First Cook: Anchovy’s Thi Le Owns Her Story With Every Page of Debut Book Viet Kieu

It’s kind of impossible to sum up Viet Kieu in a few words that aren’t “read it for yourself”. It’s so deeply personal, brimming with knowledge from heritage, family and kitchens, which makes for a story unique to Thi Le, chef and co-owner of Melbourne’s Anchovy and Ca Com Bahn Mi.

And, honestly, I think that’s the point – it’s how all personal cookbooks should be.

The co-narration by Le and her partner Jia-Yen Lee goes deep into the stories that made Le who she is: a migrant, child sexual abuse survivor, accidental restaurateur and an Australian viet kieu (a Vietnamese person living abroad or diaspora), among many other things.

As someone who’s found it tricky to find their place growing up in Australia, Le has claimed the title and identity of viet kieu – both in her life and for her debut book – and reminds us that, at its core, Vietnamese food is built on locally available products and a cook’s ability to adapt. In the book you’ll find olive oil, desert lime and live marron in the ingredients list alongside Viet staples like fish sauce, fermented bean curd and Vietnamese mint.

Recipes are telling in their attention to technique, with in-depth ingredient lists. And there are moments of lightness, simple recipes and a story which left me cackling, involving an accidental backyard cockfight, a sacrificial slaughter – and chicken congee for dinner.

When it came to picking a recipe for the first cook, the decision more or less arrived at my door: when friends turn up with foraged field mushrooms, it’s a sign not to be ignored. The mushies in question were vibrant sunset-hued pine mushrooms – aka saffron milk caps – found growing under pine trees in our cooler regions for just a few weeks a year. You need a good lot of rain then a couple of sunny days to find these beauties.

(At your own risk, of course! I’m not taking any responsibility for any wayward shroom picking.)

I was pretty confident that my mushroom-gifting friends weren’t plotting my final meal, but in the end, it was a risk I was willing to take.

The recipe for nam rung nuong voi hanh (grilled wild mushrooms and spring onion oil) was simple, classy and, ooft , so good. Butter-basted mushrooms are doused in Le’s perfect spring onion oil, scattered with well-roasted peanuts for a little crunch. I devoured the dish spooned over a bowl of steamed rice, catching all the extra buttery spring onion juices that weren’t soaked by the pine mushrooms.

There’s no doubt it’s one of the simpler recipes to choose, but with new cookbooks, it’s nice to dip in gently, whet the appetite and then stock up on the 40-or-so ingredients needed for the epic Viet-Cajun seafood boil.

Don’t call Viet Kieu traditional, modern or whatever. If you do have to label the food in its pages, it’s purely Thi Le’s. That’s it.

Viet Kieu by Thi Le is available on shelves across Australia.

Gemma Plunkett is a Sydney-based dinner party tragic and home cook who works as a writer, content strategist and recipe developer. Find her (but mostly food) in pictures or in your inbox via her free newsletter Ding!