Mời cả nhà ăn cơm!

Es wird immer dieses Spannungsfeld geben zwischen dem, was wir servieren wollen, was wir authentisch finden, und dem, dass man eben Kund*innen gewinnen muss. Man kann natürlich auch selbst Impulse setzen, das sollte man auch, aber so wird es nicht sein, dass man einfach sagt: ‚Weil mắm tôm uns am besten schmeckt, machen wir das als Hauptspeise.’ Denn natürlich gibt es dieses Spannungsfeld zwischen dem, was wir servieren und vermitteln wollen, was sich verkauft und wie man mit seinem Laden überleben kann.

I believe my cooking is sort of a mix of my inherited cultures and what is accessible to me. So it might not always follow the traditional path, but sticks to those major flavors, and I mean, what is Vietnamese food for the diaspora? Can we make it whatever we want or is it only what people are eating now or have eaten in Vietnam?

As I grew older there were some things I didn’t know. I’d research online on how to make particular things and I still do. Unless it’s quite a tricky dish, I will ask my parents, but the way that they communicate is like: „This much ginger (showing me their thumb), like this much soy sauce or like this much fish sauce (making a pouring action for a few seconds), you just taste it and you know.“ It’s not very precise. So, when I have to do large quantities for catering, I use online recipes, then do a trial and then talk to my dad about it to make adjustments.