In Vietnamese this is known as Mỡ Hành. This simple garnish is simply made with lightly fried green scallions and is often served with traditional Vietnamese dishes.

Growing up my mom enjoyed cooking Italian foods while my father did all the Vietnamese foods. These meatless “meat”-balls are amazing and tastes just as good if not even better than real meatballs. It doesn’t seem like it now but I was a vegetarian for over 10 years so I love a good plant based meal every once in a while!

Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa is a Japanese celebrity chef and restaurateur known for his unique fusion of tradition Japanese with Peruvian twists.

Two of his signature dishes at the popular NOBU restaurants are the miso black cod and miso eggplant. The semi-sweet and super savory miso sauce glaze is marinated on black cod and eggplants then broiled to golden perfection.

Bánh cam or bánh rán in Vietnamese is one of the most famous and beloved Vietnamese desserts.

This Tet/New Year’s special is definitely on the richer side being that it is deep fried. The outer shell is comprised of a glutinous rice wrapped with sesame seeds which makes it crispy and chewy and the inside is deliciously moist filled with sweet mung beans & coconut flakes.

Growing up my dad used to make these pickled mustard greens all the time. In Vietnamese culture we would have these pickled sour things to accompany very salty meats. I never really realized but we ate these when we were kids so I guess my fermented infatuation started off very young!

Dua Gia is a classic Vietnamese pickled beansprouts and a beloved staple in any Vietnamese household. It’s a light and colorful pickle great to pair with salty meat and fish dishes. In Vietnam, it’s usually seen and served as a companion of roasted pork!

Nuoc Mam Gung is a Vietnamese Ginger Fish Sauce that’s salty, fishy, sweet, with a little sour and spicyy zing. It’s a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce typically used for meats cooked on the plainer side like poached duck or chicken.

It’s ooey gooey, buttery and crispy! My kimchi spin to the classic grilled cheese.

One of my favorite all time childhood dishes. My parents made the traditional pork/shrimp version but we also had this as well which is the vegetarian version that has savory fried onions, crumbled tofu and woodear mushrooms as the filling and it’s topped with more crispy fried onions, fresh cilantro, and Nuoc Mam which is the fish sauce dip for this.

Menu favorite, Crab Rangoon, originated on the menu of a "Polynesian-style" restaurant in the 1950’s in San Francisco and is allegedly derived from an original Burmese recipe.

Crab Rangoon are fried wonton wrappers filled with cream cheese, crab (real or imitation), scallions and are often served with a sweet and sour sauce.

One of my favorite things to make is ramen or soba noodle soup especially on cold muggy days. This is not a traditional soba by any means but it’s super easy and packs in a lot of flavor!

In Japan side dishes like these are referred to as Sunomono. Simply translated means “vinegar foods”. The most typical sunomono comprises of just thinly sliced cucumber, and wakame seaweed in semi-sweet rice vinegar, soy sauce dressing.