“This is a very traditional Vietnamese dish called ‘Thit Kho’, juicy pork belly slow-braised in young coconut juice. If you can’t get fresh coconuts, you can buy the coconut water in a tin from your local Asian market. Make sure to read the back and purchase ones with no added sugar.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

“I’ve sampled all varieties of curries in Bangkok, but this noodle curry, originating from Chiang Mai, has to be one of my favourites. This recipe uses Thai curry powder – a fragrant blend of ground pepper, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin, fennel, chilli flakes, turmeric and ginger, available from spice shops and Asian markets.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

“If you’re up near the Giant Swing or the Democracy Monument, you must dine at Mit Ko Yuan on Dinso Road in Sao Chingcha. I’m telling you, this place has not changed a bit since it opened over 60 years ago. They’ve still got the original decor so it’s truly olde worlde, with tiled walls, blue shelves and gorgeous old wooden tables and stools down each side. It oozes character. Despite being wildly popular they’ve never expanded and they even run the same menu they had when they opened – there’s a copy of it on the wall complete with the original prices. I really enjoy their yum woon sen, which you’ll also see cooked on the street too and you will see the cook stand behind a wok and cook this dish to order. It only takes a few minutes before you are eating this divine plate of seafood noodles.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

“I came across a street food cart in Saigon’s busy Chinatown wok tossing rice noodles. I couldn’t help myself but ask the owner if I could make my own dish. Within 3 minutes, I was done. This noodle dish is a very simple, quick and tasty dish to make at home on any night of the week. - Chef Luke Nguyen

“We (sometimes) serve this popular street food dish at Red Lantern. We poach the chicken in a master stock, then baste it with a honey and maltose mixture before hanging it until the skin becomes completely dry. To then achieve a very crispy skin, we ladle very hot oil over the skin again and again until it blisters and becomes crispy. I have kept my master stock alive now for 15 years, and it develops more flavour every time I use it.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

“Clams are a popular offering on restaurant menus all along the French coastline. Here their lovely juices are released into an elegantly fragrant coconut-water broth, spiked with ginger, tamarind and tangy lime.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

“When we are our way across Vietnam, Pauline, Lewis, and I often found ourselves looking for restaurants with a sign reading Cơm Bình Dân (“home-style cooking”). We tired very easily of the food made fancy in some of the upscale restaurants and craved for more simple and honest food - food that is the true essence of Vietnamese cooking.” - Chef Mark Jensen

“Mussels are the perfect thing to dish up when you have lots of guests, as they are so quick to cook, and go a long way: a kilo of mussels can be shared among four to six people. If you are planning on preparing more than a kilo of mussels, be sure to cook them in small batches.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

“Here’s another of my favourite dishes and it’s one that I have for lunch two, or even three, times a week when I’m in Saigon. It not only packs a ton of flavour but has a cool backstory too. When rice is milled to separate the husks from the grains, some grains end up breaking in the process and need to be separated out from the first grade, undamaged rice. Back in the day, poor rice farmers would save this broken rice and eat it as a cheap source of food. Today, it’s become something of a delicacy for the Vietnamese and is so sought after that it’s actually rather expensive to buy. I love the irony of this. Why do Vietnamese people love broken rice so much? I think it’s because of the texture, which is something quite special. The marinated pork in this dish requires the smokiness that comes from chargrilling to taste right, even though some vendors pan-fry it instead. So when you go to Saigon, look for ones that grill over coals. To serve, the pork goes on the rice with coriander, some cucumber, tomatoes and a bit of spring onion oil. On goes a fried egg, some lap cheong (optional) and with tasty nuoc cham on the side, it’s a perfect light meal for any time of the day.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

"As I kick around Jakarta, where I discover foods from all over Indonesia, one cuisine I really enjoy is Sundanese. It’s from the western part of Java and the way they eat there is to sit down to basically a smorgasbord of pre-cooked dishes. A typical meal has a huge variety of vegetables, meat and fish options, with plenty of rice and herbs, too. A dish that always catches my eye is this grilled fish in banana leaves – so vibrant in colour." - Chef Luke Nguyen

“Although radishes are available year-round, their peak season is from Spring to Autumn, Summer radishes are crispy and juicy, perfect for eating raw in salads.” - Chef Mark Jensen

“This is one of my favourite Portuguese dishes. To see pork and shellfish on the same plate is not unusual; at Red Lantern our menu has many examples of this pairing. Pippies are now most sold already degorged of sand, but if in doubt ask your fishmonger.” - Chef Mark Jensen

"Walking the streets of Jakarta, I came across a stall with a cook behind a wok who looked around 12 years old, but was working the wok like a pro – so I just had to try his cooking. He whipped up a dish within minutes with wonderful sweet aromas of chilli wafting through the streets. I was very impressed with his skills and the simplicity of his dish." - Chef Luke Nguyen

“I shouldn’t take credit for this recipe; this one belongs to my partner, Pauline. She loves cooking lamb loin chops this way. If she hadn’t introduced it to me, I never would have suspected that lemongrass went so well with lamb. You can marinate the lamb for as little as two hours in the lemongrass, although the flavour is truly enhanced when you marinate it overnight.” - Chef Mark Jensen

"Vietnamese sate sauce is one of the best sauces you can serve with lobster. Don’t mistake it for the Indonesian satay peanut sauce; it’s completely different. Vietnamese sate sauce is made from slowly cooking a variety of dried shrimp and seafood with long green shallot, garlic, dried chilli and chilli oil." - Chef Luke Nguyen

"I cooked this dish in the garden of one of Hoi An’s most beautiful restaurants, called Brother’s Cafe. Built by the French in the early 1900s, it has the most spectacular landscaped garden along the river. Be sure to get a table outside in the evening to enjoy the view. The chefs there were easily able to source fresh young coconuts for me, but if you have to use tinned young coconut juice, omit the sugar in the recipe as tinned coconut juice contains added sugar." - Chef Luke Nguyen

"I discovered a small village in Bac Ha that grew a variety of red rice. When harvested and dried, the rice grains had a lovely purple colour — something I’d never seen before. This particular rice is also believed to have many medicinal qualities. So I bought some purple rice noodles and wok-tossed them with bamboo shoots and pork. The colour was so vibrant! Unfortunately, you can’t find purple rice noodles outside Bac Ha, so just use regular rice noodles instead. But remember, always use room-temperature fresh soft noodles, never ones that have come straight out of a fridge, as they will break during cooking." - Chef Luke Nguyen

"It wouldn’t be Christmas for the Jensen family without my mum’s steamed pudding, which uses one of her favourite treats, glacé ginger." - Chef Mark Jensen

“I visited Phu Quoc island many years ago while backpacking through the country. I was on a tight budget, so I found a cheap straw bungalow that cost only $8 a night. It was right on a beach, and every evening, the owner would cook everyone dinner. This dish was one of my favourites. The mussels were so plump and fresh, and the sweet basil tossed through matched them perfectly.” - Chef Luke Nguyen

“If you are ever on Phu Quoc island and can’t seem to find this dish in any restaurant, don’t worry. Just go to the fresh seafood market, buy yourself some juicy tiger prawns, take them to any street-food vendor or restaurant and ask them to make ‘Tôm Rang Muối’ for you. Be sure to leave the shells on, as the crispiness they add really makes this dish.” - Chef Luke Nguyen