Luke Nguyen's Vietnam Interview

Luke Nguyen's Vietnam Interview

Begins Thursday, 2 December at 7.30pm on SBS ONE

Luke Nguyen returns to SBS ONE to continue his culinary journey around the country of his heritage.

In this new series, Luke Nguyen, acclaimed owner and chef of Sydney Restaurant Red Lantern, takes a culinary journey through the northern regions of Vietnam. Starting in imperial Hue, and travelling north toward Hanoi and Sapa, Luke explores nine regions of Northern Vietnam over ten colourful half hour episodes.

"The cuisine in the northern parts of Vietnam is more delicate, elegant and refined," says Luke, "As I travelled from Hanoi to the northern mountains of Sapa, I felt like I was entering a whole new country."

As he travels around the stunning landscape and chaotic towns, Luke demonstrates his passion for the country, its people and the cuisine while creating dishes that will inspire the home cook or anyone who wants to try this magnificent cuisine in an easy to follow style.

Episode 1- HUE
Thursday, 2 December at 7.30pm on SBS ONE
In the first episode of Luke Nguyen's Vietnam, Luke explores the food and people of Hue, home to the ruling Emperors of the 17th century in central Vietnam. Hue's culture and its history are discovered as Luke takes us on a sprawling journey of the vibrant town. At a bustling corner restaurant, Luke helps prepare a quintessential Hue dish - Lemongrass skewers. He cooks with a local woman on her front porch and explores the historic Citadel, built by the Nguyen Dynasty where the Emperors ruled.

Episode 2- VINH
Thursday, 9 December at 7.30pm on SBS ONE
Luke stops off in Dong Hoi and prepares a dish for a family on route to Vinh. After another three hours drive Luke explores the vibrant market lifestyle in this small country town where locals, all too keen to lend a hand with his recipes of eel and pork neck, overrun him. He also visits a family living on a rickety stilt house in the middle of the lake where he prepares a pickled bamboo and tamarind soup for some keen kids ready to pass judgement on their local dish. Luke Nguyen's Vietnam will be extensively supported online at sbs.com.au/food with exclusive recipes from the new series, Vietnamese cooking masterclass videos, an interview series with Luke Nguyen about his life in food and an interactive map allowing users to browse recipes by region.

Luke Nguyen was born in Thailand in 1978, shortly after his parents fled Vietnam as boat people. After spending some time in a Thai refugee camp, his family eventually settled in Sydney, Australia.

Luke is the chef and owner of the award-winning Vietnamese restaurant, Red Lantern, and is the author of the bestselling book, Secrets of the Red Lantern & Songs of Sapa. In his spare time, Luke hosts 13-day culinary discovery trips to Vietnam. He is currently writing another book and is spending most time between Vietnam, Sydney and France.

In 2009, Luke Nguyen and Suzanna Boyd founded the little lantern foundation in Hoi An, which gives disadvantaged youths an opportunity to undertake a hospitality training program in little lantern's operating hotel - restaurant and bar.

Luke Nguyen's Vietnam is a Red Creative Media production for SBS
Executive Producer: John Hatcher
Director: Michael Donnelly

Interview with Luke Nguyen

Question: How did this show come about?

Luke Nguyen: I am from the south of Vietnam and I wanted to discover more about the cuisine of the regions of Vietnam; the cuisine changes in each region and so does the culture and dialect too. I started writing a book about Vietnam called Songs of Sapa and included all of my experiences of travelling and meeting home cooks, street venders and Vietnamese people in the markets. When you mention food in Vietnam you instantly become the best mate, food is everything to Vietnamese people, food is communication and culture. I had so many incredible experiences meeting people in Vietnam and I could capture that through words, recipes and photographs but I thought 'wouldn't it be incredible to capture this, on film, where you can see all the colours and textures'.


Question: What can viewers except from Luke Nguyen's Vietnam?

Luke Nguyen: We started filming, with the crew, from south to north of Vietnam. It has been a great insight into the real Vietnam. I don't cook in studios, I cook on the street and if I see a great dish on the corner of a busy intersection, that's where I'll cook; people will get the real experience of Vietnam culture and food. It has been an amazing experience.


Question: Why did you want to make this documentary?

Luke Nguyen: To show the beauty of Vietnam and the great love of food.


Question: What different recipes and ingredients are seen throughout the ten episode show?

Luke Nguyen: I go through a certain Vietnam area and I discover the original delicacies of each area. The first episode of the series is in the centre of Vietnam, called Hue. You'll have never seen anything like Hue, there is so much history there, and it is a very regal, royal town. The emperors used to say to their chefs "I do not want to eat the same dish ever and each meal I have I want more than 20 dishes". The cooks had to be really creative and make little dishes and discover new ingredients from the area. The emperors would have 20 dishes, for every meal of the day and it could not be anything they'd had before- which is why going to this area was 'wow', I had never seen anything like it. The town has adapted the idea and when you eat a meal it is a banquet or meal and each dish is small, which is really interesting. When I was in Hue I made some of the smaller dishes like little rice cakes with dried shrimps and little rice crepes cooked in a crepe pan with pork belly and bean sprouts and you wrap it up with lettuce and fresh herbs. After Hue I go up to an area where the biggest supplier of eel lives- so I went eel hunting; you catch the eel and then cook it! After I caught eel I went to the market to see how they cook it and I make a little dish, at the market. These events are all very fascinating.

I then go to Halong Bay, which is a gorgeous Bay and I spent sometime on a boat there and just cruise the area visiting floating villages and see what they're cooking. All these villages are fishing villages and they float and a lot of them have never stepped foot on land before and they have thousands of fish, under their homes. You lift up the planks of wood, which acts as their floor and underneath there are fish everywhere! I caught a fish and cooked it the way they did it. Each area has a certain cuisine and a way of cooking. It is great!

Then, I went to another area in the mountains where there is a whole lot of Mountain Goat, they specialise in Goat dishes and this town has a wonderful landscape. So of course I go there and cook a lot of goat dishes.

The show is all about travelling to certain areas, seeing what they're all about and what they specialise in and learning the recipes and cooking them! It is about cooking the food in their natural environment. I want to show audiences the beauty of Vietnam and want audiences to meet people, which is why we visit certain families. The show is real, real Vietnam.


Question: Did you learn a lot from doing this show?

Luke Nguyen: I am constantly learning, still learning and that's what makes it so fascinating and so much fun! It is hard filming outdoors in 45 degree heat in 98% humidity but it's all about food and people with a passion for food. For me, it's such an experience and you cannot get better than that, really.


Question: Can you tell us a little bit about the Little Lantern Foundation in Hoi An?

Luke Nguyen: Yes, absolutely! I was raised in Australia, born abroad, but raised in Australia, I was brought here when I was really young. I have a Vietnam culture but I am Australia. Going back to Vietnam and visiting family members there and seeing where my parents used to live and meeting my cousins, aunties and uncles for the first time and just meeting kids, in general, I realised they've got it hard. We've got it so easy in Australia, we've got everything, we've got education, choices and options; if you want to do arts you can do arts! My passion is food and I've made a career out of food which is so lucky! When I go to Vietnam and see so many people, so many young kids struggling, they don't have enough money to have an education; it's not like Australia where the government gives you the chance to pay back your education costs- in other developing countries, it's not that easy. When I go to Vietnam and meet these kids that cannot afford to go to school and they're out there going through rubbish tins collecting plastic bottles or cans to sell and then give money to their parents it kills me. With the Little Lantern Foundation I want to set up a little training school with a house and restaurant attached so people can do the theory in the training school and do the physical training in operating a business in the restaurant so they can have that real experience.


Question: What is your next project?

Luke Nguyen: I am going to be dedicating a lot of my time to the Little Lantern Foundation - it is using a certified hospitality curriculum from Australia and implementing it in Vietnam so when the kids finish their course they have a certificate or a diploma and they can work in the best hotels of Vietnam or go to other countries and show their qualifications and experience. That's the dream I am working on at the moment. I am off to Vietnam in a couple of weeks to work on this; morally this is something that I need to do. I don't need anything more here, in Australia, I have good food, I don't need a car, I don't even have a car! It is about going to Vietnam and assisting others and I think happiness and fulfillment comes with helping others. Happiness doesn't come from material things, I am glad that I have learnt that at a young age and I can put all my energy into this foundation.