Angus Nguyen

I saved money building my own trellis! 🥒🍅

$100 for a cheap wooden trellis at the home store? Noooo thank you! Grabbed some of these cheap wooden garden posts from Dollarama (if you can believe it) and put one together myself!!

I was planning on building an entire cube for my garden box but I didn’t buy enough wood 😂😭 so this will have to do. Maybe I can build the sides another time 😂

Crispy Rice Paper Shrimp Balls 🍤🍚

I genuinely think this could be one of my signature recipes.

Instead of using breadcrumbs or panko, I blended rice paper into coarse crumbs and used it as the coating. I honestly wasn’t sure if this would work, but the result was an incredibly light, crispy shell with a juicy, bouncy shrimp filling. If you’ve ever wondered what fried Vietnamese rice paper would taste like as a coating…this is it.

Shrimp Paste

* 500 g shrimp, peeled (process ⅔ into a smooth paste and finely chop the remaining ⅓)
* 1 egg white
* 1 tbsp cornstarch
* 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
* 1 tsp sugar
* ¾ tsp salt
* ½ tsp white pepper
* 1 tsp sesame oil
* 1 clove garlic, grated
* ½ tsp grated ginger

Coating

* Rice paper, blended into coarse crumbs

Directions

* Process ⅔ of the shrimp with the egg white, cornstarch, chicken bouillon, sugar, salt, white pepper, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger until smooth, sticky, and glossy.
* Fold in the remaining ⅓ of the finely chopped shrimp.
* Beat the mixture for 3–5 minutes until it becomes elastic.
* Chill for 30 minutes.
* Roll into balls and coat generously in the rice paper crumbs.
* Deep fry at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown and cooked through.

If you try this, let me know what you think. I have a feeling rice paper might deserve a spot alongside panko as one of the crispiest coatings around.

Homemade Black Sesame Lattes - Instant mix! ☕️

When you read the ingredient lists of some of these pre-made hot instant latte mixes, it’s really just milk powder, creamer, sugar, and the flavour (matcha, ube, black tea, coffee…etc.). Which means we can make our own homemade versions!

For this Instant Black Sesame Latte mix recipe:

Just blend together:

• 1 cup black sesame powder
• 1 cup skim milk powder
• ⅔ cup sugar
• ½ cup Coffee-mate
• ¼ tsp salt

Store it in an airtight jar and whenever you want a latte, just mix 3–4 tbsp with a little hot water to make a smooth paste, then top it up with more hot water or hot milk (to make it even tastier). You can enjoy hot or cold over ice!

It’s rich, nutty, toasty, lightly sweet, and takes less than a minute to make. Perfect for mornings or whenever the black sesame cravings hit.

easyrecipe

Bánh Mì Pickles!! 🥕🥖

There is so much that makes a bánh mì so good, like the pâté, the garlicky sauce and butter, the fresh cilantro (come at me haters 😤), but really it’s the pickles that do it for me.

The crunch adds so much texture and the sweet and sour pickle flavours cut through the richness of the meat, pâté, and butter. And they’re really easy to make at home too!

One little trick I always use is salting the daikon for about 30 minutes first. It draws out excess water, mellows that sulfur smell and peppery bite, and lets the natural sweetness of the daikon shine through. Plus, it helps the pickles stay nice and crunchy.

If you don’t want to deal with daikon at all, you can always make these with just carrots too!

I like to start with a simple 1:1:1 ratio of water, sugar, and vinegar, then tweak it to your own taste from there.

Edmonton’s Vietnamese phở history 🇻🇳🍜

One family’s authentic recipe has been served for over 30 years at King Noodle House in Chinatown.

One of my favourite parts of creating content is getting meet incredible people and to preserve stories like this.

During my visit to Edmonton, I had the honour of sitting down with one of the city’s pioneering phở families to learn how a Northern Vietnamese family recipe was brought to Canada and became a restaurant that has served the community for more than three decades.

Behind every bowl of phở is a story of family, resilience, tradition, and generations of knowledge passed down with love. I’m grateful they trusted me to help share theirs. ❤️

How to make Green Onion Garnish 🔪🧊🧅

All you need is a knife and…ice water!

Slice a slit down the green onion to open it into a flat sheet, stack the layers, slice them paper-thin, then soak them in ice water for 10–15 minutes. They curl up beautifully, become extra crisp, and mellow out in flavour.

The same trick works with white onions too—they stay crunchy while losing a lot of that harsh, pungent bite. It’s an easy way to make any dish look restaurant-quality.

Cơm Gia Đình - a Vietnamese family meal ❤️🇻🇳

In the video, we used what we had in our fridge so the ingredients were a little different, so the recipes below are what I recommend instead! But of course, you can always play around with it! 😊

🥣 Part 1: Canh Chua Cá

Ingredients
• 1 lb (450 g) white fish, cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 tomatoes, wedged
• 1 cup pineapple, chopped
• 4 cups (950 mL) chicken broth
• 1–2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• Juice of 1–2 limes
• 2 green onions, sliced

Directions
Sauté the tomatoes for 2–3 minutes. Add the pineapple, then the broth and simmer for 8 minutes. Season with the sugar and fish sauce. Gently add the basa and cook 4–6 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in the lime juice, then finish with the green onions.

🌿 Part 2: Chả Lá Lốt

Mix together:
• 1 lb (450 g) ground pork or beef
• 1 small minced shallot or ½ small onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp chicken bouillon
• 1 tbsp sugar
• ½ tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp five spice (Northern style) or 2 tbsp finely minced lemongrass (Southern style)

Place the filling on the dull side of the leaf (the side with the veins). Roll tightly from the tip toward the stem, then use the stem to poke through the roll to lock it in place. Pan-fry or air fry until cooked through and lightly charred.

🧄 Part 3: Rau Muống Xào Tỏi

• 1 lb (450 g) rau muống (aka water spinach, morning glory, or ong choy), chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp chicken bouillon
• 2–3 tsp fish sauce

Fry the garlic until fragrant, add the rau muống, season with the chicken bouillon and fish sauce, then stir-fry until just tender-crisp.

Three simple dishes that taste like home. ❤️

Prepping Bánh Mì for Jasper & Hot Springs!🌲🧺

Bánh Mì is one of those foods that requires prep work in advance - the pickles, the meat/protein, the pâté, the sauce- but when everything is ready, you just need to assemble it for an incredible lunch or picnic whenever you need!

I genuinely think Bánh Mì is a top tier meal prep choice that many are just not thinking to do!

Getting to take my mom to the Miette Hot Springs in Jasper is going to be a memory I’ll cherish forever.

YEG this restaurant should be BUSY!! 🥟

My mom and I were in Chinatown and were hit by a sudden craving for dim sum (happens to other people right) and Xing Wang Steam Bun was right there.

It had several aunties and uncles speaking canto coming in and out, but was otherwise not very busy. That surprised me because of how good and affordable everything was! My mom and I loved it 😋

📍 Xing Wang Steam Bun
📍 10810 98 St NW, Edmonton, AB T5H 2P1