Vietnamese home cooking

For a closeup look at southern Vietnamese cooking, let’s join Mai Pham on a visit to her grandmother and aunt in the village of Quoi Son (Kway son) near the city of My Tho (My Toe). Mai and her aunt will prepare a Southern-style meal featuring water spinach seared with garlic over a brisk wood fire; puffy, fire-roasted rice paper sheets; fluffy steamed rice from the local rice fields, and a rustic dish Mai learned from her aunt. As with much of the best cooking, there’s a secret ingredient.