No, your eyes do not deceive you, this is another Vietnamese cuisine appreciation post. I can’t stop waxing poetic about its wonderful sense of balance. The marriage of raw and charred, herbaceous and sour, sweet and salty. I just love it so much, I can’t believe I lived my first 25 years without it. But I did, so I will kick these Lemongrass Shrimp Vermicelli Bowls (bún tôm nướng) off with my usual disclaimer. This is not an authentic recipe, this is merely the recipe I have concocted over the past five years of making vermicelli salads or bún in my own home with only YouTube and Google to guide me. All this is to say I am not an expert, just a fangirl.

Relationships, they say, are all about compromise. You watch a movie you don’t particularly want to see, they go to a restaurant that wasn’t their first choice. There’s give, there’s take and then there are the lines you don’t cross, favors you don’t ask, and preferences you don’t question. While I do believe that a loving partnership should occasionally coax you and your partner out of your respective comfort zones, there are certain things that should remain comfortable. Bae’s dislike of seafood is one of those things. He just doesn’t like it and no amount of coaxing will change that. In fact, coaxing is more likely to annoy him and strengthen his resolve. Needless to say, I made today’s Honey Miso Salmon with Tahini Soba Salad for one.