Happy Tuesday! If you are running late, make sure you at least entertain and have fun. It’s nice to have a babysitter near by, Pamela has been the producer of Top Chef for the last 6 seasons. She makes sure that we are all on set when we should. I wasn’t late, I was actually early but as you can see I can be a distraction at the work place! just like I was in the classroom! Looking forward to working with all these fine folks later in the year. Any requests for season 7? @mbctopchef
ALERT! There is someone out posing as me and is reaching out to many of you pretending to be me. #fraudster #scammers
Ok this is the continuation from the post on cooking the banh Xeo to eating it. So this is how you eat it. There is a etiquette, but not here, as I’m a little hungry and this is one of those dishes I miss and have craved since leaving. Nobody makes it as good as here. What I love about many Vietnamese dishes is that it’s exciting in the palate, one bite can be weighted more with the flavour of the mustard greens with the smooth buttery crispiness of the pancake, where the next bite can be punctuated with mint or perilla leaves. Now the reason why you remove the stem of the mustard green and salad, is it makes it easier to fold and roll, otherwise it will crack and tear. #banhxeo #vietnamesestreetfood #streetfood
Ok this is the continuation from the post on cooking the banh Xeo to eating it. So this is how you eat it. There is a etiquette, but not here, as I’m a little hungry and this is one of those dishes I miss and have craved since leaving. Nobody makes it as good as here. What I love about many Vietnamese dishes is that it’s exciting in the palate, one bite can be weighted more with the flavour of the mustard greens with the smooth buttery crispiness of the pancake, where the next bite can be punctuated with mint or perilla leaves. Now the reason why you remove the stem of the mustard green and salad, is it makes it easier to fold and roll, otherwise it will crack and tear. #banhxeo #vietnamesestreetfood #streetfood
Ok this is the continuation from the post on cooking the banh Xeo to eating it. So this is how you eat it. There is a etiquette, but not here, as I’m a little hungry and this is one of those dishes I miss and have craved since leaving. Nobody makes it as good as here. What I love about many Vietnamese dishes is that it’s exciting in the palate, one bite can be weighted more with the flavour of the mustard greens with the smooth buttery crispiness of the pancake, where the next bite can be punctuated with mint or perilla leaves. Now the reason why you remove the stem of the mustard green and salad, is it makes it easier to fold and roll, otherwise it will crack and tear. #banhxeo #vietnamesestreetfood #streetfood
Ok this is the continuation from the post on cooking the banh Xeo to eating it. So this is how you eat it. There is a etiquette, but not here, as I’m a little hungry and this is one of those dishes I miss and have craved since leaving. Nobody makes it as good as here. What I love about many Vietnamese dishes is that it’s exciting in the palate, one bite can be weighted more with the flavour of the mustard greens with the smooth buttery crispiness of the pancake, where the next bite can be punctuated with mint or perilla leaves. Now the reason why you remove the stem of the mustard green and salad, is it makes it easier to fold and roll, otherwise it will crack and tear. #banhxeo #vietnamesestreetfood #streetfood
Ok this is the continuation from the post on cooking the banh Xeo to eating it. So this is how you eat it. There is a etiquette, but not here, as I’m a little hungry and this is one of those dishes I miss and have craved since leaving. Nobody makes it as good as here. What I love about many Vietnamese dishes is that it’s exciting in the palate, one bite can be weighted more with the flavour of the mustard greens with the smooth buttery crispiness of the pancake, where the next bite can be punctuated with mint or perilla leaves. Now the reason why you remove the stem of the mustard green and salad, is it makes it easier to fold and roll, otherwise it will crack and tear. #banhxeo #vietnamesestreetfood #streetfood
Ok this is the continuation from the post on cooking the banh Xeo to eating it. So this is how you eat it. There is a etiquette, but not here, as I’m a little hungry and this is one of those dishes I miss and have craved since leaving. Nobody makes it as good as here. What I love about many Vietnamese dishes is that it’s exciting in the palate, one bite can be weighted more with the flavour of the mustard greens with the smooth buttery crispiness of the pancake, where the next bite can be punctuated with mint or perilla leaves. Now the reason why you remove the stem of the mustard green and salad, is it makes it easier to fold and roll, otherwise it will crack and tear. #banhxeo #vietnamesestreetfood #streetfood
Join me at #EmiratesLitFest from 1-6 February 2023 where I’ll be celebrating their 15th anniversary with #OldFriends and new. Tickets are now on sale at https://tickets.emirateslitfest.com/
This joint, next to West Lake (where John McCane crashed his airplane during the Vîetnam war), lies a smaller lake known as Truc Bac Lake area where a small island sits. A rather modern Vietnamese dish was created #phocuon It was a tremendously hot day and none of the workers could bare eating the National dish #pho. This dish is both hot and cold, hot stir fried beef with garlic, tightly wrapped with fresh herbs and salad in a room temperature rice roll, served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. It’s iconic and it’s worth the journey if you are in Hanoi. Ask for Miss Vinh and tell her that I sent you! #streetfood #hanoi #ngon
To answer your questions from my last story, the godfather of jazz in Vîetnam quyen van minh, would allow me play at the jazz club every friday night. Eventually he put this band together with his son @dacvanminh and for 20 years, we would play at the jazz club, my restaurant every NYE, Sheraton hotel. Later, we would play at the culinary events in Singspore, Malaysia, HCMC. they would play jazz through the dinner while I cooked, then after dessert, I’d join them for some rock and roll. I’m extremely lucky to have been able to develop and maintain friendships with these talented musicians. Returning to Vîetnam, seeing many of my friends, some of my old staff was extremely enriching having not seen them during the lockdowns. It’s an appropriate song and a poignant reminder to keep on dreaming my life away, because, sometimes, dreams do come true. Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! @quyenthiendac @nguyenlong76 @buihuytuan @huydrums @hanoi_ink #wildhorses #hozo2022
There is a lot of fine dining in Vîetnam, street food is notorious, but casual international global cuisine with twists is exemplified by this restaurant that is out making a difference. The menu is using mostly local ingredients executed at a level that is exemplified in dishes like charred okra, great vegetable forward dishes like “not fries”, ‘broccolini with truffle creme fraiche won’t disappoint. It’s like #internationalizakaya . The whole dining scene has moved from district 1 to #thaodien if that wasn’t enough the restaurant practices good practices to reduce #foodwaste
I hear discovering the magical benefits of manuka honey at the source with Terry, apiarist extraordinaire from #earthboundhoney I know, it’s supposed to be summer here, but the island got hit by a cyclone! Any questions please feel free to ask! #manukahoney #newzealand
About last night… I love Vîetnam, I came as a foreigner, and left feeling Vietnamese! I made great friends, got live out my dreams in the culinary world and took Karaoke a step further where I get to do gigs like this. I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support of so many people, my staff, my friends, some turned adopting me like family. Humbled and honored to be part of all of this. To be able to return, catch up, jam with friends reinforces my love of Vîetnam. A huge thank you to @mindycoppin and the organizer & promoter @buihuytuan and his team that put on a world class production. Collosal thank you to my friends/ band mates @huydrums @nguyenlong76 HCMC’s second “Ho Do” International Music Festival 2022 which took place in Nguyen Hue walking street in District 1 and Thu Thiem 2 Tunnel Park in Thu Duc City on December 8-11, attracting over 150,000
About last night… I love Vîetnam, I came as a foreigner, and left feeling Vietnamese! I made great friends, got live out my dreams in the culinary world and took Karaoke a step further where I get to do gigs like this. I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support of so many people, my staff, my friends, some turned adopting me like family. Humbled and honored to be part of all of this. To be able to return, catch up, jam with friends reinforces my love of Vîetnam. A huge thank you to @mindycoppin and the organizer & promoter @buihuytuan and his team that put on a world class production. Collosal thank you to my friends/ band mates @huydrums @nguyenlong76 HCMC’s second “Ho Do” International Music Festival 2022 which took place in Nguyen Hue walking street in District 1 and Thu Thiem 2 Tunnel Park in Thu Duc City on December 8-11, attracting over 150,000
About last night… I love Vîetnam, I came as a foreigner, and left feeling Vietnamese! I made great friends, got live out my dreams in the culinary world and took Karaoke a step further where I get to do gigs like this. I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support of so many people, my staff, my friends, some turned adopting me like family. Humbled and honored to be part of all of this. To be able to return, catch up, jam with friends reinforces my love of Vîetnam. A huge thank you to @mindycoppin and the organizer & promoter @buihuytuan and his team that put on a world class production. Collosal thank you to my friends/ band mates @huydrums @nguyenlong76 HCMC’s second “Ho Do” International Music Festival 2022 which took place in Nguyen Hue walking street in District 1 and Thu Thiem 2 Tunnel Park in Thu Duc City on December 8-11, attracting over 150,000
About last night… I love Vîetnam, I came as a foreigner, and left feeling Vietnamese! I made great friends, got live out my dreams in the culinary world and took Karaoke a step further where I get to do gigs like this. I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support of so many people, my staff, my friends, some turned adopting me like family. Humbled and honored to be part of all of this. To be able to return, catch up, jam with friends reinforces my love of Vîetnam. A huge thank you to @mindycoppin and the organizer & promoter @buihuytuan and his team that put on a world class production. Collosal thank you to my friends/ band mates @huydrums @nguyenlong76 HCMC’s second “Ho Do” International Music Festival 2022 which took place in Nguyen Hue walking street in District 1 and Thu Thiem 2 Tunnel Park in Thu Duc City on December 8-11, attracting over 150,000
This is another gem of a dish, crab cellophane noodles which was the inspiration for my @lobster cellophane noodles (less the msg of course). Cooked in real-time 3:30 minutes. #crab #streetfood #i❤️vietnam
This is another gem of a dish, crab cellophane noodles which was the inspiration for my @lobster cellophane noodles (less the msg of course). Cooked in real-time 3:30 minutes. #crab #streetfood #i❤️vietnam
Back in the day, this street used to be a dead-end street, lined with Banh Xeo Restaurants, today the lone survivor, expanded into their former neighbors houses. Banh Xeo, (cake & Xeo or the sound ‘SEAR’ in Vietnamese! AKA as a crispy cake or ‘crispy crepe’. Personally I think it has a closer to the Indian papadam. This dish epitomizes everything that makes Vietnamese one of the great cuisines of the world. It’s a modern cuisine perfected thousands of years ago. It’s light, clean, generally gluten free, low fat, healthy, that is simply delicious. Vietnamese are the Masters of contrasts and this dish has it all. From a dipping sauce that ties it all together to a dish that’s cooked & raw, hot & cold, sweet & sour, with contrasting colors, flavors and textures that can send any foodie into s culinary nirvana Traditionally this dish is served with thin slices of cooked pork belly and prawns (skells on) a naturally nutritious source of calcium. She makes it look easy, but technically its far from it, as there are potential pitfalls. The pan has to be hot and at the perfect temperature. Experience is your sole guide when it comes to gauging the heat & timing especially on wood and charcoal. Precooked slices of Pork belly and unshelled prawns (a naturally nutritious source of calcium). Are heated in the pan. A rice flour coconut batter is thinned with water and a hint of turmeric ladled and rapidly spun with a quick twist of the wrist, coating the the pan with a thin coat encasing the prawns & pork. Mung beans are immediately added to adhere to the moist batter before it solidifies, which subtlety adds additional fiber and texture with the semi cooked bean sprouts. (You can request a vegetarian version omitting both animal proteins, however the Nuoc Cham dipping sauce is a must) im sorry I didn’t get the name or details of the tour guide, as he was very knowable, passionate and kind. I was having difficulty multitasking. We also got a good giggle at the end. #banhxeo #streetfood #vietnam
Well, I always thought that this would have made a great advertisement for a luggage company that make the 4 wheel spinner. Traffic was so crazy in Hanoi, I took it for a ride on the freeway. I always love driving down this road because of the mosaic that tells the story of Hanoi. It was the brainchild of my dear friend Michael DiGregorio now at the Asia Foundation. A true visionary, he pitched this to the government 5 years before the 1,000 year anniversary and with corporate sponsors built one of the longest mosaics in the world. If you haven’t noticed, I like to live on the end. You see more that way. #rimowa #mosaic #hanoi
Here’s a glimpse of last year…. Very grateful to you all. I’d like to thank you all personally, but seeing that it has taken me three hours for me to edit the video and post, it ain’t happening for a while! Happy New Year to you all! May we all be prosperous in love and kindness!
I just wanted to wish all of you a happy new year by saying Kung Hei Fat Choy yo all of you out there and a Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! To all my Vietnamese friends out there as we celebrate the Year of The rabbit & The Year of The Cat respectively. You might ask why it isn’t the same zodiac animal if it’s celebrating the same calender, and this is when you can honestly say “same same but different“ There are several theories, but one of the post popular one is that the word for rabbit ‘Mao’ is very similar to the pronunciation of the word cat in Vietnamese. Regardless, I wish you all a healthy and happy new year
I just wanted to wish all of you a happy new year by saying Kung Hei Fat Choy yo all of you out there and a Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! To all my Vietnamese friends out there as we celebrate the Year of The rabbit & The Year of The Cat respectively. You might ask why it isn’t the same zodiac animal if it’s celebrating the same calender, and this is when you can honestly say “same same but different“ There are several theories, but one of the post popular one is that the word for rabbit ‘Mao’ is very similar to the pronunciation of the word cat in Vietnamese. Regardless, I wish you all a healthy and happy new year
