Taste of Vietnam: The Perfect Cup

Taste of Vietnam: The Perfect Cup

Sweetened Vietnamese Coffee - Brandon Nguyen 

Vietnamese cuisine brings me back to the childhood days, where my grandmother would prepare special dishes in her kitchen. In a world where the food of Chinese, Japanese, Americans, Italians, French, and Mexicans dominate, traditional Vietnamese food is often overlooked. From beef phở to crispy spring rolls, executive chef, Helene An, and daughter Jacqueline An share many recipes directly from their Vietnamese kitchen in Ăn: To Eat

Ground coffee in a phin filter.

For novices, cooking can be quite a challenge. Having little to no experience in the kitchen, I decided to start simple with sweetened Vietnamese coffee, or cà phê sữa. According to Helene and Jacqueline An, "Vietnam is second only to Brazil in coffee exports, but surprisingly, the rich flavors of Vietnamese coffee are relatively unknown outside the realm of coffee connoisseurs" (An, Helene & Jacqueline An 269). What makes Vietnamese coffee unique? Unlike any other coffee, Vietnamese coffee is bitter with just a touch of sweetness. A small word of warning, this coffee is extremely strong. I remembered drinking sweetened Vietnamese coffee one day in the afternoon and not being able to go to sleep!

The coffee is ready to be served!

For the coffee, a special metal drip filter (top) called a phin is used. If you learn to master the phin, everything else is simple. Though I am embarrassed to admit, it took me two attempts to make the perfect cup. Despite the fact that it took second effort, the ingredients are simple. We pour hot water over the ground coffee in the phin. The water drips into a cup with about two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk. A lid is placed over the filter to retain the water's heat (right). This takes approximately four minutes. I learned it the hard way that by rereading the instructions slowly and carefully I was less vulnerable to mistakes. 

Typical Vietnamese breakfast.

To adjust the flavor, I definitely played around with the amount of sweetened condensed milk and ground coffee that was being added, making multiple cups to find the right ratio of bitterness and sweetness that was ideal for me. I even tried adding ice cubes to make cold coffee. As stated by the mother-daughter duo, "Experiment with different coffee brands and the measures of coffee and condensed milk to find your preference for the perfect cup" (An, Helene & Jacqueline An 269). 

In the end, I brewed more coffee than my family could even drink. In fact, it was enough for the entire neighborhood! Creating this recipe has immediately transported me back to my childhood days again. It has brought my grandmother back in the kitchen and most prominently, revived all the great memories I had with her. If you could make any Vietnamese drink or dish, what would it be and why?

Resources: 

An, Helene, and Jacqueline An. Ăn: to Eat: Recipes and Stories from a Vietnamese Family Kitchen. Running Press, 2016.

Knitting: Not Just Two Needles and a Ball of Yarn

Knitting: Not Just Two Needles and a Ball of Yarn

Ha Tien Nguyen
Knitting for DummiesPam Allen, Shannon Okey, Tracy L. Barr, and Marly Bird

Knitting has always been regarded as a grandma's hobby. However, many would disagree. Simply ask Cara Delevingne, Lorde, Kate Middleton, and Amanda Seyfried. Knitting is more than just two needles and a ball of yarn. The past-time is calm, relaxing, and centering. In this fast-moving world in which we live, we often forget to take the time to do something that requires us to slow down and refresh ourselves. The repetitive rhythmic movements has shown to help  manage stress, pain and depression. Not to mention, there's a certain thrill and sense of accomplishment that comes with holding up something you've just made with your own two hands. In Knitting for Dummies, the book educates and nurtures knitters in their process of crafting a product worthy of pride and satisfaction.

In chapter 4 of Kitting for Dummies, the book enlightens the reader with a step-by-step instruction of knitting techniques. The very first step of any knitting project is, "creating the first row of stitches... call casting on" (Allen, Shannon Okey, Barr, Bird 58). The casting on process is very important since these create the very first stitches for which every other stitches will be knitted upon. From there, "knitted and purled stitches are made by using a continuous strand of yarn and two needles to pull new loops through old loops" (Allen, Shannon Okey, Barr, Bird 64). Knit and purl stitches are two stitches upon which all other knitting techniques are based since they are undeniably the most simple and important stitches of any other stitches. Through the whole of the text, the authors provide encouraging advice such as, "Learning to knit can be a little stressful. Your fingers have to work in ways they're not accustomed to... When you feel yourself getting tense or frustrated, set your knitting aside and do something else for a while, or head to Chapter 21 for suggested exercises to unkink yourself" (Allen, Shannon Okey, Barr, Bird 57). In Knitting for Dummies, the authors cover every single detail of knitting and provide a very comprehensive manual for learning to knit.

There I was, a ball of yarn in one hand, two knitting needles in the other, and perhaps the most enormous headache of my life. Beginning off, I was quite confused. The hardest part of learning how to knit was learning it off a book. Being a visual learner myself, I had trouble interpreting the given directions into actions. However, by following many of the authors' advice and carefully examining the visual aid, I managed to master the techniques. Through it all, I found the encouragement in book to be very helpful to a struggling novice like me. I personally had a great time learning this new skill and found that my hard work paid off.

What was your predisposed opinion of knitting and what is your opinion of knitting now? Would you like to learn to knit? Why? What would you make if you knew how to knit?

Works Cited

Allen, Pam. Knitting for Dummies. John Wiley, 2014.