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🇻🇳 Authentic Vietnamese Cooking Made Simple
🥛 Homemade tofu • Vietnamese recipes • Cooking techniques
🇻🇳🇬🇧 Sharing family recipes & food traditions
👇 Join me in Vietnamese Vegan Kitchen: https://erinsvietnamesekitchen.lovable.app

11/10/2026

You need to try this cucumber kimchi! 👀🥒

This quick cucumber kimchi recipe is fresh, crunchy, spicy, tangy and ready to eat straight away - no long fermentation needed!

The secret to keeping cucumber kimchi crunchy? Scoop out the watery centre, salt the cucumber for about 30 minutes, then rinse and drain it well before mixing it with a homemade kimchi paste.

And here’s another little tip: if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge. After a few days, the flavours develop even more and the cucumber soaks up that delicious, spicy kimchi sauce. 🌶️

🥒 Ingredients:
600–700g cucumber
½ tbsp salt, for salting
1 small carrot (about 80g)
3–4 spring onions (about 50g)

🌶️ For the quick kimchi paste:
10g ginger
3–4 garlic cloves (about 20g)
¼ onion (about 50–60g)
½ apple (about 70g)
1 tbsp sugar
1½ tbsp vinegar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp mushroom seasoning or MSG
¼ cup Korean chilli flakes

This Korean-inspired cucumber side dish is delicious with hot rice, noodles or BBQ. It’s an easy way to add a fresh, spicy kick to your meal!

07/10/2026

You don’t have to wait for kimchi. 👀🥒

This quick cucumber kimchi is fresh, crunchy, slightly spicy, tangy and ready to eat straight away - no long fermentation needed!

The secret to keeping the cucumber crunchy? I scoop out the watery centre, salt the cucumber for about 30 minutes, then rinse and drain it before mixing it with a fresh kimchi paste.

🌶️ Here’s everything you need:
🥒 600 - 700g cucumber
🧂 ½ tbsp salt, for salting the cucumber
🥕 1 small carrot (about 80g), julienned
🌱 3 - 4 stalks (about 50g) spring onions

For the quick kimchi paste:
• 10g ginger
• 3 - 4 cloves garlic (about 20g)
• ¼ onion (about 50 - 60g)
• ½ apple (about 70g)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1½ tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp mushroom seasoning or MSG
• ¼ cup Korean chilli flakes

Mix everything together and you’ve got a delicious Korean-inspired cucumber side dish that’s perfect with hot rice, noodles or BBQ. 🌶️🥒

If you love cucumber recipes, kimchi, Korean food and easy Asian recipes, save this one for later!

05/10/2026

Young jackfruit is often used as a meat substitute because of its naturally fibrous, meaty texture... but did you know it isn’t actually high in protein? 👀

That’s why I love pairing young jackfruit with firm tofu in this Vietnamese-inspired braised dish.

The jackfruit becomes tender and slightly chewy, while the tofu soaks up all that rich, savoury sauce.

🍚 Vietnamese Braised Young Jackfruit & Tofu:
• 400g young jackfruit
• 300g firm tofu
• ½ tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegan oyster sauce or mushroom sauce
• Shallot, ginger, chilli, black pepper & spring onions to taste

This young jackfruit recipe is simple, comforting and completely vegan.

If you’ve never tried raw young jackfruit this way, this is definitely one to try. 🌱

03/10/2026

Can you make fish cakes without any fish? 👀🍄

These vegan fish cakes are mainly made with oyster mushrooms, fresh dill and nori. The mushrooms give them a naturally savoury, umami flavour, while the nori adds a subtle sea-like taste and the dill gives them that fresh, herby aroma.

The result? Golden and crispy on the outside, soft, juicy and slightly chewy inside. Perfect on their own with your favourite dipping sauce, served with rice, or even tucked into a sandwich.

🍄 Ingredients:
• 400–500g oyster mushrooms
• 50g+ fresh dill
• 2 nori sheets (the kind used for sushi or gimbap)
• 2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp mushroom seasoning
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 50ml water

If you love vegan recipes, mushroom recipes and Vietnamese-inspired food, save this one and give it a try! 🌱

26/09/2026

If you’ve never shopped at an Asian shop, you might be surprised by how much you can find. 🛒🌏

From tropical fruits and fresh vegetables to rice, noodles, spices, beans, lentils, herbs and so many Asian pantry staples, I always find something that inspires me to cook.

This time, I went shopping at Alli Bhavan and came home with a trolley full of ingredients.

And instead of making just one dish, I turned some of them into a proper Vietnamese family meal. 🇻🇳🍚

For me, a Vietnamese meal is rarely just one dish. It’s about having a little bit of everything on the table - vegetables, something savoury, a soup or side dish, and plenty of hot rice to bring it all together.

From oyster mushrooms and fresh dill to aubergine and young jackfruit, these simple ingredients became:

🍄 Mushroom & dill vegan fish cakes
🌱 Braised young jackfruit & tofu
🥒 Vietnamese pickled aubergine

And honestly, this is one of the reasons I love Asian shops.

You don’t just go in looking for one thing.

You never know what you’ll discover - or what you’ll end up cooking.

📍 Alli Bhavan: The Parade, Watford & Market Place, Bexleyheath

25/09/2026

Why does the one-finger rice rule work, even when you cook more rice? 🍚☝️

If you’ve ever wondered how to measure the right amount of water for cooking rice without a measuring cup, this simple rice cooking trick might help.

The idea is simple:

🍚 More rice = more water around and between the grains
☝️ But the water above the rice can stay roughly the same

That’s why you can place your index finger on top of the rice and use the first joint to measure the water level.

This is a useful rule of thumb for standard white rice, including long-grain and short- or medium-grain rice.

Just remember that different types of rice, pot sizes and cooking methods can need different amounts of water. Brown rice and extra-long-grain rice such as basmati usually need a different approach.

22/09/2026

How to cook perfect rice without a rice cooker?
If you don’t have a rice cooker, don’t worry, this is how I cook rice on the stove, the way my Vietnamese grandma taught me.

The secret? My simple 3-10-5 rice rule:

🍚 Wash the rice 3 times
🔥 Cook on low heat for 10 minutes once the water has evaporated
⏰ Let it rest for 5 minutes

Plus, I use the first joint of my index finger to measure the water, no measuring cup needed!

The result? Fluffy, soft and perfectly cooked rice every time.

And if you have leftover rice, don’t throw it away! Keep it in the fridge and turn it into delicious Vietnamese-style egg fried rice!

21/09/2026

Did you know tofu can be made from so much more than soybeans? 👀

When most of us think of tofu, we think of traditional soybean tofu.

But you can also make tofu from:

🌱 Black soybeans
🎃 Pumpkin seeds
🫘 Chickpeas
🌿 Red, brown & green lentils
🫘 Black beans
🫘 Kidney beans
🫘 Mung beans

And they can all have completely different textures, flavours and ways of using them.

My personal favourite to experiment with is pumpkin seed tofu - it's firm, creamy and naturally nutty.

I'm making different types of tofu from different plant ingredients, and I'll be sharing how I make them here, so follow along for more tofu-making videos!

17/09/2026

If you have tofu and tomatoes, you need to try this!!! 👀🍅

This Vietnamese tofu in tomato sauce is one of my favourite ways to turn simple ingredients into a quick, comforting meal.

The tofu is fried until golden and crispy, then simmered in a rich, glossy tomato sauce with spring onions, black pepper and a little fish sauce.

The result? Tofu that's packed with flavour, coated in a savoury, tangy tomato sauce and absolutely perfect with a bowl of hot rice. 🍚

Here's everything you need:
• 500g firm tofu
• 3-4 medium tomatoes (350–400g)
• 3-4 spring onions
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp mushroom seasoning or ¼ tsp MSG
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp black pepper

💡 To make this completely vegan, use vegan fish sauce or swap it for soy sauce.

13/09/2026

If your tofu always tastes hard and bland, you might be buying the wrong one. 👀

Have you ever noticed the difference between tofu from a UK supermarket and fresh tofu from an Asian grocery store?

I recently tried tofu from three different UK supermarkets and compared them with fresh tofu from an Asian shop.

For me, the difference was clear.

Fresh tofu is softer, creamier, richer, and has a much more tofu flavour.

But the type of tofu you choose also matters depending on what you're cooking:

✅ Silken tofu - soft, silky and perfect for soups or creamy sauces.

✅ Medium firm tofu - soft but slightly more structured, great for soups and dishes with plenty of sauce.

✅ Firm tofu - my go-to for frying, crispy tofu, braising, or Vietnamese tofu in tomato sauce.

So next time you're shopping for tofu, don't just grab the first pack you see.

Think about the texture you want and what you're planning to cook.

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