midweek gems #25
2 guides to Vietnamese herbs + Black April in Little Saigon + Japanese kitchen projects
Hello there!
It’s Vietnamese herb planting season. When I asked paid subscribers earlier this year about what kind of content they’d like to see, one request was about what herbs to grow.
Some of you are gardeners and some of you are more cooks and eaters. So I did something for all of you. I try to please too much, but I hope you think I spoil you!
💎 Vietnamese Herb Guide and Mega Primer
At my website are the following reference materials for your Vietnamese and Asian food journey:
✅ The new Quick Vietnamese Herb Guide is short, fast, down and dirty. The new post lists the common 12 to 15 herbs that are used in Vietnamese cooking. You don’t need all of them at once, but you should know what they are and how they’re used. Of course, the herbs are used in many other cuisines so once you’ve got Viet, you’ve got global culinary options (or that’s the way I think of things). 😉
Get the quick herb lowdown so you’ll be prepared for shopping, cooking, traveling and eating Vietnamese food.
✅ For those of you interested in wonky information like regional names, botanical names, and growing tips for each Vietnamese herb, the Mega Vietnamese Herb Primer is for you! I originally published it in 2008 and the primer needed a serious reboot. Now it’s better organized, more legible, with better images.
Lord, I had to clean up a bunch of HTML code and realized that I can still do it, if I spend enough time. But it’s all there for you to peruse and reference — in a table format for each herb, with a photo of each herb too! An example:
Bookmark the Vietnamese Herb Primer and feel free to share it with others because it’s chock full of information.
💎 Black April in Little Saigon
April is a particularly poignant time for many Vietnamese expatriates. It’s called Black April, or Tháng Tư Đen in Vietnamese, to mark the Fall of Saigon in 1975. In Southern California’s Little Saigon, the City of Westminster has supported the Viet community there with great respect and dignity. Between now and April 30, there will be many public events. Black April in Westminster is not just for the local Viet community. It radiates outward to make a statement about what was lost but also what was gained — a new start in America.
And, I’ve just been invited to a gala event to express gratitude to America for welcoming Vietnamese refugees. It’s overwhelming — how far the Vietnamese community has come during the past 50 years. The healing. The progress. The changes. I’m so proud of my people.
If you miss all the celebrations, you’ll still get to do a drive by whenever you’re on the 405 freeway between Bolsa Chica and Bolsa avenue. That section of the freeway has a new name — Litlte Saigon Freeway. It seems extra appropriate because those of us who fled the country left for the sake of greater freedom and self determination.
What’s with the all the Bolsas? There are two exits on the 405 (a major freeway in Southern California) with the name Bolsa. However, Bolsa Avenue is the main drag for Little Saigon. And if you don’t know this — the Little Saigon in Southern California is the granddaddy of all Little Saigons. It’s the nucleus for the Vietnamese expat community. You feel a bit like you’re in Vietnam but you know that you’re in America — where there’s potable water, clean air, public safety and pretty good Vietnamese ingredients! The best of all worlds.
💎 Elizabeth Andoh’s Japanese kitchen projects
What to do after a lifetime of teaching others how to master a cuisine? Tokyo-based Elizabeth Andoh, one of the best cooking teachers I know, keeps things fresh. She has organized self-guided modules for you to freely learn key aspects of Japanese foodways. The lessons are organized in Elizabeth’s inimitable fashion. Check out Kitchen Projects.
Coming up for this Sunday Special, gratitude recipes that my family enjoyed after we arrived in America in 1975. Join us behind the paywall, if you like.
Bob and I served in that era. It was the beginning of our military careers. We were both lucky to not serve in theater. I'm a little younger than he is and joined the Army in April 1976. He joined the Navy in 1972, and managed to get stationed in Italy. The experience, nonetheless deeply moves us to this day and our hearts go out to Viets each April. They are a resilient and forgiving people.
Thanks to your herb guide I have a garden full of plants rooted from my Vietnamese market that aren't available as seeds or seedlings in my area. It's a delicious and convenient reward during the Summer and Fall.