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.

I was born in southern Vietnam in a town called An Phu Dong. After the fall of Saigon (1975) my father escaped and left my mother, along with me and my four siblings behind. Life was a struggle for us as my mother was pregnant with my youngest sister and we had our home in the city. By chance our grandparents on my mother's side were farmers and had some land. They built us a shack made out of bamboo leaves from their Jasmine farm. Everyday I helped my mother pick the Jasmine flowers, walk to the market, and sell them. To this day, I can still recall my childhood memories–walking through 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 enough to exchange for a bag of rice to feed our whole family and not enough for snacks of any kind. I recall wanting to be a street food vendor growing up so that I could eat as much food as I wanted. I often find the certain smell of food today or the sizzling sounds of banh xeo (savory pancake) reminded me of these memories. We were fortunate enough to reunite with my father in 1982. I studied Finance in college and have been working in the consulting industry since then. I have traveled often for work and have eaten in fine restaurants along the Pacific Northwest 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 visiting my page.