to recreate at the house.

I loved the cocktail! It was perfect just a hint of sweetness, and very fresh. I'd drink this by the jug but that probably isn't a good idea, like that time we made lemonade and I had so much my gums ached. Moderation is key.

We're a regular at Ba'get had the grilled chicken vermicelli yesterday for dinner, which we were excited to discover that's what our first activity of the night.

Duy, the owner of Ba'get demonstrated how to make their 'Grilled Lemongrass Chicken', showing us how to chop the lemongrass, onion (no tears) and marinate the chicken. Then we got to do it too.

Marinating the Chicken

Placing the chicken on the grill we moved onto the next activity, rolling the bread. Duy's brother, Du, a baker of 15 yrs+ was our expert, demonstrated how to stretch the dough, and roll it to form the shape it'll rise to.

We had a go at that ourselves. I've never made bread before, so that was cool, pizza dough once or twice in home eco was the cloest we got.

Sketch & Roll

Popping it into the Oven

Next was the classic rice paper roll, always a fun activity, especially at a dinner party. We used fresh herbs, pickled carrots, lettuce, cucumber, fried onions and peanuts.

By now our grilled lemongrass chicken was ready, and we used them in the rolls. The chicken was even better then yesterday, and there isn't a crazy amount of lemongrass like in Thai food.

Ba'get has these white plates you could buy along with the dipping/holder thing (scroll up, three pictures ago), which has three sections, the middle to hold them and sides to dip them into. It made making the rice paper rolls much easier to dip. There were also special plate/holders to place the rolls on (pictured above).

Banh Mi is also a Vietnamese street food classic, especially for a quick lunch near college. Duy's sister showed us how to spread on the buttery spread. It was similar to aioli and dairy free, as it was created by the French at a time that there was no dairy cows in Vietnam at the time, so this was their version of butter.

After the buttery spread a layer of sauce was next, take care to cover both ends, front and back. Layer in your meat and veggies, not too much of the herbs. Then sprinkle from one end to the other in salt & pepper. You need each bite to contain it, or it won't be the same. For those who don't like pepper like me, it's not very strong. I love the attention to perfection and detail of that part.

Grilled Chicken Banh Mi - Made by Me!

Most of us had a few bites of the bread roll, as we were quick full from rice paper rolls and drinks (two so far). Breakfast for tomorrow's sorted!

Cassava Cake followed, it's made out of, well cassava which is a potato like root vegetable that grows in Vietnam, and is imported to Australia. It's also known as Bánh khoai mì, a Vietnamese cake made from grated cassava, sugar, coconut milk, and a small amount of salt. It's spongy and moist but not like cake, more like rice cakes, a snack you'll find at asian shops.

Here's the full sized cassava cake I bought the day before.

Is it too late for a third round of drinks? Never! I may not like coffee, another than the amazing uplifting aromas, but I love Vietnamese Iced Coffee! It's milky and not dark or bitter. Or too hot for me. :P How morman like his coffee: dark, bitter and too hot for you! My friend Andy said this is the best iced coffee he's had, and he's Vietnamese.

Soon our bread was ready, I always love the smell of bread baking.

A heart shaped one! Not mine.

Along with recipes we also bought home some bread (the ones we made, and some perfect ones), rice paper rolls and the baguette that I couldn't finish. We're looking forwards to making that lemongrass chicken and cocktail again! Perhaps even hosting a Vietnamese DIY dinner party.

Thanks for a great interactive and fun evening Ba'get!

If you're interested in signing up for the workshop, there's one next month where you can learn how to make spring rolls and vermicelli bowls. Get your tickets fast, as these events always sell out quickly! Tickets are $55 and can be purchased through eventbrite.

It'll be a fun night to remember, with recipes you can bring home. Great date night idea, especially if you're new to Vietnamese food, or just love to create some delicious and fresh food.

Have you been to Ba'get? What's your favourite Vietnamese street food?