Chef Dao Thuy Linh spent this past Lunar New Year (Tet) festival splitting her time between celebrating with family and wandering around the Cho Lon neighborhood in Ho Chi Minh City to document the local cuisine.

With the help of a friend, Linh visited a local market and bought the ingredients needed to make a traditional family meal featuring delicacies from Vietnam’s ethnic Hoa people, or those with Chinese heritage. 

Linh also visited the long-standing restaurants in the neighborhood, while learning to make traditional cakes and trying well-known dishes.

The activities were part of the 38-year-old's personal project to explore the cuisines of 54 ethnic groups across Vietnam, which she started in July 2023.

A long-time cherished dream

So far, she has documented cuisines from 12 groups in the country including the Hoa, Cho Ro, Cham, E De, Chu Ru, to name a few. 

Linh expects to complete the mission of discovering all 54 groups’ cuisines by the end of this year.

As a chef and founder of Ech Xanh, a frog meat restaurant chain with locations in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ngai, and Binh Dinh, Linh called the project 'a dream' she has cherished for a long time.

"Vietnam boasts 54 ethnic groups, each with its own distinctive culinary cultural richness, yet these culinary treasures are not widely known," Linh told Tuoi Tre News while she is busy preparing for her next trip to the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang to feature Khmer people’s cuisine.

"While I possess knowledge about general cuisine, I find there is much I don't know, particularly when it comes to the diverse array of ethnic cuisines.

"I am genuinely delighted that I now have the opportunity to both expand my own knowledge and share it with a broader audience."

In the videos posted on her TikTok channel @liana.linlin, which boasts over 80,000 followers, Linh embarked on journeys to various provinces in Vietnam.

She actively engaged with local communities, requesting to participate in their daily activities, cooking with their families, and documenting the experiences on film.

It normally takes her five days to a week to complete each trip.

In addition to showcasing local foods, Linh offers historical, cultural, and demographic insights about the various ethnic groups she encounters.

"I chose social media to promote my journeys because my target audience is young people," she explained.

"I aim to convey the timeless features of traditional culinary culture and capture the unique beauty that appears to be gradually fading away.

"Hopefully, in the future, my project will reach a broader audience, allowing people to discover more intriguing aspects of Vietnamese cuisine."

According to Linh, there are two aspects of the project for which she is grateful – the first being the knowledge she has gained, and the second being the friendships she has forged along the way.

The journeys have also broadened the chef's own understanding, such as discovering that 'cassava leaf is edible' while learning to cook with the E De people in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

'Cook for the kids'

On her way to discovering ethnic Vietnamese cuisines, Linh came up with the idea to organize 'Nau An Cho Em' events where she cooked for local children. 

“When I saw the children at the places I visited, I felt like doing something to create sweet memories of their childhood, and I decided to cook for them because I'm a chef,” Linh said. 

So far, Linh has organized three free-of-charge cooking events for children and plans to organize many more.

Despite having a timeline for her main project of discovering 54 cuisines, Linh hopes to run 'Nau An Cho Em' for as long as she can.

Linh still vividly remembers the first cooking event she coordinated in Cu Kroa Commune, situated in Dak Lak's M'Drak District, in July 2023.

"We brought our signature dish, 'frog roasted with salted egg,' from our restaurant," Linh recalled.

"While the children were gathered to enjoy their meal, one of them fell on the ground with scratches.

However, he calmly sat up and continued his meal without shedding a tear.

"That image left a lasting impression on me about the resilience of the children in the mountainous region."

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