New Day: New Beginning

    • Banh Xeo

      Banh Xeo (Sizzling Crepe), should not be confounded with Banh Khoai (Happy Crepe). They kinda look the same, taste almost the same with the following differences, according to my mom. Banh Xeo is from the South. The batter usually includes coconut milk. Mung beans is added to the bean sprouts. The crepe is crispy and… Continue reading

    • April 18, 2017

      I didn’t want to wake up this morning. My body just wanted to lie there in the warm bed, my eyelids shut tight, my shoulders in pain if I moved. I think my body knew the state of my mind, so it refused to wake up. I could hear the buzzing of text messages but the… Continue reading

    • Surely Sixty, Sexy Sixty, Sensational Sixty

      Not anymore the funky fifty. Or the feisty. Or the furious. Actually, I was never furious about anything. So strike that. Sixty, no matter what everyone has said to me, is not fifty. It is a big whole 10 years more. It is being wiser, being more patient, with more pain felt in the joints, unsteady… Continue reading

    • Lemon Chicken from Saigon Resto

      A recipe loved by us all, and our customers back then when my parents opened the restaurant in San Diego. It is not really an authentic vietnamese dish, but something that we concocted ourselves, with a blend of french and asian seasonings. Ingredients: 2 Cornish hens (or 6 chicken thighs with skin) Sea salt and… Continue reading

    • Shrimp Toast – Bánh Mì Chiên Tôm

      I’m listing here the two variations of Shrimp Toast that I know and have made. The first recipe is the shrimp toasts style from Saigon, and the one which Mom made back in 1977 at Saigon Restaurant in San Diego. This version can be baked, but I think it comes out drier than if deep-fried. Next… Continue reading

    • Hay so’ng dum toi

      How do I say this … Blood binds you at birth. From the same father and mother. You grow up together, take care of each other more than husband and wife, through thick and thin, sickness and health. You don’t divorce your own sibling. Yet all you can do is watch the segregation, listen to… Continue reading