We started the day meeting the chef over coffee. We looked over the menu and talked about what dishes would be best to prepare. After some debate, we decided on the following:

• Banana flower salad
• Fresh spring rolls
• Banh xeo (Vietnamese pancakes)
• Grilled fish in banana leaf

Then the chef surprised us each with traditional Vietnamese hats to wear to the market. The first phase of the class was visiting the local market to identify and purchase the ingredients we needed. Our first stop, the veggie section, was filled with women donning their silk pajamas and traditional hats crammed behind their baskets overflowing with red chilies, fresh morning glory, garlic, aubergine, carrots, etc. There were tomatoes stacked neatly in piles, purple onions flowering the walkways, and bright green bean sprouts scattered between several different tables. The chef pointed out the vegetables specific to Vietnam and bought the ones we would be using in our food later that morning.

The fruit section was filled with the standards: apples, mangos, bananas, oranges and more, but one local fruit, the dragonfruit, always caught my eye (if only it taste as good as it looked).

Next, we snaked our way through the small aisles fighting the bustling local crowd to the fish. It was right along the river, but being out in the open didn’t help whisk away the hot, muggy, fishy smell. There were large fish and small fish, live fish and dead fish, there were fish that were being filleted and even fish being ground into fish cakes. We picked our cuttle fish quickly and kept moving (trying to dodge the fish guts on the ground with our sandals).

Finally to the meat market, where in addition to the standard cuts of raw meat (not refrigerated of course), we found live chickens in their cages, full size pigs waiting to be slaughtered, and numerous other animal parts including hooves, ears, intestines and brains. It had less of a smell than the fish market, but seeing the pigs squealing as they were being pulled from their pen by their hind legs didn’t make me feel any better. Finally, we stopped to pick up a few lovely smelling spices on our way out of the market.

We headed back to the restaurant where we were given our chef jackets and hats. We worked our way through the process of making each dish. First chopping and slicing the ingredients, then mixing the sauces, filleted the meat and finally preparing the dishes. To top it off, we were even taught a few tips on food presentation. By noon, we had successfully prepared 4 beautiful dishes each! And of course we saved the best part for last… sitting down and enjoy our freshly prepared Vietnamese meal!

If you’re interested in any of the recipes, feel free to email us at contact[at]withoutaguide[dot]com and we’d be more than happy to send them to you!

We drove another 45 minutes to a remote military base where we loaded the trunk with weapons. While I was just there for the RPG, our car mates were there for the RPG, Grenade Launcher, Hand Grenades and K57 Machine Gun. Finally we arrived. With a propane tank on the horizon (which we all missed) I set the RPG launcher on my shoulder, put on ear protection an pulled the trigger. It was an awesome experience! I actually felt like I was inside one of the hundreds of video games I’ve played where shooting an RPG is routine. It might have cost $300, but I’ll certainly have a great conversation starter for years to come!

Here’s the video:

The Bug + Spider Lady

Today, we decided to explore the Khmer cuisine, looking specifically for one thing: fried tarantulas. Not knowing where these creepy crawlers were hiding, we got lost in the labyrinth of the Central Market of Phenom Penh where they have women butchering carcasses of animals next to manicure chairs, oiled car parts next to undergarments, and fruits and vegetables next to turtles, frogs, and fish (both dead and alive). The rain found it’s way between the tarp roofs very quickly and before we knew it, we were wading around in a mix of muddy water, fish guts, meat shards, and vegetable peelings. Needless to say it was not pleasant but we knew it’d be worth the effort. After asking several local workers where the “a-ping” was (the word for spider in Khmer), we were finally pointed in the direction where we finally located the bugs… right next to the jewelry of course!

Our Bag of Bugs

There were two women sitting on small plastic foot stools with 4 sacks in front of them: tarantulas, crickets, mealworms and king-size cockroaches. I was excited for the adventure but when I finally got up close and personal with these massive bugs, I was no longer enthused about the thought eating them. They looked too alive to be dead much less edible but we couldn’t turn away now. We ordered a bag of assorted buggy goodness and thanked the women for helping us fulfill our strange desire. By now, I was not hungry nor impressed with the bag I was holding. I looked to Chris, who had a massive smile across his face, and while I tried to give off a quick grin, deep down I was sick because I knew what came next… eating them. For those of you who don’t know, I’m deathly afraid of spiders so holding this huge tarantula amongst other huge bugs was already creepy for me.

We weren’t ready to eat our new delicacies yet, so we carried them around for the rest of the day. Finally, after a few beers at a bar, it was time to open the bag. Chris started with the *main course* (the spider), first trying one of the legs, and finally taking the plunge to eat its massive body. In his words: “It’s good. It doesn’t taste like much more than something fairly tasteless that’s fried. I’d definitely eat another!” I couldn’t bring myself to eat a spider, but I did try a mealworm, cricket and part of the giant cockroach. They definitely weren’t the worst things I’ve ever tried, but I won’t be eating them again any time soon.

To top off the night, our waitress noticed we had many leftover bugs that we weren’t going to finish and called the other waitresses over. They all started to chow down like they hadn’t eaten all day. I guess it’s a good thing someone loves those little guys (or should I say big guys). I’d much rather them be eaten than be running around my $10 hotel room!