For a round up of how brother Hung did on Top Chef this week, take a read of:
- Jane McGivney's posting on the Huffington Post
- Baltimore Sun's take on the competition that took place in Aspen
- What Entertainment Weekly had to say about Hung's bitchery ways
- The scores he's getting on Blogging Top Chef
- Bravo's official Top Chef site . . . decide to Top or Chop Hung
They're stringing us along. That's good TV.
Simon says
Andrea, here's a question for you, not a practical one but hopefully an interesting one.
Ignore for a moment the limitations the Top Chef competition placed on the competitors, and imagine instead that you've got access to your own pantry and the largest Viet supermarket in your area. You've got some elk loin, still on the ribs, some hind leg meat off the bone, and some elk shanks. And someone asks you to create an elk entree and to breathe some Vietnamese soul into it.
Does anything come to m
Amy Sherman says
The criticism that we've seen nothing "Vietnamese" about Hung's cooking made me cringe. Are we bound by our heritage? It doesn't seem like the other chefs are being asked to recreate food they grew up with.
Andrea Nguyen says
No, we should not be culinarily defined by our birthplace. Just because you're of Vietnamese extraction doesn't mean that you should have to stick to your roots. Also, it doesn't mean you're born to be a good Vietnamese cook.
I think that what Simon's wanting to see is Hung being more clever, taking more risk, at the stove -- to reach into his past a bit and marry that with the present. When Wolfgang Puck started serving ethereal Wiener Schnitzel at Spago in Beverly Hills years ago, people swoon
Tana says
That is such a great question from Simon.
Who made the most recent, lengthy comment?
Andrea Nguyen says
I did. Just forgot to sign in. I fixed it.
Simon says
Actually, I wasn't commenting about Hung, I was wondering about how I might make elk if I wanted to make Vietnamese elk. I often wonder about such things. As I said, I have a few clues for venison, party type dishes, but not for an entree...
Simon says
Andrea, just to avoid confusion or misunderstanding, let me explain my question a bit.
I know that we have deer in Vietnam, and it follows that we have folks who eat deer. And there may be other game animals there as well. But I do not know if there are distinctive ways that Vietnamese would treat game meats.
In the US, there are such distinctive ways, at least most of the time. Americans (and Euros) have a kind of toolkit of methods and ingredients and flavors they bring to cooking deer, elk
Andrea Nguyen says
Lots of game meat are prepared in Vietnam and like you, Simon, I'm not well versed in their preparations. I looked in an old (1940s) classic cookbook from Vietnam. In "Lam Bep Gioi" by Mrs. Van Dai, the beef section includes recipes for beef, deer (nai), stag (huou), monkey (khi), goat (de), elephant nose (muoi voi)and bear ear (tai gau). Many of the exotic meats recipes refer back to beef recipe instructions, though there may be a slight variation here and there. There are a number of tendon re
Simon says
Re-hydrated elephant nose and bear ear, simmered with sea cucumber... Oh, that sounds like a party. 🙂
One of the few Viet game dishes I've ever had is thinly-sliced venison or deer, pounded even thinner, then marinated with all the usual seasonings but also with a LOT of ginger. Throughout the party, the meat was being quickly cooked in an electric skillet at a low temperature, in butter. The scene resembled a party where all the guys are seated on the floor, gathered around a hot pot. I
Canada Goose Jackets says
I need him like I need the air to breathe.
Red Bottom shoes says
Morality is the herd instinct in the individual.
Beats by Dre says
Do no through fear of poverty surrender liberty.
marlon says
I agree about the elk shanks and those seem to invite an elk version of bo kho, but when I saw those shanks and that loin meat I couldn't help imagining an elk version of pho