VIETNAM what’s


COOKING


the heat. Our Vespa putters to a stop outside a leafy seaside shack called Shore Club and, minutes later, I’m sipping on a kumquat martini overlooking the popular An Bang Beach. Over the course of our four-hour tour, we


Any lover of Asian food will recognise the fresh, fragrant y>ÛÕÀÃ v 6iÌ>iÃi V}°


 ÌÀ« Ì  č ÜÕ`


Li V«iÌi ÜÌÕÌ Ã>«} ÌiÃi `iVÕà `iV>Við CAO LAU


Hoi An’s signature dish includes barbecued pork,


thick rice noodles, greens, herbs and broth. The rice noodles are made from rice soaked in lye water, giving them their unique, chewy texture.


WHITE ROSE DUMPLINGS


A secret, 100-year-old recipe held by a third-generation family of Chinese settlers, these white rose-shaped dumplings can only be found in Hoi An. Visit the restaurant at 533 Hai Ba


Trung Street, where the family makes 6,000 dumplings a day. COM GA


Chicken and rice cooked in the same water form the staple ingredients of this simple, savoury dish. Flavour with bean sprouts, soy, chilli and Vietnamese basil for tastiest results.


BANH XEO


6JGUG TKEG ƃQWT RCPECMGU CTG EQNQWTGF [GNNQY YKVJ VWTOGTKE and peppered with bean sprouts and pieces of pork and shrimp. Diners roll them up in rice paper, adding lettuce, sweet kimchi and a good dunking of peanut sauce.


PHO


This deliciously savoury broth is Vietnam’s best-known dish. A clear pork or chicken based-broth is simmered for hours, before adding rice noodles, herbs and thinly-cut meat.


BANH MI


# OCTMGF TGOPCPV QH (TGPEJ EQNQPKCNKUO [QWoNN ƂPF UVCNNU selling these Vietnamese sandwiches on every corner. A DCIWGVVG KU URNKV NGPIVJYC[U CPF ƂNNGF YKVJ RQTM EQTKCPFGT cucumber, pickled carrots and spicy chilli sauce.


wind through ramshackle pathways and paddy wi`Ã `ÌÌi` ÜÌ ÜÀiÀÃ  VV> >ÌÃ  search of Hoi An’s best-kept culinary secrets. Unassuming restaurants and roadside cafes serve everything from famous white rose dumplings – perfected over 100 years from a ÃiVÀiÌ v>Þ ÀiV«i q Ì }Ài` Ã>ii>` wÃ] glossy with chilli lime sauce. And it’s all washed down with ice-cold local beer.


Four Seasons style


This is just one of the experiences our paradisiacal home for the week, Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai, can orchestrate at the drop of a hat. Located halfway between Hoi An and Da Nang in the Quang Nam province, the acclaimed hotel has preferred partnerships with a select number of tour companies, with private excursions specially curated with the Four Seasons guest in mind. We mention we’d like to explore Hoi An’s historic Old Town and a walking tour is swiftly arranged – our group is ferried into the centre on one of four shuttles that run between the hotel and the city every day. The air-conditioned, Wi-Fi-powered journey takes a mere 15 minutes and our driver waits for our return with cold, watermelon-scented towels. Local guide Quy unpicks the rich history of Hoi An as we pass brightly-coloured manicured temples, market stalls laden with durian fruit and myriad lanterns criss-crossing above streets. The "` /Ü yÕÀÃi` >Ã > ÌÀ>`} «ÀÌ  Ìi £xÌ century, we learn, and by the 18th century, was regarded by Chinese and Japanese merchants as one of the most important trade ports in all of southeast Asia. Trading moved to nearby Da Nang soon after Vietnam was colonised by the French in 1885, but Hoi An feels as though it


84 ASPIRE SEPTEMBER 2019 aspiretravelclub.co.uk


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