Not long ago my mother remarked, “You do noble work.” I interpreted it as a mixture of maternal pride and understanding about my financial outlook. My career in food writing has at times stunned and miffed my parents. They did not know how things would develop after I wrote Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. It was clear that I was capable of feeding myself, but could I afford to pay for my ingredients?
My four siblings have lucrative, conventional careers in medicine and law. Everyone thought I was destined for international business or banking, but I didn’t exactly end up among the 1%. “That’s okay,” Mom continued. “What’s important is that you are happy.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about her comments because one of the popular topics these days among food writers is how can we maintain viable careers. Amanda Hesser recently offered a reality check to future food writers. Monica Bhide revealed her personal frustrations and discussed tips for crafting a realistic food writing career. Dianne Jacob’s blog is a rich source of sensible advice for aspiring writers.
I didn’t start writing about food expecting to buy a vacation home in the Bahamas. I wanted to write about food traditions and techniques that I felt had not been presented well enough in print. That said, there are late nights when I’m cleaning my kitchen or looking up words in my Vietnamese and Chinese dictionaries that I wonder, “Why am I doing this?”
In the last couple of weeks, a number of interesting people and great things have passed through my life to remind of why I enjoy my work:
Meeting People and Hearing their Stories
The Asian Tofu cookbook is my third publication and frankly, it’s really cool to see all three of your books in one place. The photo below is from a Macy’s department store event that I did in early May.
The event didn’t start till 1pm but a group of five Asian Americans arrived at noon and secured front row seats. They drove 45 minutes to an hour to be there, and said that they skipped an Alice Medrich event for mine. (Alice is among the stars of the baking world so I was flattered that tofu and I won them over.)
The women had my first two books and were interested in what I had to say about tofu. One gentleman recalled a favorite tofu skin soup that his mother made. He peppered me with questions and finally said, “I have to ask my mom about she makes it.”
A father and daughter got the date wrong and came to Macy’s a week early. Determined to meet me, then returned on the right date to buy books and chat. The father was a bit of a jokester who had book idea for me.
With his daughter a foot away, he leaned in and whispered, “Young people like my daughter throw away good food all the time. I grew up in Fresno in the ‘30s with no refrigeration. We bought our tofu once a month when we drove into town. You need to write a book to help them straighten up.” The man then mischievously winked and I didn’t ask how long they kept that tofu around.
“I’m right here dad and can hear you,” his daughter sarcastically said. A nice father-daughter relationship.
Last Saturday, I did a cooking demo at the 8th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration in San Francisco’s Little Saigon. I was on a stage smack right in front of Vietnamese joints specializing in pho, banh mi, 7 course beef and crawfish. Martin Yan and Charles Phan were also part of the lineup of chefs. An estimated 90,000 people attended the one-day community event. Here's a YouTube video made by @SabrinaGeeShin to recap the festival:
Among the people I met was Carol Duong, who came with two books for me to sign. My recipes and books help her to teach her children about traditional foodways, she said. Lucky kids. She also shot photos and generously shared them with me. The festival’s giant lotus at the top is by Carol. She also snapped a photo of me with her four-year-old. Cooking for posterity:
I also met Annie and Hung Lam who run a Viet noodle soup pop-up called Soup Junkies. It was hard for the couple to find good Viet noodle soup in San Francisco so they started making their own. Then they started selling their fare. Hung is the chef and they sell out every time. I look forward to sampling their soup soon @SoupJunkieSF. They make a mean bun rieu cua (Vietnamese crab and rice noodle soup). I should have worn my shades to look as cool as them in this photo:
After my demo of a vegetarian tofu rice paper roll (bi cuon chay), a man pedaled up to the stage and asked, “I served in the Vietnam War and the food I loved most came were simple, from the countryside. Do you have those recipes in your book?” Yes, just look for short ingredient lists, I said. You’ll find those homey dishes. One of the payoffs of my career is meeting people from all walks of life.
Book Reviews and Reactions
It would be disingenuous for me to say that reviews don’t matter. They do. I listen to and read what readers and cooks have to say, whether that’s via in-person conversations, email, social media or sites like Amazon. Reactions from my food writing colleagues matter as well. This week, three writers weighed in on Asian Tofu from three differing perspectives:
- Carolyn Phillips wrote a assessment of Asian Tofu for Zester Daily, a food site with content by veteran food writers and journalists. A Chinese food wonk who includes characters in her blog posts, she went through the book with a fine tooth comb, testing certain recipes and evaluating the merits of the whole shebang. “Beautiful, knowledgeable and thorough, this is the best book on tofu to make its way to my bookshelves. Highly Recommended” concluded the review. Gulp. Wow.
- Carolyn Jung, a food journalist and former editor at the San Jose Mercury News, hinted at that a recipe from the book reminded her of her youth. We are friends and I kept guessing which recipe it was. I was wrong every time. On Thursday, Carolyn wrote a story about her childhood curiosity and fear of red fermented tofu. From my recipe for roasted chicken with fermented red tofu (ga nuong chao, page 117) she was able to understand the ingredient and recreate a delectable memory from her past. “Memories of Childhood Chinese Chicken” is on Food Gal, her site.
T. Susan Chang, a persnickety and well-respected cookbook reviewer and author, checks out a lot of cookbooks for NPR (National Public Radio) and her website. This week, she released her picks for the NPR 2012 Best Summer Cookbooks list, which was framed as a “Plant Eater’s Paradise.” [Drum roll please . . .] Asian Tofu made the shortlist! Susan wrote a concise, spot-on review. She picked up on the many facets of the book and its overarching message that there’s a tofu for everyone. For an expanded and funny list of Susan’s summer recommendations, jump over to this post on Cookbooks for Dinner.- Dick Stein and Nancy Leson gave award-winning author Molly Stevens and me a shout out this week on KPLU (NPR affiliate in Seattle). The "comrades in colanders" commended us for our reliable recipe writing. Read and listen to their broadcasted, titled "When Recipes go Wrong."
So to circle back to what my mom said, I may not be living the super luxe life but I’m darn happy that my work makes other people feel happy about food and cooking. Having a sense of fulfillment is one of life’s greatest riches.
Madeline
What a wonderful acknowledgment from mama. It's true - you give a voice to those who have not been as well represented in print and media - validating and sharing their knowledge, expertise, values, and way of life with the world.
alua
Such a lovely post! Really enjoyed reading about the people who made such effort to come to the event.
Will have to get your tofu book because I LOVE tofu. I won't be able to eat everything in it (don't eat meat/eggs/dairy), but I'm sure there will be plenty of goodies to enjoy. I love your Asian dumpling book too!
sansai
And of course you know that for every one person you meet (or receive email from), there are many more that love your books, enjoy your blog, and eat better because of them.... myself included. Keep up the good work! Two young kids (less than 3) has taken all the fun out of cooking for me, but your blog keeps asian food on my mind which is important for my soul. (The soul of a white boy no less!)
Monica Bhide
Fantastic! You deserve all this and more. You are, as I have always said, inspiring and wonderful.
Molly
Thank you for this post, Andrea. Too often we hear about how hard it is to survive as food writers. It's a pleasure - and inspiration - to be reminded of the positive side to what we do. I couldn't agree more that it can be a wonderful way to connect with people. And congratulations on all the very well-deserved acknowledgement of your work. Brava!
Yvonne
This is such a wonderful post. Sometimes all we need is a bit of recognition. Congratulations on all the glowing reviews your books are getting. It is truly well deserved!
Andrea Nguyen
Thank you Madeline!
Andrea Nguyen
The tofu book is really cool, Alua. There are plenty of vegan recipes in there for you!
Andrea Nguyen
Exactly, Sansai. Thanks for weighing for the silent majority! I greatly appreciate it.
Andrea Nguyen
Monica, it was your post and our conversations about food writing careers that made me think about this topic.
Andrea Nguyen
Dang, Molly. I need to include the KPLU plug of you and me for our recipe writing. Ahem, it's fixed.
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks for saying/writing that, Yvonne. I can be reluctant about giving myself a pat on the back. But what the hay, eh? 😀
Diane
This past winter, when I was a bit down, I cooked a big meal for friends. A friend's daughter said something that touched me and was so unexpected...she said, "your food makes my heart happy." Well, Andrea - your food makes my heart happy.
Congratulations on all the great press - you totally deserve it!
Bee
Congrats! I felt similar and mostly humbled at the Macy's event. Fans from the bay area, San Diego came to Irvine to watch me cook!!! Congratulations on all the rave reviews! Your are a noble food writer that many people respect and look up to! 🙂
kazari
I want you to know that I really enjoy your blog, and I own one of your cookbooks. There are very few cookbooks on Asian cooking -- much less Vietnamese cuisine -- written by Asians who grew up in that culture and tradition, and yours is a valuable resource for me. I am Korean, married to a Vietnamese man, and I feel my efforts to cook Vietnamese food for him (instead of just Korean all the time, haha) has helped our relationship and also helped my own understanding of his culture. So, thank you for you all you do.
Carolyn Jung
I always believe that if you follow your passion and work really hard at your endeavors, somehow, some way, it'll pay off in the end. Nice to see that's not a mere pipe dream, but reality in your case. You deserve every iota of it. Here's to even more success in the future! 😉
Andrea Nguyen
Diane -- what a nice comment to make and to receive! Thanks.
Andrea Nguyen
Bee -- If only we could have had a simultaneous telecast! Thanks for your interest and support, sistah! Keep on rockin' especially now that you have the fab new kitchen. :-]
Andrea Nguyen
Gosh, Kazari -- what a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing and such kind words. Your husband is one lucky Viet man! I've seen Koreans serve kimchi as a side with pho...
Yun Ho
Such feat is why you need to go on with your next project to make another cookbook to make more people happy!! I look forward to your next project. ^0^
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks, Carolyn. Lord knows, we've had plenty of conversations about our career ups and downs. A little luck, pluck and lots of hard work will lead to something! Cheers!!!
Andrea Nguyen
What time is it in Seoul? Yesterday Rory asked me, "What will you do with those fish heads that Yun Ho sent?" I need to take a vacay to read up on that. Thanks for helping with Asian Tofu. Those late night emails were a godsend.
wayne wong
Plaudits from other readers and users of your cookbooks validate my view over the years regarding your blog, cookbooks, TV-radio appearances, etc. but what speaks to your status as an author are the "good jobs" and "well-dones",collegial shout-outs from peers in the food world---the Molly Stevens, Carolyn Jungs, Monica Bhides, et al.
Hopefully you now enjoy, Andrea, the pride your Mom and family feel given your many accomplishments. With the road ahead stretching far, ample opportunities await to grow that pride!
Debs @ The Spanish Wok
Interesting post and congratulations of your many success. Keep up the good work.
Scott
Your mom's statement nailed it: From the first moment I looked through—and then cooked through—Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, the nobleness of your work was apparent. Your work is not merely thorough, good and reliable, I think it is downright important. I realize I have said it before, but it bore mentioning again. Keep the faith, Andrea. I think your path is a glorious one. xo
George Kenwood
Hey everyone, if anyone is interested in improving their kitchen skills then visit my website! Even though our site still doesn't have any vietnamese cooking classes info, I hope to include some detailed information on Vietnamese cooking classes in the near future!
Cheers
Nancy Braswell
I got my usual Amazon birthday gift card two weeks ago, and through it, _Asian Tofu_. It was even better than I expected -- and from you, I expect a lot! 🙂 I never thought I'd go back to making my own tofu after it became so widely available, but your book is truly inspiring.
Add me to the long list of people you've made very happy, and thanks for not going into banking!
Peggy Mallon
I am not a huge fan of tofu but your article has enticed me to buy your latest, I do have the others!
Andrea Nguyen
Thanks Wayne, for your enduring support and kowabunga kind of tweets and FB messages!
Andrea Nguyen
Appreciate it, Debs.
Andrea Nguyen
Scott, thank you for the thoughtful comment! My dad printed this post out for my mom to read. They are both touched -- as I -- by the warm responses.
Andrea Nguyen
Teehee, Nancy. I am thrilled to not disappoint you! Thanks for splurging on tofu. 😉
Andrea Nguyen
Peggy, I hope you find the tofu book to be interesting. It is an unusual book and includes the familiar and the unexpected. I didn't think the world of tofu would be so rich and multifaceted. Absolutely fascinating.
Yun Ho
We are sixteen hours ahead of Pacific time. Take the fish head, whole peeled onions, whole scallions (with roots attached), Konbu to make a nice dashi stock for noodle soup, deunjan chigae and other spicy seafood stews. If you have access to chili pepper seeds, add them and you will have a stronger and clearer flavor. The pleasure was all mine.
anh
Love that comment from your mom. If I ever get a comment like that from my mom, I'd be floating on clouds for months on end!
My well worn copy of Into the Vietnamese Kitchen has feed countless family members at numerous gatherings. It whispers to me the portions,lists of ingredients, and techniques used in making traditional dishes that my aging grandmother can no longer recall from her kitchen table. You really do, do nobel work Andrea. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and love of food.
parental controls
This is my first time i visit here. I found interesting things to many in your blog, mostly to the debate. Of the tons of comments on your articles, I’m not the only one who has all the fun here! Keep up the good work.
parental controls
This is my first time i visit here. I found interesting things to many in your blog, mostly to the debate.
entangled
Andrea, I've praised your books to everyone I know. I always feel like you're standing next to me as I cook from them - the directions are so precise and detailed. The effort that went into them is obvious. I kept and still refer to a newspaper clipping from an article you wrote about Kho way back before any of your books were published. Thanks for all the help!
julie
oh, i'm so grateful that you have chosen an "unconventional" career. you have long been an inspiration to fledgling food writers such as myself. i've actually been meaning to write you because i recently bought asian tofu and am in the middle of reading it from cover to cover, and i wanted to tell you how astounded i am by the detail, research, and simply fascinating process of a topic i know little about. i've always enjoyed that about your blog and your books!
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