Tra Que village, 2km from Hoi An town, was a wonderful stopover for Bill Zou and Alexandra Pabon from New York.

Theyhad time to travel around the UNESCO-recognised heritage port city andtaste its food. But they found the most fun was learning to cookVietnamese food and then eating it.

Tra Que Water Wheel, in themiddle of the popular Tra Que Village, was a cool option for the twoAmericans exploring Asian cooking and farming. Water Wheel hostsVietnamese farm tours and cooking classes.

"It was a very niceday when we explored Hoi An market and chose produce for the kitchen.Spring rolls with salad was the first dish we learned at Water Wheel,"Bill said.

"The guide prepared sliced papaya, carrot, squid,chilli and vinegar for a salad. It was a bit difficult squeezing thepapaya, but I eventually finished the process and added herbs, pepperand chilli," he said.

"Rolling rice paper needs skilful hands – and we slowly got going. It's an easy dish to make – and eat," Bill said.

Nguyen Thi Hien, a guide, said the tour offered visitors a real experience with cooking skills and local lifestyles.

"Touristsare asked to visit Hoi An market by bicycle. We guide tourists on whatfood to select and how to bargain with sellers," Hien said.

"Weoffer different menus to tourists before they go to market. They canchoose food for six dishes for their lunch at the Water Wheel," shesaid.

She said vegetarian spring rolls and pancakes were the favourite dishes among foreigners at the restaurant.-VNA

Duong Hien Hoang, owner of the Water Wheel restaurant, said the restaurant was based in a garden at Tra Que herb village.

"Tourists can find a tranquil rural life with vegetable farming in the 500-year-history village," he added.

"Thesymbol of the Water Wheel belongs to rice farming. They can be seen inremote areas in Vietnam. The bamboo wheel help direct water frommountains to paddy-fields," he said.

He said the restaurant was built of bamboo and had a thatched roofs to cool it down on hot summer days.

Jean Baptiste, a French tourist, said Tra Que village was the second stop for his family in Vietnam after HCM City.

Hisfive-member family enjoyed making banh trang, a traditional Vietnamesedish made by using paper-thin wrappers made by steaming rice-flourliquid. When the liquid solidifies in the steam, the wrappers are thenfilled with the ingredients one desires, cut up and served with sauces.

"It'svery interesting when my kids joined in making the wrappers. The guidejust instructed us once and we could do, but not as fast," Baptistesaid.

"My kids have never had such a close experience with rurallife. Anyway, they loved the taste of the food that they madethemselves," he said.

"It's a bit difficult to use a bamboo wandto pick up the steamed rice wrappers from the steam-pot, but the secondand third tries were more successful. The dish is not fat because therolls are filled with herbs and just a little oil. We love it so much,"he added.

Baptiste said rice wrappers could also be used to roll amixture of salad and bean sprouts called banh cuon (steamed rolled-ricepancake).

Bill Zou said papaya squid salad was a delicious and easy dish.

"Itry to do the dish once a day in New York. Tra Que is quite differentto my city of skyscrapers and multitudes of cars," Bill said.

"Ialso learned how to grill fish in banana leave on a charcoal stove. Theguide instructed me to fan the coals with my hand, but to keep the fishout of the flames," she said.

The tour manager, Hoang said thereare different options for tourists at Water Wheel including farmingskills and exploring the village by bicycle.

"We also include avegetarian menu in our cooking classes and foot massages after shoppingin Hoi An and riding bikes around town," he said./.