Today we were attending the first ever Vancouver Foodster hosted cooking class, (that I am aware of). And he has chosen a great chef and restaurant for his inaugural debut.
This is Crab Hot Lau, 2024 Vancouver Magazine’s best restaurant winner for the category of Vietnamese cuisine. This is the annual awards determined by industry professionals to recognize and acknowledge other industry superstars.
Tonight’s class was hosted within the restaurant, in a sectioned of portion of the regular dining room. A communal space which was still open for regular customers to dine in this Monday evening. I can see the spacing limitations and the desire to host such a class during least busy hours. However, as an attendee and a consumer, I did find the setting distracting from the overall experience. From trying to hear our chef/host over the murmur of chatting parties to the restaurant’s regular music, and the pause to sing happy birthday to one of the customers celebrating.
Without a microphone and the slight language barrier, it did make this class hard to follow. For those, like myself, who came in early enough to score a front row seat, we had the best experience. Here, we were able to ask questions, engage with our host and the restaurant staff, as well as capture memorable photos and video.
However for those who came in larger groups and decided to sit at a table amongst themselves, it did prove challenging to follow along. Between not being able to hear, see, or engage; and having to peer past those in the front filming and taking photos, like myself.
Although, everyone was invited to stand up and help themselves to a better view. In fact they encouraged us to do so. Our host asked who wanted to try assembling the recipes for themselves, and I naturally took advantage of the first hand learning.
All the above would be feedback I would later give the event organizer and the restaurant in hopes of more of such classes and a smoother experience for all. I recommend closing out the entire restaurant and having this as a private event, to remove majority of the concerns above. That, and to have more seats for ticket holders. Plus more sous chefs and assistants available to prepare the fresh plates, so that the host could engage with the audience more.
As for the cooking class itself, it was not only informative, but delicious. On top of the live presentation, the restaurant also played previously recorded footage broadcasted on the main television screen for everyone to take in. It also listed all the ingredients used for those who wanted to try remaking this at home.
The first recipe was their signature square shaped crab spring roll. A common sight in our chef’s hometown of Hai Phong, but new to myself, and the first that I know of in Vancouver’s Vietnamese cuisine scene. And the reason for this is the specialty wrapper used. It cannot be found anywhere in Canada and they have to import it from Hai Phong, monthly.
A square shaped, thin wrapper that resembles filo dough, but thinner and more tissue paper-like. This is the base of each and the following ingredients are folded in. A whole shrimp, a handful of BC Dungeness crab meat, a whole shrimp and a tossed mix of egg, fungus, shallot, crab meat, fish sauce, minced pork, bean sprouts, glass noodles, seasoning seeds, pepper, and shiitake mushrooms.
This all gets folded up quickly and neatly with two layers of wrapper, each painted over with a natural wash of daylily colouring. This is meant to dye and give the spring roll a warm, golden hue.
Then it gets a quick deep fry, stacked one on top of the other in a wire basket, and soaked in sizzling hot oil. Once done they are removed from heat and drained, before being cut up into four pieces. This done using kitchen shears, the easiest way to do this is to poke 1/2 of the blade into the centre and cut towards the outside, repeating for three more snips.
Each square is served with a side of fresh lettuce, greens and herbs, along with a bowl of their house, made sweet and tangy fish sauce to dip into. The result is a crispy and fragrant spring roll that solved the problem of there not being enough filling in the traditional cylinder spring roll.
The large chunk of shrimp in the middle was a nice surprise because everything else has a shredded and minced consistency to it. And given how much beansprout went into this, I am surprised that you don’t get any of its texture.
As attendees ate, the makeshift work bench was set up for the next demo. Another street style snack from our Chef’s hometown of Hai Phong. A stirred crab vermicelli that would be assembled to order today, like it would be in the streets of Vietnam.
With this one, you start by gathering up your vermicelli, cutting it down to the desired quantity. Then placing it into a wire mesh noodle basket for boiling. This gets dunked into boiling water over a propane stove. It doesn’t take long for the noodles to soften. They are then poured into a metal bowl for mixing and topped with the restaurant’s secret sauce and includes sugar for sweetening.
Our host is tightlipped about her proprietary ingredients, but based on the colour and its resemblance to the paint in our spring rolls above, I am guessing one of the ingredients is the daylily flower that dies everything it touches a golden marigold-hue.
Once sufficiently mixed, using our kitchen shears to not only stir, but to cut the noodles down to smaller strands; they are then poured out into a serving bowl. From here the noodles are topped with a mixture of crab meat, wood ear mushroom, fried shallots (that they also import from Vietnam), and a handful of fresh and raw, mixed lettuce, greens, and herbs.
A vibrant and colourful serving, the vermicelli has a wonderful, chewy texture. These are glassy noodles that easily slide past your lips and into your mouth. They are given a meaty chew by way of the seafood, and a nice crunch thanks to the shallots. It is finished off with the herbs that lend their unique bouquet of aromas. I have never had anything like it and I enjoyed it fully. I can definitely see myself ordering this in the future.
Once again, for those who wanted a more hands-on experience, we had the opportunity to mix our own noodle bowls. Chef Cherry was generous enough to let us dictate how much noodles we wanted and all the toppings we could handle. So for those who are greedy like myself, this was an extra treat piled high.
And once again, as we ate, the station was set up for the third and final demo with more crab noodles, but this time in a hot pho-like broth.
This had a similar process to the dish above, except using a thicker rounded noodle. One that did not soak up and get waterlogged the longer it sat in broth. Instead, it held its starchy chew. This is cooked the same way as the vermicelli, a quick dunk in hot water by way of wire basket. This too is stirred with kitchen shears and cut down to size by it.
This noodle is then topped with more of our crab and wood ear mushroom mix; and our mystery golden yellow sauce, but this time with tomato wedges soaking within. A scoop of this and a tomato sliced gets added to our noodles. Next, a large handful of herbs, including basil and lemongrass. All this before a generous scoop of broth is poured over. So much soup that it just about spills over. And finally the dish is finished with some crispy pork puffs. I did not know that meat can be fried this light and airy. I was in disbelief and had to confirm what I was eating was meat and not dry tofu puffs.
The soup was the highlight here, I could drink this every day, it was so clean and refreshing. It left you satisfied and fulfilled without any heaviness from excess grease. Another traditional bowl of Hai Phong noodles served street style.
At this point I, myself wanted to visit our Chef-host’s hometown to try more of these delicious and authentic dishes. Chef Cherry prided herself in the authenticity of her cuisine, wanting to preserve her culture through food. She has decided to do more of these workshops in order to teach the younger generation these skills and flavours that may otherwise be lost.
With a second location opening in the new future, which includes a room for private events like this; this is something the city will be seeing more of. And having taken the first ever class, personally preparing the dishes myself, then eating it fresh; I can attest that this is some thing to look into and participate in.
I already know I will be back in the future to have a full meal, and to try more of their food. And if it is anything like what we made today, I know I will be an instant fan.
Crab Hot Lau
2141 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC V5N 2T4
(604) 423-3633
crabhotlauvancouver.ca
