Wisdoms and Recipes
Let us gather together under the squash vines, share a meal, and learn some wisdoms and stories.
About the Recipes
What is the FIRST thing you think of when you think of Vietnamese food? Is it a bowl of phở as big as your head? Is it a single-served rice plate with a giant, juicy grilled lemongrass pork chop as the star of the show?
What if I told you…that THIS is the realistic representation of what we eat at home on a daily basis? And what if I told you, that before we arrived on the land of opulence and 8 oz. steak per person per meal, that THIS portion you see here was meant to be split with two or three people. That’s IF we were well-to-do. But somehow we still survived and thrived.
The secret playbook to a quick Vietnamese meal is this:
A stir fry dish (đồ xào): start with frying onions, garlic, chili, and lemongrass. Add any combination of vegetables and proteins, along with this sauce combination: soy sauce, a sweetener, rice vinegar, and chili or sesame oil.
A braised dish (đồ kho): start with frying onions, garlic, chili, and lemongrass (optional). Add one spoonful of sugar and caramelize until brown. Add any combination of vegetables and proteins, along with this sauce combination: soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and coconut water.
A soup dish (canh): start with frying onions and garlic. Add any combination of vegetables and mushrooms season granules. Add water. Cook until done. Top with green onions and cilantro.
Serve with white Jasmine rice.
About My Cooking Style
When I cook, I channel inspirations from my mom and other Vietnamese women I grew up with, especially in the 1990s, before Vietnamese cuisine became trendy and fetishized on social media.
Their style was simple, subtle, and elegant. They didn’t need to pile on a copious amount of oil, cheese, cream, meat…to make their foods appealing and delicious. They were MASTERS of balance, of texture and flavors, because they knew what they were doing. A sprinkle of toasted peanuts, a pinch of lemongrass, a splash of lime... and all of a sudden, a $5 meal became a gourmet dance of flavors.
And that’s what I want to showcase on my page: the simple, realistic meals that our moms cook at home after a long day of work, without the fetishization lens of your usual food vloggers vying for likes.
