midweek gems #27

Vietnamese bun rice noodle salad blueprint + Nashville Asian market and pho, a weathervane for America?

Hello everyone,

First off, thank you for taking tremendous interest in last week’s posts commemorating the 50th anniversary of Fall of Saigon. Your comments and personal stories brought warmth and light to a dark situation. I greatly appreciate your contributions, particularly to the comments on last Sunday’s “Starting Over”.

May is Asian Pacific American history month, but I figure that we celebrate it year round in with PTFS! This week’s gems focus a little bit on what I recently experienced in Nashville. Many people go there for Honky Tonk Highway, a hub for bachelorette parties. I was in town to speak at a food writing symposium and took time to check out the Asian community there.

💎 Asian markets in Nashville can tell us something about America

Nashville, Tennessee, turned out to be an interesting place to gauge where Asian-ness is in this country. We don’t think of Nashville as a focal point for Asian Americans but there are pockets of different communities here and there. You have to ask people in the know about them because there’s no Chinatown or Little Saigon, for instance. You may not ever go to Nashville but check out what’s available there in this dispatch. It’s fascinating.

K&S World Market is an ‘international’ market. When I see that term in a market’s description, I’m intrigued. That’s because so-called ‘international’ markets tend to be gigantic and aim to cover a broad array of cuisines to meet the diversity of their local community. I’ve been to international markets in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Alabama, and now Tennessee. They’re a gathering place for anyone wanting provisions to prepare dishes that are not the typical American food.

But what’s typical American food in 2025? We mix and match like crazy, which is why you’ll see Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Latino, and Arab ingredients at K&S. Taylor Holiday, the owner of Mala Market and a Nashville resident, told me that K&S is Korean owned so the inventory leans toward Korea.

That said, a Caucasian lady buying eight big bags of instant Vietnamese coffee told me K&S was the only place she could find it in Nashville. She stocks up for herself and friends whenever she’s in the area.

If this is the future of American groceries, I'm fully for it!

Labneh near soy milk near kimchi. That’s how they roll at K&S in Nashville. Prices are relatively low but the produce at international markets tend to need to be used ASAP; it’s not first quality because customers are value oriented. Taht said, the crawfish and blue crabs were very much alive and moving. Gulf prawns were super fresh and less than $10 per pound. But much of the produce looked like it was almost past its expiration date. You have to pick through it.

K&S is in what may look like a crappy shopping center but I spied a row of Vietnamese businesses in one corner. That’s how I ended up at Chợ Á Đông (Asian Market in Vietnamese), which is really a market for people who know Vietnamese and Thai groceries. They had herbs that I’d die for in Northern California right now (wild betel, la lot leaves in late March!), but everything is labeled “vegetable”. That’s not helpful if you do not know what you’re looking for. The owners speak English fluently and asked if I needed help. You’d be fine shopping there but it can seem confusing.

Cho A Dong looks a bit funky but it's not. They were prepared for the weekend's tornado watch with the plywood in the windows!

For better translations, you’re better off at the Interasian Market, another great tip from Taylor. This sweet market is super tidy with just enough of everything for Southeast Asian cooking. On the weekends, they make banh mi, bao and other to-go snacks. The owners are a Lao and Vietnamese couple so everything you need for Viet, Lao and Thai cooking is at Interasian.

They opened in 1994 and now their son helps to run the market. The mother preps veggies and kindly said “Hello” to me. I ADORE the "Mixed Mint" selection that allows you to try a bit of everything so there's little waste. It reminds me of buying herbs at the wet market in Saigon — you can get a sampler.

Interasian Market's produce selection is extremely good. And pork rinds are universally loved.

💎 Kurdish markets!

The day before leaving, we visited the Kurdish community — the largest in the United States. Yes, it’s in Nashville! Cookbook author Louisa Shafia said she shops as Newroz Market for her Persian pantry. It’s a busy smallish market packed to the gills, with a Halal butcher counter and bakery in the back. It’s located in a shopping center with a mix of other businesses that leads me to quote Don King by saying, “Only in America!”

Newroz Market has as much tahini as you want, incredible dried fruit, fresh grape leaves and bread that's still warm because it comes out of the oven that's just a few feet away from the display shelves. Check out the other businesses in the shopping center.

💎 VN Pho and Deli

Chef Pichet Ong, a well-traveled friend who once aspired to become a country singer and knows Nashville well, suggested I go to VN Pho and Deli. It’s literally about 3 minutes away from K&S Market and Cho A Dong. And all three were less than 10 minutes from a historic plantation. We lunched on pho before heading to Belle Meade for a sense of Antebellum South and the experiences of the enslaved. I share this with you because the American South is full of surprises.

VN Pho and Deli specializes in pho and it’s just fine. The broth was too southern Viet sweet for my taste but the young staff was cordial and quick. On a rainy day, pho hit the spot. What I would try if I were to go back is one of their weekend special soups of the day.

Unless you’re Viet, you would not know how special the specials are. Saturday and Sunday’s duck noodle soups are hard to find on restaurant menus; bun mang vit is duck with rice noodles and bamboo shoot and mi vit tiem is roast duck with egg noodles. Both have deep savory broths. I’m salivating as I type.

VN Pho and Deli explains the food with lots of care. They want their customers to try new things. Big points from me for that!

The fluid movement between cultures in Nashville, a relatively progressive part of Tennessee, gave me hope for America. At least through food, we can find ways to connect and find commonality.

💎 Bún Rice Noodle Salad Blueprint Recipe

This week for the website, I made a master blueprint recipe to encourage you to freestyle cook. Make your own Vietnamese bún rice noodle salads. Sure, restaurants make them but you can do even better — with my help! And it will cost you less to feed yourself and your family.

This bowl has oven-fried imperial rolls (the ones from Ever-Green Vietnamese) plus seared mushroom. The bowl at the top includes grilled sausages made from the beef and la lot (wild betel leaf). Sooooo good.

At Viet World Kitchen are my bún (“boon) salad bowl basics plus a bunch of recipe suggestions for the main feature — you can use char siu pork or tofu, a stir-fry, grilled anything, fried goodies, and even leftovers! It’s one thing to throw all the stuff in a bowl but it’s another to build one with care. Get the Bun Rice Noodle Salad Basics and get cooking!

I’ve got something coconut-ty and tropical in mind for Sunday’s recipe. It’s for paid subscribers so join us, if you have not!