Uyen Luu

My mother’s sister, has been making bánh cu?n for years. Every morning, her husband wakes up at 3am to start a fire in their little clay oven. On the pot of water, sits a canvas frame with a slit on one side (to let steam out). The rice flour mixture is ladled onto it and cooks with the lid on for about a minute and my aunt folds them up into rolls. She makes and sells this every morning from 5am at the market.

These can be eaten plain with fried shallots and fish sauce, or with spring onions, minced meat and/ prawn fillings. You can add whatever you like them. Sometimes I eat them with fried aubergines and a sweet and chilli soy sauce or with lots of cured ham and basil. They are silky and delicious, one of my favourite things in the world.

I have written a recipe for it which will be published in my forth coming book.

[Repost]:
My cousin Binh and I met when I first came back to Vietnam for the first time in 2000. He was about 8 and I was about 21. When Binh was little, he survived a tragic accident causing his head to split open. Luckily, nothing bad happened to him except everyone says he is very quiet and keeps himself to himself, except when I come back, he only ever talks to me.

This time, he showed me how he makes creme caramel because he is setting up a little street stall outside the house. We both have a strong miss and craving for the creme caramel you can get in both our mother’s home town of Phan Thiet – 5 hours away from Saigon.

In Phan Thiet, there lives a poet and teacher, named, Duong (Uncle) Tran, after school every day, he would open up his garden which is at the front of his house, turns on the fairy lights hanging from a jack fruit tree, opens the gates and people flood inside for tea, coffee and creme caramel, the best creme caramel in the world! I always have to visit this place every time I go to Vietnam. Its a must!

Duong Tran doesn’t talk much, especially about what goes into his famous dessert. He refuses to disclose any information on how he makes it. (I don’t blame him) He lost his wife, his muse, who always loved his kem flan, and tells us that that he will make this everyday so that she can also enjoy it in the afterlife.

The Vietnamese love creme caramel, one of the things bought over by the French colony. In Vietnam, they do not really have ovens, so if you were to recreate it, it is usually steamed. Goodness knows how Duong Tran makes it to utter perfection of sweetness, egginess, lightness and delightfulness.

Here is Binh’s recipe which is very close to Duong Tran’s.

Binh’s Ingredients (from film clip):

400ml Long Life Sweetened Milk
1/2 Can Condensed Milk
1/2 Can Hot Water
6 Eggs
Vanilla Flavouring

For Caramel
Sugar and a splash of water

Not too many people have ovens in Vietnam, so this is steamed over a bowl in a pot of water for 30 mins, but this leaves many holes in the custard.

Original Post with full pictures here:
http://www.leluu.com/2011/06/recipe-ca-phe-kem-flan-creme-caramel.html

Gregg Wallace & me

A little voice, deep inside inside had always squeaked something at me and I couldn’t really hear what she was saying until it surfaced by chance in the summer when I did my first styling gig with Bill Granger.  After years of watching and loving Jamie, Nigella, (even Ramsay & Delia), Stein, Rachel Khoo and Saturday Kitchen, I am somehow landing a few jobs behind the scenes as a food stylist, as a home ec person, as a prop stylist and even being the actual talent myself on camera! ha.

Gregg Wallace, me & Chris

Left over tomatoes from shoot

I went to work with Gregg Wallace, (to be aired on BBC1). I was quite nervous as I heard he had a reputation for being rather vocal. And yes, he was. He challenged me as soon as he met me but because I knew what I was doing and I had everything ready for him we became friends on set and I really enjoyed working with him and listening to his outrageous jokes. Uyen! Like you and me, he kept chuckling as he’d throw his heavy arms around my shoulder. Weeks later, I was even called back to work on the remainder of the shoot which I was very pleased about because I had the opportunity to go to the beach in England which was something I had wanted to do all summer.

I had to make 650 tripled fried chips, cut with an apple corer. Took me 13 hours!

Then I was lucky enough to work with Raymond Blanc. The set, my kitchen! I spent a whole week organising and propping my kitchen and then food styling as well as working with Raymond in front of camera (to be aired BBC2, Winter/ Spring). It was an absolute honour to work with one of the finest figures in food.

Raymond Blanc & me

The next thing I knew, I was packing my little suitcase and going to Thomasina Miers’s house to do some recipe testing with her for her forthcoming book. That was a great day, making curries, ceviche and other yummy Asian food. The best thing she came up with was a fragrant pork noodle salad with roasted rice powder, loads of limes, lime leaves and chillies – it was like eating an Asian spaghetti bolognese – totally amazing! She was so cool and we gossiped while we were chopping onions and playing with ingredients. I loved working with her. She is a woman I totally look up to and if I weren’t just about the same age as her I could say I aspire to be someone like her, but I am just about the same age as her and I do aspire to be like her: loved by her husband, soon to be mother of two, a successful business woman, author of many books, living in a beautiful house. Tommi then asked me to work as her stylist on a TV pilot (hopefully for Channel 4).

Thomasina Miers

Fragrant Pork Noodle Salad

Fried Fish & Green Mango Salad

Monk Fish Curry

Mackerel Ceviche

Grilled Pork & Tamarind

Part of Tommi’s beautiful kitchen that her father and she built

I am incredibly lucky. Doors are always opening for me even when I am not even knocking. Somehow, the skills I gathered as a film maker to a fashion designer to a cook has landed me in this  food styling place… I never would have thought! I am truly loving it, it feels like I found something I really really enjoy. The work is hard and you have to be on your feet, the actual ones as well as the mental ones, constantly. You have to think way a head of everyone because food needs preparation and you’re in charge of that department. You have to have everything ready, and you have to know where a can opener is or a tooth pick to a chopping board at any given moment it may be requested. It keeps you on your toes and its great fun!

I am now currently styling my own cook book and working with an excellent team, my publisher Ryland Peters & Small. I am loving the photos, the outcome and can not wait to share it when the book is published in Autumn 2013!

Gennaro Contaldo & me (still waiting to work with him)

Sushi/ Sashimi selection

Seewoo has a Japanese fusion restaurant in Paddington, just off Praed Street by Edgware Road station, in by the bit with the canal. I’ve been there last year with Lucy Mitchel, daughter of Stanely Tse, founder of the fabulous Seewoo Oriental supermarkets. Click here to read what I have previously written about Seewoo/ Stanley Tse.

Ever since my meal with Lucy there, I had been dreaming about the black cod. It was like one of those perfect kisses that never leave your mind, sweet, soft, succulent and sinks onto your tongue and slips away, like a tease. Phrwoar!  They invited me and a guest to dine at the restaurant and immediately, I thought – YES! I am going to have the black cod. Here’s the menu.

Black Cod

The chef at SeeSushi makes a secret sweet and savoury miso dressing for the black cod which stuns my taste buds and is great with some steamed rice. I am not entirely sure how I could ever possibly recreate this dish at home as Seewoo do sell black cod in their store in Greenwich. I am guessing it has been marinated in mirin, miso paste, soy/ teriyaki and sake and then grilled. Mark my word, this is something to lust over.

Vegeatable Gyoza

Eel

We also had gyoza, because I always have gyoza, tonkatsu, a sushi/ sashimi selection from the chef and a plate of half an eel – also wonderfully delicious! Then a very good, bitter and sweet green tea ice cream.

Green Tea Ice Cream

It is hard to imagine crossing town to eat in Paddington. Who goes there unless they have to? Or if they live nearby? But I can see myself having a lovely lunch here on a sunny day, overlooking the canal and getting seduced by fish.  I do like the food here a lot.

Thank you to Seewoo who kindly invited me to dine here and therefore, I did not pay for this meal.

www.seesushi.com
4d Praed Street, Paddington, London, W2 1JX

I have just been on a photography trip to Vietnam for my forthcoming book. You can see some of the photos I have take on Instagram. As you may be aware, I love Instagram! Follow me: @loveleluu.
You can see my pictures from the Instagram website here too: http://instagram.com/loveleluu