A-Z food challenge: V is for Vietnam

One of my Uncles is from Vietnam. When I go to visit the family in Sydney, one of the highlights is going out to eat Vietnamese food with my Uncle Tan. He never looks at the restaurant menu, he just converses with the owner or the waiter in Vietnamese for a bit and then suddenly all this AMAZING food comes out. It's fantastic.

Coupled with having spent a few weeks holiday in Vietnam and my Mum also cheffing at an amazing Vietnamese restaurant, it's no wonder that Vietnamese is one of my fave cuisines to eat. But cooking it? That's definitely a new experience.

I found this absolutely divine sounding recipe for Caramel & Coconut Pork Belly with Pomelo Salad and knew I had to try it. I'm not sure it's really an authentic Vietnamese recipe (particularly since I found it on an Australian website) but figured a tasty fusion type recipe would be sufficient to meet my challenge criteria. I thought for sure that I would have to substitute the pomelo for grapefruit but was absolutely delighted when I found it in one of the Asian supermarkets in Leith today.

The rice paper rolls were also really fresh, tasty and easy to make, with delicious colours from all the fresh herbs and veg.

This was definitely one of the stand-out meals of the food challenge so far. The pomelo salad was absolutely delightful. Makes me glad I bought a spare pomelo to eat later!!