Bo Bia – Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Chinese Sausage, Jicama and Egg

Bo Bia is a lesser know variant of the famous Goi Cuon (Vietnamese Summer Roll). It is a similar concept but with different filling. I had never heard of this roll until I mistakenly bought some while I was backpacking through Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). I thought I was ordering Goi Cuon from the street vendor but luckily got a bag of this. In my severely broken Vietnamese I asked the vendor for the ingredients. However, there was one ingredient that I did not understand. It wasn't until my arrival home and some rifling through cookbooks that I realised it was jicama (yam bean).

Canh Chua Tôm – Vietnamese Sour Soup with Prawn

Herbs are a tricky ingredient. They can make or break a dish. Too little and the dish is bland and boring. Too much and it's like your eating the entire contents of your granny's medicine cabinet. It is with this reason that I absolutely refuse to buy my herbs from supermarkets. They are more than likely incubated in hothouses and can be fed with a host of unsavoury pesticides. They are often bland and twice the size that they should be. I want my herbs to be burgeoning in the full blaze of the sun and their roots soaked with rainwater. Therefore I know that the flavour that graces my dishes are what they intended to be... natural.

Here in this refreshing soup from Vietnam, I made sure that the herbs used were grown in more natural conditions. It is important that the vibrant citrusy notes from the rice paddy herb and sawtooth coriander come shining through. On the bustling streets of Cabramatta you can find sweet little old ladies setting up makeshift stalls to sell homegrown fruit and vegetables. The very same produce that they use to make their meals for their families.

Tropical Meringue Nests with Mango and Coconut

The idea of whipping and cooking egg whites used to make me want to lie down in a dark room. They always seemed far too difficult and after a horrific attempt many years ago, my desire to ever work with them were wrapped up, boxed and placed on the never-again shelf.

By chance, I stumbled upon a recipe for Swiss Meringue Buttercream by Whisk Kid and her step-by-step instructions were clear, precise and best of all, helpful. I successfully baked a Rainbow Cake using her famous recipe and I haven't looked back.