Enjoying the delicious nem chua makes me appreciate the hard-working mother of mine. To make some extra cash during our first year in America, mom would make all sorts of Vietnamese goodies including banh and banh tec for as low as fifty cents a pop. The owner of the Vietnamese store would benefit the extra fifty cents just to have a little space for my mom’s goodies. Every Thanksgiving my sister’s company would hand out either a big can of ham or a turkey. We picked the ham because we didn’t know what to do with the big chicken. So mom turned that big American chunk into Vietnamese savory nem chua that was so scrumptious that I offered to help (cutting out Scotch tape) so I could be rewarded with a piece or two. Damn, those were the good old days.

A bowl of Bun Thang and a like-minded companion are all that I needed to get by the cold-ass winter night. Thank you for a simple taste of Ha Noi!

Like mama says, “Mo coi cha an com voi ca. Mo coi ma lot la ma nam.” That’s why I still have the banging Ca Chien Tuong with Rau Muong (Vietnamese Spinach) and fresh sliced mango marinated in fish sauce even though pops has not been around. He’s still chilling in Viet Nam all these years. You can preach all you want, mama. Just feed me your food.

A simple but savory and healthy Canh Cu Sen. The natural sweet from the lotus root gives the broth an exotic flavor. I like the pig’s tail too, especially the crunchy tendon. Since mom cooked the soup, I don’t have to worry about the way the pig’s tail being prepared. As you can see from the photo, she had stripped off most of the pig’s skin.

Ma has been making my favorite dishes lately. Yesterday, she made bau luoc (boiled gourd) with egg and mixed fishsauce. I just love the softness of the gourd and its light-sweet juice. Today she prepared kho ca sac (dried, salted fish) with mango salad. I am sure you can just imagine this mouth-watering dish without having to look at the photo. Besides, I don’t want you to drool all over my site when peeping at that sour mango with sugar and fishsauce. Can’t get any better than that, baby! The only problem is that she keeps torturing me with Tam Doan’s Guc Nga Vi Yeu. I don’t know if I should thank or curse Joseph (LOL!). But at least the music goes well with the meals, and help me take a little nap after I eat too.

I haven’t have chao gao nhum with dua mam (pickle) and tep ram (caramelized shrimp) for almost twenty years, and still don’t like it much. I miss the look more than the taste of it. I am not even sure what part of Viet Nam the dish is originated, but it’s a very strange combination, and the coconut cream added a layer of “ngan” (What’s the equivalent English word? Too lazy to think.) to it. Actually anything with coconut cream would ruin the dish for me. Maybe it’s the summer that is making me losing my appetite. For the first time, someone actually fronted me that I don’t eat much.

With mom staying in the apartment, I have been going home for lunch everyday. I am giving up bacon cheeseburgers, sweet potato fries, beef chillies, oily pizzas, and all the greasy goodies Vassar offers for a simple meal consists of Canh Bau (Gourd Soup) and Ga Xao Xa Ot (Chicken with Lemongrass and Hot Peppers). Get to spend an hour with mom and enjoy her true-Vietnamese-flavored cooking is something to look forward to. Is it twelve o’clock yet? Life can’t get any better than this, baby! You’re missing out, pops.

Mad love to the woman who makes my life so delicious.

Although frog tastes way better than chicken, nothing compares to the fatty fish (ca hu—love her blubbery gut. Hand me them cholesterols, baby.) when it comes to the Vietnamese infamous Sour Soup. Mom did a fabulous job with Canh Chua Ech, but still not as banging as the original Canh Chua Ca Hu. However, a glass of sweet, smooth, and fruity Cagnina makes up for the missing fish as well as complementing the acetic flavor of the soup.

One more thinng. Unlike my mom, I dislike vermicelli with sour soup. The two simply don’t go together.

Adventurous uncle makes audacious dish. His latest chef-d’oeuvre, Lau Chua Cay, is heaven-sent. Fresh seafood and veggies combined with spicy, savory broth produced an “instant orgasm.” I love those “Bong He” (grass-like vegetables with buds). Their nectarous flavor, when drowned in boiling hotpot and complemented with a dollop of fish sauce, seduces my taste bud. Now I see why women fall for men who can cook. Men with culinary skills must have much easier time picking up girls. They don’t even need to use those obnoxious pickup lines. All they have to say is, “taste it baby,” and let the food does all the talking.

Vermicelli, boiled pig’s belly, and mixed greens (including apple) to complement the fresh-prepared, Thai-inflected, savory-flavored Mam Thai (Pickled Mud Fish) is becoming my favorite dish. And a bottle of Singha beer to cool down the pepper’s flame and wash down the system is not a bad addition at all. Not sure if you could find Mam Thai here in the States. Mine was sneaked in all the way from Viet Nam in a plastic jar that is wrapped with crazy Duct tapes. Have to make sure the security’s dog can’t sniff it. I am sure the dog would go crazy as well if she smells the exotic aroma of Mam Thai.