Ho Chi Minh City: Farm to Table Cooking Class & Organic Harvest

Cook what you pick, eat what you make

You harvest vegetables and herbs from an organic farm near Cu Chi, then cook four complete Vietnamese dishes under Chef Tan's guidance in a working kitchen. You eat what you make, take home recipes and a certificate, and return to your hotel with transport included: a full morning that turns cooking from something you watch into something you can repeat.

Step-by-step itinerary

Organic farm visit and cooking class

• Travel 1 hour to organic farm
• Explore farm and learn about plants
• Collect vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, spices
• Participate in hands-on cooking class
• Learn yin-yang cooking techniques
• Make your own Vietnamese dishes
• Receive certificate and recipes

The experience

The driver picks you up around midmorning, and after an hour on the road out of Ho Chi Minh City, you pull into Cu Chi and the noise just stops. Chef Tan meets you at the farm gate. He's the one who built this place from nothing, a former doctor and accountant who decided farming and cooking made more sense than either of those alone. He doesn't give you a speech. He just hands you a basket and walks you into the rows. You're picking the vegetables you'll cook with in a few hours, learning which herbs go into medicine and which go into the pot, why mushrooms grow the way they do. It's not a performance. It's just how the day works.

By the time you're in the kitchen (a real one, not a demo station) your hands already know some of what you're about to do. Chef Tan walks you through four dishes, one at a time, using yin-yang techniques that balance flavors in ways you didn't know Vietnamese cooking cared about. You're not watching him cook and then tasting it. You're doing all of it, every step, and he's there correcting your knife angle or telling you when the pan is hot enough. The jasmine tea keeps coming, unlimited, and nobody rushes you through the timing. After three or four hours, you sit down and eat what you made, and it tastes like you know how to do this now, because you do.

Before you leave, you get a certificate and printed recipes, so the farm to table cooking class doesn't end when you walk out the door. You actually can make these dishes at home, and you'll know why they work. The drive back into the city gives you time to think about how a doctor became a farmer, and why that somehow made sense.

What’s included

Your morning includes hotel pickup and return transport in an air-conditioned vehicle, a guided walk through the organic farm where you harvest vegetables, herbs, mushrooms and spices, a hands-on cooking class where you prepare four complete dishes, lunch eating what you've cooked, unlimited jasmine tea throughout the class, a bottle of mineral water on the drive back, printed recipes, and a certificate of completion.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 07:30, 11:30 and 14:00

Book up to6h before

AgesAdult (12 to 90 years) · Child (4 to 11 years) · Under 4: can't be booked

GroupUp to 15

Live guideEnglish and Vietnamese

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 5 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 6 days ago

Operated by Chef Tan Cooking Class

Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to actually cook, not just watch, and who have a free morning to spend an hour outside the city. The farm visit is what makes the cooking real. You're not learning techniques in a studio kitchen, you're learning them with the ingredients you picked an hour earlier.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and Vietnamese.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Child (4 to 11 years). Children under 4 can't be included in the booking.

How far is the farm from Ho Chi Minh City?

About an hour by car from your hotel in the city, in Cu Chi town.

Do I need cooking experience?

No. The class is 100% hands-on from the start, and Chef Tan teaches you each step.

Is lunch included?

Yes. You cook four dishes and eat them together after the class.

What's included in the price?

Air-conditioned transport, the farm visit, harvest, cooking class, lunch, jasmine tea, mineral water, recipes, and a certificate.

Can I request specific dishes?

Yes. Chef Tan is happy to accommodate requests in advance if you let him know when booking.

Is the farm organic?

Yes. It's the first certified organic farm in Vietnam, founded by Chef Tan himself.