The Nostalgic Bánh Tráng

Mệ Cuộc is an old lady with a gentle smile, fair complexion and her white hair was braided nicely into a bun. She had a small shop which sold everything, from cigarette to bánh mì, candy, spices, rubber bands, toys, etc. I was around three years old when I got to know her. My mother […]

Bánh Bèo Dĩa

“How does it taste, ma?” I excitedly asked my mother the moment she put the first piece of bánh bèo, which I had just made, in her mouth. “Good!” She replied while chewing the smooth and tender bánh bèo made of rice flour and topped with shredded shrimp. Just that single word from her put […]

Mrs. Đàm’s Cooking

I’ve been associated with my Pako* friends in A Lưới for a few years but I wasn’t impressed with their food until I met Mrs. Đàm. Her real name is Biên but according to Pako tradition it’s more polite to call a married woman after her first child. Mrs. Đàm does not read or write […]

Bánh Khoái Cá Kình

Right at a corner of chaotic Chuồn Market, there is a woman, surrounded with people, struggling with a dozen of pans. It’s O Lành (Auntie Lành), a great “bánh khoái cá kình” maker. She used a short stalk of a banana leaf coating the pan’s bottom with a thin layer of cooking oil. She then […]

Huế Food

Bánh nậm

While I was studying in Bandung, a city famous for its unique cuisine on Java Island (Indonesia), I had thought that my gastronomical urges would be satisfied by the abundance of local delicacies. Besides, there was a Vietnamese restaurant called Hanoi House to satisfy my craving for Vietnamese food. However, I still felt like something […]