- Age: 27
- Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
- Current area: Fairfax County, Virginia (Metro DC)
- Ethnicity: American-born Vietnamese
- Occupation: Nurse Graduate
Cooking and enjoying great food are a tremendous part of my upbringing. Growing up my parents would cook at home 98% of the time and made sure the 6 of us ate together at the dinner table and share conversation. I didn’t appreciate that togetherness until my siblings and I got older and went off to college or moved out. Seeing my parents, especially my mom, cook constantly in the kitchen, heightened my curiosity and passion for cooking good food.
I remember cooking my first meal on my own when I was just 8 years old. Being babysat by your teenage brothers allowed you to get into a lot of things a school-age child shouldn’t have by herself, but that’s another story. Luckily, I was a fairly good and smart kid. My most favorite soup is a Vietnamese dish called “chao”. There are many variations from other Asian countries. Mandarin-speaking Chinese call it “shi fun”, Cantonese-speaking Chinese call it “congee”, and Americans see it as a “rice soup or porridge”. Chao can be plain, eaten with added salty content, or cooked with minced meat, veggies, or seafood. It’s a Vietnamese comfort food. It’s how Americans feel about chicken noodle soup.–the cure to sickness.
Chao was my first dish and I experimented with it in so many variations that it’s become a now: Amy’s special. After my first experience cooking, I was hooked and started expanding my cooking adventure thereafter. Needless to say, 18 years later, I’m still just as excited to cook a dish as I was when I was 8 years old. I cook for many things: to relax, to de-stress, to entertain, to comfort, to feed, to enjoy, to experiment, to learn, and most importantly to bond.
My biggest challenge as of January 2010, is catering my food to my health while keeping food enjoyable and flavorful. So far, so good. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus, which is known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. This is different from the common type 2 diabetes mellitus which is insulin resistant. In type 2, the body is desensitized by the high amounts of glucose in the blood caused by obesity, age or pre-existing diseases. In type 1, the portion of my pancreas (Islets of Langerhans) that produce insulin are destroyed by my body’s immune system making this disease autoimmune (when your body attacks itself). This unfortunate disease is a sudden onset triggered sometimes by the environment: ie: stress, flu virus, serious illnesses, etc. I had the influenza B virus. I have little to none insulin to sustain life, therefore I am insulin dependent. That is the quick synopsis. Thus, here you may find recipes that are healthy for your heart and diabetes friendly. I hope these recipes comfort you as they’ve comforted me through this chronic illness.*
This blog is to document my trials and tribulations with cooking and to share my input on everything food. All food photos are mine, unless properly referenced, so please do not use without my permission. Any comments, concerns, and results are encouraged.
Enjoy!
