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Tam Le

Tam Le

Vietnamese by heritage. Texan by birth. World citizen at heart. Currently writing from Austin, TX.

Tam Le

in Ănthology

Charles Phan's Bánh Mì Is Not Here to Take You Down Memory Lane

“Charles Phan had more impact on Vietnamese food than any other chef in the country.” — Michael Bauer, San Francisco Chronicle.

Tam Le

in Ănthology

A Tale of Two Rượus

The first time I bought rượu, it was from Lang Giang, my tour guide in Sa Pa. We were staying in a Red Dao village known for its rice liquor production, and that night I received three water bottles, ...

Tam Le

in Ănthology

The Vietnamese Man Who Makes America's Most Sought-After Tofu

Twenty years ago in America, tofu was considered, at best, a bland, tasteless, hippie meat replacement, and at worst, a dangerous, highly processed food product that would allegedly cause men to grow ...

Tam Le

in Ănthology

A New Generation of Vietnamese Chefs Is Shaking Things up in Prague

Tam Le

in Ănthology

From Saigon to Texas: The BBQ Pop-ups That Embrace Asian Flavors

Tam Le

in Ănthology

Christine Ha Writes New Food Stories From Her Parents' Culinary Heritage

“I was in a creative writing program for grad school at the time, and I thought, as an artist, going on MasterChef would give me something to write about.”

Tam Le

in Saigon

Street Cred: Phan Đình Phùng, My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather

An unassuming street named Phan Dinh Phung runs through Saigon’s Phu Nhuan District. It is named after a Vietnamese revolutionary who led rebel armies against French colonial forces in the 1880s ...

Tam Le

in Culture

From Entrepreneur to Organic Farmer: A Hmong Woman's Quest to Better Sapa

“You forgot to say ‘Uno’!” Lang Giang cheerfully exclaims before covering her mouth in laughter. It’s the twelfth time she’s caught me this trip and blocked me from winning. By this point in our trek,...

Tam Le

in Arts & Culture

[Photos] In Saigon's Labyrinth of Alleys, Textures and Typographies Galore

Saigon, like New York or Tokyo, is a city renowned for its crowds—the chaotic jostling of people pressing past other people that occurs whenever millions of lives inhabit the same few square meters. T...