Artist Statement
The food that I grow and cook is rooted in the ancestral traditions of my family. It is a lifelong journey in seeking to understand what it means to be both Vietnamese and American, a child of refugees, and more recently, a daughter without a mother. It is a means to forge a relationship to land in a way that preserves my cultural identity, while adapting to my native surroundings. My approach to cooking explores the possibility of recreating the Vietnamese flavor that existed before industrialization and colonization. It regards edible plants not just as ingredients, but as vessels for inquiry and storytelling, as medicine, as part of a larger living ecosystem. Growing and adapting them to the Northeast climate is a means to resist, survive, and thrive.
Chè Thạch Rau Câu, basil seed and mung bean agar jellies with lychee, nata de coco, and palm nut. in pandan coconut milk