Chef Nini Nguyen leads a cooking class in her kitchen in New Orleans. Courtesy Silk & Spice Chef Nini Nguyen showed the world she has the, um, chops, to cook as a contestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef” Season 16 in Kentucky and “Top Chef: All-Stars L.A.” Following her time […]
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Chef Nini Nguyen leads a cooking class in her kitchen in New Orleans.
Courtesy Silk & SpiceChef Nini Nguyen showed the world she has the, um, chops, to cook as a contestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef” Season 16 in Kentucky and “Top Chef: All-Stars L.A.”
Following her time on the show she’s remained a fan favorite, with a large social media following and settling back in her hometown of New Orleans, where she’s found creative new approaches to help us normals learn how to create restaurant-quality meals at home. Recent project includes partnering with Focus Features to show people how to make dishes from “Downton Abbey” at home in a YouTube series, and a creating a Patreon for weekly video recipes where membership options range from biweekly recipes for $5 a month to $20 a month for weekly recipe videos, an on-demand class as well as a monthly hang out.
For those that want to dive deeper, she has packages like Cooking Fundamentals, with downloadable sessions to work through at your own pace on things like knife skills and filleting and frying fish, as well as a more intensive Pastry School that teaches people how to make custards, tarts and candies.
“The pandemic really opened people’s eyes to virtual options and different ways to learn new things,” Nini said.
But by far the most fun option is getting to hang out with Nini IRL. She currently will curate experiences for clients in her home or theirs, with a goal to eventually open a brick-and-mortar cooking school in New Orleans.
Recently, she partnered with Portuguese wine brand Silk & Spice to create a dinner to pair with their red blend, which combines three grapes native to Portugal (Touriga Nacional, Baga and Alicante Bouchet) with Syrah. Nini taught the class how to make Thit Ko, a Vietnamese caramelized pork dish, pan-fried fish with a lemongrass, chili garlic paste, and a papaya salad.
Nini thought the wine’s soft tannins would be able to handle food that had some heat. She got cooking class attendees to divide and conquer prep work, while giving tips like how to quickly halve cherry tomatoes by placing them between two plastic lids and slicing through, and helping attendees use new techniques like how to know when to turn fish when you’re frying it in a cast iron skillet. The caramelized pork was loaded with flavor, with lots of umami from cooking in fish sauce, sweetness from molasses and spice from chilis.
Nini Nguyen adds peanuts to a papaya salad.
Courtesy Silk & SpiceVanessa Eusébio, who works with the wine, loves that it’s an easy drinking red that has the flexibility to pair with lots of flavor profiles for meals all year long — the type of bottle you’re likely to grab off your bar cart for whatever you’re cooking that night.
“The dark ripe fruit and warm spices effortlessly pairs with smoky, sweet, spicy, fruity and salty dishes,” she said.
And Nini got to see another group learning new things in the kitchen — even when they felt a little ridiculous learning how to prep a papaya.
“I love teaching people how to cook because it’s amazing to see when people feel empowered and feeding yourself and loved ones is a great feeling,” she said.
If you’re looking for inspiration, try two of the recipes she taught at the dinner. Both are super easy for beginners.
Papaya salad and Caramelized Pork in Fish Sauce (Thịt Kho).
Courtesy Silk & SpicePapaya Salad
Ingredients
4 garlic cloves
2 thai chile
2 tablespoons sugar
1 whole green papaya or 2 green mangos
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2-3 limes
1-2T fish sauce
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/4 cup mint
1/4 cup red onion, sliced
1/4 cup fried shallots
Method
1. In a large bowl with a muddler, crush garlic and chiles with the sugar until it forms a
paste.
2. Add in papaya, tomatoes, and green beans then toss together.
3. Add juice of the freshly squeezed limes and fish sauce to taste. Press the papaya salad with the muddler so that the papaya gets soft and absorbs the “dressing”
4. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts.
Caramelized Pork in Fish Sauce (Thịt Kho)
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 onion, sliced (medium)
3 garlic cloves (chopped)
1.5 lbs pork belly (cut into bite sized pieces)
2 Thai Chilies
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
1⁄2 cup Water
1 teaspoon sugar
Cooked jasmine rice
Method
1. In a heavy bottom pot, sauté the onions and garlic just until aromatic. Then add the pork to the pot and let sear for a couple of minutes.
2. After cooking the pork for about 3 minutes, add the water, Thai chilies, fish sauce, and molasses.
3. Let the pot simmer for about 30 minutes or until the meat is tender and liquid is reduced.
4. Once it is at this stage add the teaspoon of sugar. Let the liquid reduce all the way and skim the extra fat in the pot if needed. As soon as the pork belly looks caramelized it is done.
5. Serve with hot jasmine rice.
