Last week, an enthusiastic group of 22 foodies converged on Xanh Bistro, a modern, neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant in Fountain Valley, to experience Chef Haley Nguyen’s gourmet interpretations of this increasingly popular cuisine. Organized by social media user extraordinaire, Ted Nguyen, these lunch “twEATups” are meant to bring together good food and good company while exploring the flavors of Little Saigon. The gatherings are publicized on Twitter with the help of Neil Schaffer and Diana Wei; follow the hashtag #OCtwEATup or visit Ted’s blog for future information and conversations.
Chef Haley, shared her experiences and insights into how Little Saigon grew to become the largest Vietnamese community outside of Southeast Asia, the evolution of street food into cafes and noodle houses, and how her menu creations are not “fusion”, but based on traditional Vietnamese dishes – but those that are reserved for special celebrations.
In true foodie and social media fashion, Chef Haley’s demonstration on how to make the perfect Vietnamese spring roll was documented by the twitterazi via camera, smartphone, and Flip. Follow her simple tips and you too can make these light, delicious, and healthy appetizers.
The other highlight was the complex and unique flavors of this deliciously diverse Vietnamese cuisine itself. I flashed pics of my entree, the exotic Banana Blossom Salad, as well as those of other attendees – in the foodie world, it is perfectly acceptable to photograph other peoples’ food 🙂
Banana Blossom Salad
Fish with Dill
Crispy Rice
Fish with Caramelized House Sauce
Appetizer Assortment
And, if the video was too long for you, here’s a slideshow of How to Make Spring Rolls:
(hover over the images to see captions)
This is great! Thank you so much for sharing! I love the videos! Very helpful and the woman is very funny haha. The little lesson was very helpful…I can’t wait to put what I learned to test!
I really enjoy making the spring rolls and dipping in a fantastic peanut sauce. I could eat those all day long. Sounds like all the foodies had a wonderful time.
Tasty looking stuff! I love spring rolls but never ventured into making my own. One day…Thanks for sharing!
Great instruction! Gorgeous spring rolls. Yum.
.-= Kathy Gori´s last blog ..Coming Soon- A Sunday Indian Brunch In 4 Parts! =-.
Thanks for sharing all this delicious food. I love Vietnamese cuisine and frankly don’t enjoy it enough!
Sounds like a fun time! Wish I were there to enjoy the yumminess.
.-= Jean´s last blog ..Tapas! =-.
You’re making me hungry! I wish I can taste it!
.-= Adelina´s last blog ..Tri-Color Pepper Pita Pizza with Armenian Basturma =-.
Super cool!!! Awesome posting! Fun time! We should do it again! =)
Mmmmm…that’s a bunch of delicious food, awesome. I love Vietnamese cuisine.
.-= Anna´s last blog ..Stuffed Pork Loin and Green Beans salad =-.
How fun to have foodie events like this! Wish I was a little closer. Looks like a lot of delicious food and good times. Thanks for sharing the video.
.-= Cristina´s last blog ..Blackberry-Almond Shortbread =-.
Thanks everyone – yes, its definitely fun to meet new people, connect faces to names, and share good food. At least if we don’t cook Vietnamese, we’re fortunate to have Little Saigon in our “back yard”!
Christina – the video cut off before the final step – success lies in the tight tucking and rolling! And the final test is if the roll holds together after cutting!
Whenever I do go out to eat…the first cuisine that comes to mind is Asian…just love it.
This place looks great…beautiful meal photos.
Ciao for now,
Claudia
.-= FOODESSA´s last blog ..CLEVER on ROASTED GARLIC cloves =-.