Tung Nguyen - Mango and Peppercorns

To all the immigrants and refugees who
are working toward a better opportunity for
themselves and their families

Copyright 2021 by Tung Nguyen, Katherine Manning, and Lyn Nguyen.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Nguyen, Tung (Restaurateur), author. | Manning, Katherine (Restaurateur), author. | Nguyen, Lyn, 1976- author. | Ung, Elisa, author. | Bernstein, Michelle, author of foreword.

Title: Mango and peppercorns / by Tung Nguyen, Katherine Manning, and Lyn Nguyen, with Elisa Ung ; foreword by Michelle Bernstein.

Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2021.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020031855 | ISBN 9781797202242 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781797202938 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Nguyen, Tung (Restaurateur) | Manning, Katherine (Restaurateur) | Cooking, Vietnamese. | Restaurateurs--Biography.

Classification: LCC TX724.5.V5 N6 2021 | DDC
641.59597--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031855

Image on : From The New York Times. 1975 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Used under license.
Excerpts on : From The Miami Herald. 1980, 1981, 1986, 1998, 2012 McClatchy.
All rights reserved. Used under license.

Design by Vanessa Dina.
Typesetting by Frank Brayton.
Typeset in Albra Text and Applied Sans.

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Long before I went to culinary school or won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South, and long before I had even gone to high school, I had a dining experience that inspired my approach to food.

I was twelve years old, and the restaurant was Hy Vong, owned by Tung Nguyen and Kathy Manning, in my hometown of Miami. My teenage sister had just eaten there with her boss and said we absolutely had to go. Our meal was full of these deep umami flavors that reached from our tongues to our souls. An hour after we finished, we headed back to the restaurant for more spring rolls.

From that day on, nothing satisfied me like the food of Hy Vong. It was a tiny hole in the wall. You had to write your name with a pencil on a list. You had to wait forever to get a seat, and then wait forever to give your order, and then wait forever for your food. But it didnt matter. It was so good, and so fun, and everyone who was anyone was eating at Hy Vong: celebrities; chefs; people of every age, race, and sexual orientation. And they were all constantly talking to each otherin ways I have seen in few other restaurantsasking other customers whether they had tried the special, or speculating exactly how Tung fried the shallots.

Tung remained my cooking role model long after my first experience with her food. She had an authenticity that I have strived for my entire career. As I cooked in other kitchens and trained as a chef, even after I opened restaurants of my own, I returned to Hy Vong as often as I could. I tried to sneak peeks at Tung in the kitchen, studying her ingredients and techniques. I admired how she never compromised for American palates by using excess sugarwhich is pretty amazing given that most of her customers were not Vietnamese. I credit Hy Vong for teaching generations of Miami residents about Vietnamese food and culture.

There is nothing like Hy Vong. I craved its food like no otherso much that I even had Tung and Kathy cater my wedding. Im thrilled that they have finally put some of their famous recipes into a book. Ive been begging for their recipes for years!

Yet even more than their food, I am inspired by their story. We never know whom we are going to end up with in life. What are the odds that these womenunlikely friends, raised on different continents, who didnt always get along well when they finally did meetended up with such magic between the two of them? I cant tell you what it is, but I wish I had a piece of that magic.

Its such an American story: A pregnant, hardworking Vietnamese refugee meets a strong midwestern woman with a big personality. Together they open a cherished, widely acclaimed restaurant, creating their success as a business owned entirely by womenall while raising a child.

They got more than they expected. We all did.

Michelle Bernstein

As the Vietnam War came to a close in the spring of 1975 with North Vietnam victorious, people began to flee impending Communist rule. Many escaped in boats, enduring days on the open ocean. Those who survived the journey were taken into refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia.

The United States, which had supported South Vietnam in the war, sponsored the evacuation of 125,000 Vietnamese refugees, who resettled throughout America. Tung Nguyen was one of the first to arrive. She had fled Saigon as the North Vietnamese Army approached the city. After a harrowing nine-day boat trip and a brief stay in Guam, she was transported to Fort Indiantown Gap in central Pennsylvania. The military base was one of four U.S. processing centers for Vietnamese refugees, taking in more than 20,000 people over a period of eight months.