MY STORY
I love to cook and my romance with food dates back to my early childhood in Vietnam (more about that in a minute). I spend my weekends and free time experimenting with new recipes. I love to combine what I've learned from my mother (traditional Vietnamese cooking) with elements I have picked up from other cultures I have picked up during my travels… ingredients, techniques and presentations.. I originally started this cooking adventure to pass down my recipes to my children and it has grown from there.
I've always loved to cook and eat everything, but over the last few years I've been eating much healthier and a big part of that has involved rice paper wrappers. Here you will learn creative ways to eat fresh herbs, seasonal vegetables with lean protein… it’s very tasty and good for you.
I also like to write about family, Vietnamese culture and my travel experiences. With my husband Ross, I make videos about food and our adventures as we explore Vietnam and the rest of the world. You can watch them on my YouTube Channel.
During the pandemic, I had a lot of extra time on my hands. I was taking care of my parents and I wanted to do more than just work from home; I wanted to improve my life with all the idle time I had. I was surrounded by food… delicious home cooked meals. Looking through old photos of my parents took me back to my childhood…
My sister Cuong, me, mom and Phuong standing in front of our thatched house, An Phú Đông, 1980I was born in southern Vietnam in a town outside Saigon called An Phú Đông,. During the fall of Saigon (1975) my father was pinned down and forced to escape. He had to leave my mother, along with me and my three siblings behind. Life was a struggle for us as my mother was pregnant with my youngest sister and our home in the city was becoming less safe by the day. By chance, my maternal grandparents were farmers and had some land. They built us a shack made out of bamboo shoots and palm fronds on their Jasmine farm. Everyday I helped my mother pick the Jasmine flowers, and accompany her to the market to sell them. To this day, I can still recall my childhood memories of walking through through the village market, seeing the variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, smelling the herbs and the delicious street foods along the roadside. I wanted so badly to taste the food but my mother couldn't afford it. The Jasmine flowers were barely enough to exchange for a bag of rice, to feed our whole family, certainly not enough for snacks of any kind. I recall wanting to be a street food vendor when I grew up so that I could eat as much food as I wanted. When I walk through markets today, the sizzling sounds of banh xeo (savory pancake) and all the smells remind me of my childhood. We were fortunate enough to reunite with my father in 1982 and he brought us all to the United States.
From age 12 on I have made my home in the States. I went to High School in San Antonio. I studied Finance in college and have been working in the consulting industry since then. I also got married and had three beautiful kids. I have traveled all over the world and my palette has become more sophisticated … but my love for Vietnamese cuisine remains the same.
In April 2020, I read a blog by Andrea Nguyen about rice paper rolls and was inspired to learn everything I could learn about rice paper. I started to buy all different brands and types of rice paper at the Asian market. Every day I tested out new ways to eat veggies, herbs, and protein using multiple types of different rice paper.
Eating fresh herbs, raw vegetables and using rice paper has completely changed my life and has brought back my health, energy, and vitality! I am no longer hungry, but I still have the desire to share my passion for food and, in particular, rice paper rolls as loudly as I can.
I am still learning and hope to continue to share my journey with all of you. Thanks for dropping by.
