Vietnamese herbs
The other day I met a writing friend who had visited Vietnam earlier in the year. She also did a cooking course there, which I would love to do. I’ve taught hundreds of Vietnamese students over the years, but have never been there myself. And my cooking is self-taught.
So we met in Victoria St, Richmond, which is known for its Vietnamese restaurants and groceries. There are two other aresa in Melbourne known for many Vietnamese restaurants etc — Footscray and Springvale, but Richmond is the oldest and most central, and convenient as we were coming from opposite ends of Melbourne.
One of the things I wanted to do — as well as eat — was to buy a range of Vietnamese herbs. There are several Vietnamese grocers and greengrocer shops and stalls near me, but this was an excuse to meet up with my friend.
One time years ago I tried to learn the names of the various herbs, and there was one particular one I liked, and I asked the woman there what its name was. She said “Rau” and I carefully wrote it down. But then the next one was “Rau” too.
It turned out that “rau” simply meant “herb” or sometimes “vegetable” LOL so that wasn’t much help. Supermarkets and plant nurseries here sell lemongrass, Vietnamese hot mint, mint, etc, but not the particular herbs I was after.
So this time I bought a range of herbs — Thai Basil, water mint, fish mint, Perilla and watercress. The mints are different from the one I have growing, and I know watercress isn’t particularly Vietnamese, but it’s only occasionally available in my supermarket and I want to try to grow it.
When I got home I looked them up and tasted them and now I have a bit more of an idea of their names and how to use them. And have been making Vietnamese food to use them up. Some of them are perfect in the fresh spring rolls I make, but others are better in cooked food.
My friend and I ate a delicious lunch — cooked spring rolls, which we wrapped with lettuce and mint, rice (of course), prawns and veggies, and sizzling Mongolian beef, which isn’t terribly Vietnamese, but was delicious. We washed it all down with lovely jasmine tea. There was so much food, I brought some leftovers home for dinner.
And we talked and talked and talked. It’s so lovely to catch up in person. We phone and email, but it’s not the same. We talked so much in fact that I forgot to take any photos for this blog, so I snapped a couple on the way back to my car.
And tonight, I’m meeting another bunch of author friends for dinner — our annual end-of-year get together. We only give small edible, generally hone-made gifts, so I’m making my usual — Christmas Crack (recipe here). I even found some gluten-free crackers to use, which is great, as one of the group is gluten intolerant.
What cooking are you doing at the moment? Or do you prefer to eat out?
