Noodles! — Feenster

A local baker and his wife graciously welcomed us into their home for a quick intro to homemade noodles and rice crackers. All of the classes we’d done up until this point were held in cooking schools designed for tourists. This was different, and I loved getting a close look at how this family prepared such special foods.

Rice crackers had appeared alongside salads and propped up in noodle dishes throughout Hoi An. Kind of like croutons on a salad, rice crackers provide a nice crunch to an otherwise soft noodle dish.

The cracker making consists of three steps:

1. Cook pancake

2. Dry pancake in sun to transform into cracker

3. Toast cracker

4. Eeeaat

Ok that’s four steps but the last one’s obvious 😜

The recipe actually starts by making very large, thin pancakes. Sort of like a French crêpe. Our host ladled a thin batter of rice flour, water, and seeds onto a hot iron grill.

Then he quickly covered the batter with a pot lid and let it cook. Only 30 seconds. Quickly, he stuck a wooden paddle under the pancake, flipped it onto the green board, and that’s it! Sounds simple, right? Welllll, at the very last second, you must flick your wrist just as you whisk the pancake to the board. Otherwise the pancake sticks to itself and becomes a big blobby blob. Have you ever had duck tape stick to itself? It’s like that. And there’s no un-sticking what’s been stuck, ya feel me?

Anyways, my pancakes turned out all right. But the wrist flick takes practice! I’m pretty sure our host can flip pancakes with this eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. He made it seem effortless. I have newfound appreciation for all the rice crackers I’ve consumed in the last three days.

After cooking, the pancakes are left to dry in the hot sun. After most of the moisture has evaporated, these look more like crackers. Size-wise, the cracker is a little bigger than my hand, if I spread all my fingers out.

Last, we toasted the crackers over hot coals. Basically, this just makes it nice and crispy. Once toasted, it’s ready to eat!

But first, some noods.

Since noodles were our main dish, our host showed us how to make them. The noodles and rice crackers begin in essentially the same way. Make a thin batter of rice flour and water and cook circle-shaped pancakes, much like a crêpe.

But this time, you take the cooked pancake, fold it over, and cut it into long, thin strips like so:

This is another dish where patience and repetition is key. Methodically and carefully cut the noodles, and you’ll be rewarded with a tangle of satisfyingly even noods. Cut wildly into the pancakes and you’ll get a bunch of uneven, squashed noodles on your hands. I’m convinced it’s all in the wrists.

Last but not least, we picked fresh herbs as garnish. Now that I think about it, “garnish” makes these herbs sound optional, when they’re actually integral. Since the noodles are squishy, soft, and carbalicious (yes, that’s a word now 🍞🥖🥐🥞) the herbs offer a lighter, fresher note. Kind of like how lemon or vinegar lightens up fried fish.

Our host’s wife took what we made and turned it into some world-class noods. She had already prepared a deep, savory broth, meat and shrimp, and tiny cooked quail eggs.

Vietnamese food is all about balance, and this dish was no exception. The savory broth was addictively good, the noods were expertly cut 😋, the shrimp, pork, and quail’s egg provided a rich fatty flavor, and the herbs added freshness. Oh and the cracker offered crunch. It was glorious. Our Vietnamese guide went back for thirds, so you know it was good.