It Safe Menu Planner FoodFit Profile Search for healthy and delicious recipes by type of food, season, meal, etc. Click here for more Asian flavors to perk up your meals. My grandmother Noi is the cook in the family. She lived with us while my siblings and I were growing up, and, since my parents were clueless in the kitchen, took charge of what we ate.
Vietnamese food is, for the most part, very healthful, with an emphasis on fresh ingredients.
At age 80, she is incredibly spry and fit. When I asked her to show me how to prepare the dish below, which is one of my favorites, she was amused that I wanted actual measurements. As we figured out the recipe, I thought about the life she had left behind in Vietnam and her insistence on preserving as much as possible through her cooking. Though she often seems invincible, I know she'll not be there forever to make the Vietnamese dishes I crave and can't really find anywhere else. I told her I would be bugging her more often about how to cook.