You've Got A Friend - Born To Talk

How easily do you make friends? Time to visit the trusty dictionary for the definition of friend. A person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard. A person that is not hostile.

Interesting, I wonder how many of you have “hostile” friends? I don’t consider any of my friends hostile. While I may be closer to some for various reasons, I do feel affection for my friends and cherish our friendship.

This brings me to my topic today. If you have been following along with me, then you know I spent a couple of weeks in Vietnam this past spring. This wonderful opportunity was made possible because of my Friend, Shelley. As the coordinator of the EMBA program at Loyola Marymount University, I have had the distinct pleasure of traveling with her and LMU staff along with the grad students on 3 international trips.

Vietnam is a remarkable country and what brought it to life for me, was our guide Van Nguyen, the CEO of his company Vietnam Alive Travel. You can find his company online. Imagine my excitement when Van secured a VISA, and came to the US for the first time. His packed trip started on the east coast and ended with 4 days at my house before returning home.

This was a fantastic opportunity to share our cultures. You may also know, that cooking isn’t on the top of my to do list, and you guessed it, he cooked! Oh yes, he cooked everyday and what’s a person to do, I ate!

One of the joys of Vietnam for me was eating. Their cuisine is delicious. Vietnamese restaurants are popping up all over town, but I had the real deal while Van was here. He did get a kick out of the play on words!

First thing we needed to do was get the necessary ingredients for the dinner party we for Saturday night. Menu planned, grocery list in hand, off we went to 99 Ranch Market. I have never been here before, it was a treat!

The very first thing we spotted was Jack Fruit. The smile and comfort of watching Van see something so familiar was great. I think he felt very happy to see this fruit in our country.

Our menu consisted of fresh spring rolls, Beef Pho, fried rice, and sauteed Vietnamese spinach. The variety of vegetables, herbs, fish, beef, sauces and noodles were really neat.

Shelley and her husband, Bart became the expert spring roll makers, after Van showed them the process. It starts with a rice paper wrapper; think of a thin flour tortilla made out of rice, placed on a moistened plate.

Once the wrapper is wet on both sides, it is filled with mint, lettuce, softened noodles, pork, shrimp and chives. Rolled like a burrito. And voila, spring rolls. Then Van made a dipping sauce topped with peanuts.

Finished product.

Check out the assortment of sauces that have found a new home at my house!!

Now about the Beef Pho…much to my extreme shock and disappointment, I didn’t take a single picture!!! Seriously, how could that have happened? I’m so sorry that you can’t see the result of 5 hours of cooking Pho, pronounced Fah. Oxtails cooked to perfection, flavored the broth. There were lots of seasonings going on; I have no idea what the heck I was doing. It’s a blur. I know some of the seasonings used while Van was here were, shallots, cilantro, mint, chilies, chives, basil and lemongrass. He planted lemongrass in my backyard…I hope it grows, it’s my new favorite herb!

I can tell you this, everything was delicious. You’re just going to have to trust me on this meal.

Not only did Van prepare a wonderful meal for EMBA graduate Jolie and her fiance Trevor and graduate Bill and his daughter Torrie, we had time to share our travel experiences and dreams for the future, over a few beers and great food.

His cooking didn’t just include Saturday’s party, oh no…Lunch and dinner was also prepared with the leftover food and also with chicken that I had, just ready for his magic touch!

Chicken and fried rice…

Beef with noodles…

My new Friend, Van and I shared a lot of laughter. We learned about each other’s culture. We watched the World Cup together. I know he had a good time walking over to LMU and sitting on the tree that I just wrote about last week.