My Vietnam: Stories and Recipes

350 Pages·2011·19.384 MB·English

by  Luke Nguyen

my
A stunningly
m
Luke Nguyen
Luke Nguyen, chef and coauthor of the
beautiful love y internationally bestselling book Secrets of
Luke Nguyen was born in 1978 in Thai- the Red Lantern, returns home to discover

land, shortly after his parents and elder letter to Vietnam, v the best of regional Vietnamese cooking.
siblings fl ed Vietnam as boat people. After vietnam In My Vietnam he takes a personal and
spending a year in a Thai refugee camp, i culinary tour to learn more about one of
from a top chef
his family settled in Sydney, Australia. e the richest, most diverse cuisines in the
Luke is the chef and owner of the world.
award-winning Sydney Vietnamese t Starting in the north of Vietnam and
restaurant Red Lantern and coauthor of ending in the south, Luke visits his family
n
the bestselling book Secrets of the Red ... On my right, vendors and friends, is invited into the homes of
Lantern. Luke also hosts culinary adven- local Vietnamese families, and meets food
a
ture tours of Vietnam, and has produced a offer steamed buns, snails dipped experts and local cooks. Accompanying
TV series about Vietnamese food and in fish sauce, and handmade tofu so m his stories are more than 100 regional and
travel broadcast in the United States on stories and recipes family recipes—from Tamarind Broth
freshly pressed there is steam still
the Cooking Channel. with Beef and Water Spinach to Wok-

In 2009, he founded the Little Lantern rising from it. I’m so excited I feel like tossed Crab in Sate Sauce—and vibrant,

Foundation, which gives disadvantaged jumping up and down, but I calm myself, stop l stunning photographs. Together these
youths in Vietnam an opportunity to capture the beauty of Vietnam and her
and sit down. I close my eyes and listen to
u
undertake a hospitality training program people’s deep connection to food.
the songs of the Sapa market ...
(www.littlelanternfoundation.org).
k
Luke
e

n
Nguyen
g
u
y
e
n
Printed in China
US $40.00
LYONS PRESS
Guilford, Connecticut
www.LyonsPress.com
lyons
Lyons Press is an imprint
press
of Globe Pequot Press
my
A stunningly
m
Luke Nguyen
Luke Nguyen, chef and coauthor of the
beautiful love y internationally bestselling book Secrets of
Luke Nguyen was born in 1978 in Thai- the Red Lantern, returns home to discover

land, shortly after his parents and elder letter to Vietnam, v the best of regional Vietnamese cooking.
siblings fl ed Vietnam as boat people. After vietnam In My Vietnam he takes a personal and
spending a year in a Thai refugee camp, i culinary tour to learn more about one of
from a top chef
his family settled in Sydney, Australia. e the richest, most diverse cuisines in the
Luke is the chef and owner of the world.
award-winning Sydney Vietnamese t Starting in the north of Vietnam and
restaurant Red Lantern and coauthor of ending in the south, Luke visits his family
n
the bestselling book Secrets of the Red ... On my right, vendors and friends, is invited into the homes of
Lantern. Luke also hosts culinary adven- local Vietnamese families, and meets food
a
ture tours of Vietnam, and has produced a offer steamed buns, snails dipped experts and local cooks. Accompanying
TV series about Vietnamese food and in fish sauce, and handmade tofu so m his stories are more than 100 regional and
travel broadcast in the United States on stories and recipes family recipes—from Tamarind Broth
freshly pressed there is steam still
the Cooking Channel. with Beef and Water Spinach to Wok-

In 2009, he founded the Little Lantern rising from it. I’m so excited I feel like tossed Crab in Sate Sauce—and vibrant,

Foundation, which gives disadvantaged jumping up and down, but I calm myself, stop l stunning photographs. Together these
youths in Vietnam an opportunity to capture the beauty of Vietnam and her
and sit down. I close my eyes and listen to
u
undertake a hospitality training program people’s deep connection to food.
the songs of the Sapa market ...
(www.littlelanternfoundation.org).
k
Luke
e

n
Nguyen
g
u
y
e
n
Printed in China
US $40.00
LYONS PRESS
Guilford, Connecticut
www.LyonsPress.com
lyons
Lyons Press is an imprint
press
of Globe Pequot Press
My
Vietnam
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stories and recipes
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stories and recipes
my
vietnam
Luke Nguyen
of red lantern
photography by alan Benson
and Suzanna boyd
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contents
stories and recipes 7
the songs of sapa 10
hanoi elegance 36
imperial hue 74
charming hoi an 100
quiet quy nhon 130
miss nha trang 160
dalat in bloom 194
steaming saigon 226
my mekong 262
family in phan thiet 290
basic recipes 328
glossary 338
index 340
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stories
and recipes
I have traveled to many countries, but year after year, Vietnam lures me back
— I love the vibrant colors of its landscape and the hospitality of its people,
and each time I discover more about its diverse regional cuisine.
I begin my journey with my partner Suzanna, in the northern highlands
of Sapa. We make our way south to the capital, Hanoi, then further down to
the central regions of Hue, Hoi An and the coastal area of Quy Nhon. It is
here that Suzanna heads back home, and I continue to travel further south to
Saigon, where I meet up with my parents. Together we explore the city where
they grew up, visiting family and friends there, as well as in Phan Thiet and
the Mekong Delta.
The chapters in this book feature recipes from each region I visited. These
are recipes handed down from my mother, father, uncles and aunties; many
were inspired from local street food vendors, who cooked for me curbside,
or from people who invited me back to their homes for dinner, some even
sharing age-old recipes passed down from generation to generation.
Kitchens in Vietnam are small and simple but very efficient. Every kitchen
has a wok, a steamer, a stockpot, a mortar and pestle, a heavy cleaver and lots
of large soup bowls and clay pots. Before getting started, visit your local Asian
market or Chinatown and purchase the basic equipment needed. There, you’ll
also find all the ingredients that I’ve used in these recipes.
A typical Vietnamese dinner always consists of many dishes placed in
the middle of the table and shared — amazing combinations of meat dishes,
seafood dishes, vegetables, salads and simple cleansing soups, all very well
balanced and served with jasmine rice.
The recipes in this book are designed to be eaten the Vietnamese way
and shared among 4–6 people, with the exception of cakes, desserts and
the more substantial broths with noodles, which can be enjoyed as a meal
in themselves.
For Vietnamese people, food is our life; we are forever eating, cooking and
talking about food. Food is communication — food is culture.
stories and recipes 7
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