What happens when an international chef mentions a Vietnamese chef?

Thứ hai, 11/05/2015 10:26

Mrs.Suong Thi Bui isn’t a celebrity, but it isn’t easy to make an appointment with her because she is a judge of the Golden Spoon contest and also has many other businesses.

Mrs. Suong Thi Bui as a judge in the 2014 Golden Spoon Contest. Photos: Cat Khue

We interviewed her and it was an interesting interview so that it was described as “an unbelievably delicious dish” and we realized that there is certainly more than meets the eye behind such creations.

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* Many people who went with you to the Northwest region of the Golden Spoon contest have talked to each other that there is a dish in Lao Cai province which isn’t easy to eat, but you did compliment it. What is it?

Many years teaching about cuisine

Mrs.Suong Thi Bui, food artisan and vice chairman of Saigon Professional Chef Association, was born 1952 in Go Cong, Tien Giang province. 

She has been teaching about cuisine for 35 years, and has been an invited judge for national food contests in 1997, 2002 and 2010 organized by the Department of Tourism. She judged during the Cuisine Festival in Dong Nai, Vung Tau, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Ho Chi Minh City, and was a judge of the 2013 and 2014 Golden Spoon contests.

Suong Thi Bui was nominated as a Folk Artist in 2009. She published two books: Pho and other soup dishes; elite Vietnamese rolled dishes.

It is “Thắng Cố” dish. It wasn’t the first time I know this dish, because when I was following Mr. Martin Yan in the show called “Explore Vietnamese Cuisine,” I was in Lao Cai, Sapa and Bac Ha. When I went to Bac Ha market I was strongly impressed with so many local people sitting around a big pan containing all various parts of a horse, cow or buffalo such as the bones, organs, skin, blood and meat together. This is “Thắng Cố”.

I couldn’t see the full preparation process, but just saw how it was cooked at the market. It was cooked with many spices like cinnamon, anise, lemon leaves, and Clausena indica leaves have an especially good aroma; helpful in an environment like the Bac Ha market. I could only taste a little bit the soup.

I haven’t tried it properly until the Golden Spoon contest (a food cooking contest with professional chefs from all over the country organized by Minh Long I Co.Ltd in coordination with Center of Business Study and Assistant (BSA) as of 2013,) when chefs brought this dish from hotels. I think that it could be safer from these places because the preparation of the food could be done properly and ensure food safety, but also still keep its defining taste.

* Talking about folk and rustic dishes, there were many arguments that our ancestors may not clean some ingredients when cooking traditionally, believing that it adds to the overall flavor of the dish. What do you think about this?

I think everyone has their own expectation about food presentation as well as its flavor, but I have to admit that our generation has more diversity and an abundance of choices. In older times it was difficult to find products that could help to improve our beauty, so some people believed that the “oil” found in a chicken’s bottom - which has very bad smell - will be good for your hair. So they kept it when they cooked chicken. However, nowadays we have so many products that can support our beauty so we don’t need to keep it, but take it out to make the dish smell and taste better.

I still remember “dé bò” dish in Tay Son, Binh Dinh province. “Dé bò” is made from the small intestine of a cow; “” is a liquid inside the intestine that is kept in the dish and tastes a bit bitter. Tay Son people cook “dé bò” with river-leaf creeper and if they want it to taste bitter they will add a few more drops of the bile. I tried it and its taste is quite strange, but it isn’t too difficult to eat. This is a very old and traditional dish make by Tay Son people, but I think it is difficult to replicate in another region because people won’t be able to adapt to its very special taste.

* In books about international cuisine people usually keep the utmost respect to authentic dishes that keep their origin, pure flavor and typical features to attract tourists, even if they taste only once. According to you, do we need to warn people about the difference in such traditional flavors?

I think we should have a reminder (or warning) about this. Because I see that it is different with dishes from the central region, and I’ve just mentioned the dishes in the North are less changed than others. Many people said that the northern people are quite conservative, but it has become necessary in this case because it can help to maintain our traditional cuisine culture so it won’t be transformed.

Or when we are talking about southern dishes I am impressed with “Trảng Bàng” which has special shrimp salt, “bánh tráng phơi sương,” a special rice paper made of two layers; special rice called “Nàng Hương,” which is considered the best rice in Vietnam, therefore its air bubbles are small. This rice paper was dried not only by the sun, but was also moistened by the dew in the early morning, so it is clammy and good for rolling. When Trang Bang people cook the pork leg for the thick rice noodle soup you will see it is exactly the same as when Hue people prepare “Bún bò giò heo,” - which is rice noodle with beef soup - but served with pork leg. They cook the pork leg in the cold water until boils, but before the meat is fully cooked they take it out and put back into the ice water before cooking again. In the pork there is blood, so when you cook with cold water there is enough time to allow the blood to melt into the soup. And when it is done the pork keeps its white color, also looking delicious. By doing this the pork leg will also be crunchy without using salt or chemical that made the meat crunchy. You just use the method of temperate shock to keep the meat soft, but not too much. If you can follow that technique then the dish is already good enough.

Hanoi styled spring roll in Movenpick Hotel- Photos: Huu Khoa

Vietnamese cuisine promotion is still sporadic and scattered

* You have shared in your book that you love cooking because it is a passion that your grandmother gave you. What dish from your family do you still love to do and remember all of recipes?

It is “Cơm rượu Gò Công” which is different from “Cơm rượu” made in other provinces. It is cut into beautiful square shapes and carefully pressed. I still remember every time my family had a feast; everyone gathered to remember someone on their death anniversary, and my grandmother would usually ask me when I will make “Cơm rượu” and “Xôi vò” - sticky rice cooked with green bean.

Cơm rượu” has to be made three to four days in advance. The sticky rice has to be special rice called “Nếp ngỗng” which is long, has a milky white color and is not too old. After that we will clean the rice and dip it in warm water for three to four hours. We put in the water a little pandan leaves to have good smell. After that we will steam the sticky rice twice. The first time we have to cook the rice only about 80% done. Here the rice seed becomes transparent, but it still hard. The rice is then wrapped with a piece of fabric, then the bundle is dipped into salty water, then spun with a chopstick until the liquid leaves the rice. You continue to reduce until the water in the rice has nearly dried then, put it back into the pot and cook until well done. It is then compressed by a heavy object on a flat and square surface for two hours. Then you put yeast rice on top of the sticky rice, which should be produced in Sa Dec province - considered as the most suitable to make this dish.

The knife used to cut the sticky rice must be dipped in very concentrated salty water. After cutting into small and square pieces you will use banana leaves to wrap them then put them into a steamer. It must be closed very tight. My grandmother sometimes used a new blanket to wrap the whole steamer to make sure there no air escapes or enters, and put the wholes steamer and blanket into our family’s rice store. After three days we take the steamer out and it has an incredible aroma. Then we take the sticky rice out and put them into a ceramic bowl and pour the accompanying juice into the bowl, where it is kept another day before eating.

At that time I didn’t know about the yeast rice, but after I went to university I knew that yeast rice doesn’t work if it comes into contact with air. That is why we have to put the whole steamer into the rice store, and it is important to have a constant temperature. If not the process of turning sugar into wine won’t be done properly. I also often wonder how our ancestors knew how to use microbiology to make “Cơm rượu” or fish sauce, soya cheese, etc. though they never studied at any school or university.

*In your career as a professional chef do you have any memory about any dish that you remember the most, which is not only interesting but also worth for us to think of as useful lesson?

It is about the trip to Hong Kong to cook in a 5-star hotel, the Marco Polo Gateway Hotel. I went with Chef Sang, deputy chef of De Nhat hotel and Mrs. Trang, head chef of Ky Hoa. Because we carried so many things I decided not to take sticky rice with me, but thought to buy it there. Although I was worried a little bit because when you fry sticky rice you need to select the sticky rice carefully. If it is too new then sticky rice won’t be full-blown, and if it is too old then sticky rice will be hard when you fry it.

We didn’t check the list of 60 dishes which will be divided to cook per day until we have arrived in Hong Kong. Although it is still not yet the day of making the full-blown sticky rice, but we practiced first to ensure no accidents. I asked Chef Sang to try to make it and check if it could be done properly with the rice that we bought in Hong Kong. We didn’t inform anyone about this and intended to do within our team, but finally everybody knew and brought their camera to record what we were doing. Fortunately the sticky rice was full-blown.

When we were in Vietnam the sticky rice was full-blown about 80% but it was 100% when we did it in Hong Kong. All the guests were there at that day gave us a big clap. I went to check the store and saw that it was a bag of sticky rice imported from Thailand. Normally Thai sticky rice is very clammy, but fortunately this bag must be old and so it had less sticky liquid within the rice. After that the organizing committee and Marco Polo Gateway Hotel decided not to cut the ribbon for the opening ceremony but we made four sticky rice balloons, then put the ribbon around the balloon and the organizing committee cut the four sticky balloons to start the food festival week.

* In your opinion, what should we do to improve Vietnamese cuisine in the point of view of international tourists or visitors and up-grade the position of Vietnamese cuisine on the international map?

Our cuisine has strong nutritional value, which is good for our health. There are four groups of food that considered as good for health and all of them are already included in Vietnamese food. Our advantage is having diverse weather and a long coast, so seafood resources are very abundant. There are many ethnic minorities, so there are many unique and interesting combinations of food among these regions. Other chefs from other countries used to tell me that Vietnam should have a government sponsored promotional program like Thailand has done.

The promotion of Vietnamese cuisine is still sporadic currently. When I introduce food I see that most diners are very surprised. Why? Because they know only two dishes like “Phở” and spring-roll. The food presentation is also very important because if we want to present at the international level the dish should be simplified and convenient to eat, but also has to be appealing. Chefs also need to be trained officially and professionally; not only learning from experiences of previous chefs, at home or at the shop where they are working. I find it a pity that Vietnam doesn’t have a Food Institute to display and preserve all typical dishes of the 54 ethnic groups.

Mr. Philip Kotler, father of world marketing used to say that Vietnam won’t become a kitchen of the world. It has been five years already since he had a comment about Vietnamese cuisine, but we haven’t done a museum for Vietnamese folk cuisine. We just need to collect cooking tools or kitchen equipment and recipes of all ethnic minorities. Many other countries have done this so is it really too difficult for Vietnam to follow?

Theo Cat Khue

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