Thanh Ha Market Class with Unlimited Homemade Rice Liquor

Four and a half hours that begin in a wet market in the middle of the Old Quarter, which is the real thing rather than a tidied version: the floor is damp, the fish is alive, and the guide explains what you are looking at.

Then the cooking, hands on, with a home chef teaching techniques that were handed down rather than taught in a school. Folk tales come with them, which is how most of this got remembered in the first place.

Two things separate this class from the others. The homemade liquor is unlimited and it is theirs. And dessert is a coffee tasting: salted, egg or coconut, the three Hanoi argues about, and you pick one.

The operator is careful about the kitchen. Top-grade ingredients, and oil that has not been used before, which is not something every class will say out loud.

Up to fifteen people, in English. A digital recipe book, a certificate on request, free drop-off in the Old Quarter, luggage storage for two days, and a shower if you have come straight from a flight and the room is free.

Every booking pays for charity meals for children in hospitals in central Hanoi.