Daikon radish as described by my quietly kind (and British) brother-in-law:
“It’s a mixture between potato and radish, it’s lovely” (or oh-some, I can’t remember, he’s sort of Canadian-ized now).
My response, before he had even finished the sentence:
We just got back from a very relaxing vacation. It was to a place we used to go with my Dad as kids. Not a thing has changed, our old Archie comics were still boxed up in the attic, the spinning clothes line where we used hang our stuffed animals and pretend they were on a carnival ride is still there, and the kitchen stool that my three sisters and I would stack onto for our annual picture had had a fresh coat of paint but was still there too.
It was amazing, I felt like I was eight again (until I had to clean my daughter’s first poo explosion with the actual antique washing equipment and hang it on the carnival ride to dry –my stuffed animals def never did that).
If you’ve been following us for a while, you will know that when you see we are making Szechuan green beans, they are going to be a little bit different than what you’re used to. Like, in a good way though. No pan/deep-frying, no store-bought sauces, just bright, real food flavours that help our in-season green beans strut their fresh stuff.
Green beans are a favourite around here once they finally hit the farmers market. The rest of the year, I find they can taste a bit like plastic straws, which I think is why people don’t always get super excited about them. But when they are grown locally and eaten close to when they were picked, they are sweet, tender, and even juicy.
You will not really find this salad in Vietnam. This is the salad I wished was in Vietnam after I ate a bad grilled banana dessert and decided I would probably never eat (or travel) again. SOmething fresh and living and low on the food poisoning possibility scale.
I love Vietnamese food (and Vietnam! And the Vietnamese! So much!). I love the large amounts of greens and herbs and general freshness. I love how light and clean it all tastes. There would likely be ground pork and lots of fish sauce in this if it was more authentically Vietnamese, but this salad is just inspired by what I love about Vietnamese food.
