Your Vietnam
#foodartmonthly introduces Vietnamese cuisine to the world
Published
5 months agoon
Though borders around the world are still closed due to COVID-19, a group of artists across the globe have been exchanging and promoting their country’s cuisine using paintbrushes and papers.
Since May 2021, the hashtag #foodartmonthly has spread all over Instagram, creating an impromptu database of dishes representing the world’s cuisines, including delicacies from Vietnam.
The hashtag is essentially a monthly food illustration challenge initiated by a group of about a dozen artists from Indonesia, Japan, Ukraine, China, the U.S., Venezuela, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.
It has drawn attention from food illustrators throughout the social network.
Vietnam’s participation
One of the host artists of #foodartmonthly is Ly Tuyet Phan, an English teacher in Ho Chi Minh City.
Phan participated in the October challenge centered around ‘egg dishes,’ offering up an illustration of thit kho trung (caramelized pork and eggs) and the ingredients to make the dish including pork, coconut juice, garlic, and chili.
“A traditional dish in Vietnam at Tet [Vietnamese Lunar New Year] and you can also see it in everyday meals in Vietnam. And rice is commonly served along with this dish,” Phan wrote in the caption of the illustration posted to her @phanh_phanh_0717 handle.
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An illustration of ‘thit kho trung’ (caramelized pork and eggs) by @phanh_phanh_0717 |
Foodies from around the world seemed to love Phan’s work.
“Wow! An interesting traditional dish! The illustration is incredible!” @anyta.kulyk from Ukraine commented.
“I always love how you paint both the ingredients and the dish! Your style is beautiful!” @kailenefalls, who is living in Japan, added.
According to Phan, every month, the group of host artists proposes a theme and calls on Instagram’s art community to join them in creating food art.
After approving a theme, each host creates an illustration and sends it to Kailene Falls (@kailenefalls), an American illustrator based in Tokyo, who creates collages of their works.
About a week before the posting date (the 20th of each month), all the host artists will announce the theme on their Instagram and call on their followers to participate.
On the 20th day of each month, the host artists will post their own illustrations and tag others in the group.
Since launching, #foodartmonthly has carried on a number of topics, which feature celebration food from a country, fruit dishes/sweets, egg dishes, sandwiches, packaged snacks, street food, traditional breakfast, and sweets.
For each topic, participants are asked to illustrate a typical dish of their country, or the country they are living in.
After knowing of the theme to illustrate, Phan chooses to narrow her selection of related dishes before picking her favorite dish.
“I don’t find any topic too difficult, I’m just worried that I’m not capable of conveying all the quintessence of the dish on the paper,” Phan told Tuoi Tre News.
“Fortunately, during the past topics, I have not encountered that problem.”
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A supplied illustrated portrait of Ly Tuyet Phan drawn by @pumknjr_illustration |
According to the 28-year-old, Vietnamese cuisine deserves to be promoted more.
“The unique feature of Vietnamese cuisine is the combination of many ingredients, especially vegetables, to create a dish,” she commented.
“When I see people commenting and expressing their love for Vietnamese food, I feel happy and a little excited as thanks to my illustrations, my friends on Instagram know more about Vietnamese cuisine.”
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An illustration by @phanh_ phanh_0717 featuring ‘tau hu nuoc duong’ (tofu topped with sugar syrup). |
Diem Ngoc, a former host artist from Vietnam, also caught the eyes of her followers with illustrations of Vietnamese dishes on her @edimcatstuff handle.
Although she withdrew from the role of a host artist in October, Ngoc still partook in the challenge of ‘egg dishes’ with a painting of hot vit lon (balut).
“It is a really popular street food here in Saigon, you can hear the legendary voice ‘hot vit lon day’ [from the street vendor inviting customers to buy] everywhere,” Ngoc introduced in the illustration’s caption, referring to Ho Chi Minh City.
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An illustration featuring ‘hot vit lon’ by @edimcatstuff |
Before ‘egg dishes,’ the 27-year-old woman also participated in other #foodartmonthly challenges with dishes like roasted pork sandwiches, boiled snails with lemongrass and lemon leaves, and more.
“My favorite topic, which is also the hardest one for me, was street food,” Ngoc shared.
“Vietnam has too many street foods, and eventually I chose boiled snails because of its uniqueness.
“People were surprised and delighted because they did not think snails would be such a popular dish in Vietnam.”
A famous cuisine will help encourage tourism and spread the country’s culture more widely, according to Ngoc.
For her, the most unique thing about Vietnamese food is the focus on the balance of flavors, along with the skillful combination of ingredients and spices to make the dishes fit the taste of many people.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese cuisine also sees a variety of flavors or processing methods for the same dish in different regions.
“As Vietnamese cuisine is no longer strange to international friends, everyone knows about our famous dishes like banh mi or pho, so when I joined #foodartmonthly, I wanted to introduce lesser famous foods that still represent Vietnamese cuisine”, Ngoc explained.
50 to 100 submissions for each challenge
#foodartmonthly was sparked from the idea of Pavan Kapoor, an Indonesian artist of Indian origin, to introduce cuisines from countries around the world and build a community of culinary artists on Instagram.
“I used to save all the food illustrators I liked so when I got the idea to have my own collaborations, I just sent messages to a few artists making sure each one was from a different country,” Kapoor told Tuoi Tre News.
A book author and journalist, Kapoor became active on Instagram with her handle @pavankapoor21art when COVID-19 hit the world in early 2020.
“I have always been very fond of painting food and when I approached Kailene Falls with my idea, she was excited and our group was born,” Kapoor recalled.
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An illustrated portrait of Pavan Kapoor |
According to Kapoor, #foodartmonthly saw more than 500 posts related to their topic in a few months of launching.
Meanwhile, 30-year-old American Kailene Falls shared that the host artist group usually receives somewhere between 50 and 100 submissions for each challenge, with the breakfast challenge having the most submissions, at around 120.
“I think the challenge encourages people to look at food from an artistic perspective, and appreciate the foods that they’ve grown up with in an entirely different way,” Falls said.
“Sharing international art at a time when travel is quite restricted helps us get out of our own bubbles a bit.”
‘Wonderful food culture in Vietnam’
Every month the challenge receives submissions from Vietnamese participants, Falls said.
“I think there is a wonderful food culture in Vietnam, and a strong appreciation for food art,” she remarked.
“I love the esthetic that comes from your country, and the foods always look so delicious and amazing!
“I’m a huge fan of herbs, and I feel like Vietnamese food does herbs absolutely the best!
“The combinations of sweet, sour, and spicy flavors alongside the bright and fresh herbs are just amazing.
“Honestly, everything I ate in Vietnam was wonderful! I also loved the huge variety of amazing fruit beverages.”
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Kailene Falls is seen in a photo she provided Tuoi Tre News. |
Once visiting her sister who taught English in Vietnam for nearly a year, Falls said she would love Vietnamese food to become even more internationally renowned.
In Japan, there are many Vietnamese restaurants but it is hard to find something with the same punchy flavors that she ate in Vietnam because herbs are so expensive there, she added.
“I would love for more authentic Vietnamese foods to become more accessible around the world, because the flavors are so unique and wonderful,” she said.
Currently, the #foodartmonthly creators hope to maintain this challenge for a long time so that more food cultures can be connected.
Anna Kulyk (@anyta.kulyk), a 28-year-old female host artist from Ukraine, said that she joined the challenge out of her love for food illustrations and to know more about world cuisines.
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An illustrated portrait of Anna Kulyk |
And indeed, she discovered a new world in Vietnamese dishes.
“Vietnamese cuisine in this challenge was a discovery for me,” she commented.
“I have never been to Vietnam before and have no idea what kind of food they eat there, but thanks to the challenge, I got acquainted with unusual desserts with tofu, durian donuts, and interesting hearty banh mi breakfast.
“Some snacks from Vietnam can be found in our country, for example, vegetable chips.”
The challenge has shown how diverse the cuisines of different countries are and, at the same time, how much they have in common, Kulyk observed.
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An illustration by @phanh_ phanh_0717 featuring ‘com tam’ (Vietnamese broken rice topped with grilled ribs and steamed egg meat loaf). |
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Source: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/features/20220205/foodartmonthly-introduces-vietnamese-cuisine-to-the-world/65562.html
For Venezuela’s Independence Day (July 5), Venezuelan ambassador Tatiana Pugh Moreno writes for Việt Nam News.
“Three hundred years are not enough!” A Young Simon Bolívar exclaimed during the sessions of the Constituent Congress that had been installed in 1811. And he continued: “Let us fearlessly lay the first stone of South American freedom. To hesitate is to lose ourselves.”
With this demand to the rest of the deputies, Bolívar indicated the absolute necessity of liberating Venezuela from Spain.
On the afternoon of July 5, 1811, with the parliamentarians in favour, they decided to move on to the final vote. Juan Antonio Rodríguez, president of the Congress, then announced the absolute independence of the country: “I solemnly declare the independence of Venezuela. This frees us from slavery in which we have remained until now.”
This historic event, sealed with the signing of the Act of Independence, marked the political and social destiny of our country. Venezuela would be the first country in Latin America to declare its independence. But Bolívar always thought of a united Latin America capable of defending its own interests: La Patria Grande (the Great Homeland).

From 1811 onwards, our Father Liberator would still have to fight many battles with his Bolivarian army to liberate Venezuela and five other countries: Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia from the Spanish empire.
Last year we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Carabobo, a battle that liberated us from the Spanish Empire thanks to the military expertise of Bolívar.
Despite all his efforts and glories, Bolívar believed he had ploughed the sea, as he said in his last proclamation before his death in 1830. The enemies of the Homeland had succeeded in separating us, and the Bolivarian project seemed only a dream.
Almost two hundred years later, the Bolivarian Revolution recovered these values. President Hugo Chávez traced the path towards the second and definitive independence. Along with the joy we feel today, we also want to remember that the Venezuelan people have made the irrevocable decision to be a sovereign and independent country.
When today we celebrate July 5 as our National Day, we also celebrate the courage of a people that have resisted and continue to fight against multiple aggressions. A people convinced that our destiny is prosperity, freedom, sovereignty and independence.
Fortunately, Venezuela has many friends in the world who have shown solidarity with us. Many people have watched in admiration as Venezuela has resisted and today stands as a nation recovering its prosperity. A country that advances unstoppably towards the construction of Bolivarian Socialism in the five dimensions defined by the giant Hugo Chávez: political, economic, social, moral and territorial socialism.
Despite the great difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic and the aggressions against Venezuela, the government of President Nicolas Maduro is committed to the recovery of the economic prosperity of our country.
To this end, we are obliged to build our productive and diversified economic model, attracting domestic and foreign investment to develop national productive forces, raise the country’s income and achieve the highest possible levels of prosperity. The growth projections for this year are encouraging, making Venezuela the highest economic growth in the region.
In Venezuela, we are aware that this is possible if we deepen our democratic model, based on the direct exercise of power by the people, with the strengthening of Communal Power and if we maintain the values of solidarity, cooperation and awareness of social duty, to build the Bolivarian Socialism of the 21st century.
As President Nicolas Maduro said: “Let no one be confused! Here, there are a people ready to give their lives for the present and future glories and hope for a happy, humane and socialist homeland.” That is our destiny! VNS
Source: http://ovietnam.vn/events/venezuela-celebrates-independence-day_335276.html
Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus in Việt Nam Uladzimir Baravikou writes for Việt Nam News on Belarus National Day (July 3)
Belarus and Việt Nam have long-standing warm relations. Việt Nam is one of our key partners in South-East Asia.
We have seen significant progress in your country in recent times. The economy is gradually recovering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. GDP is growing. Political contacts, as well as the role of Việt Nam in the international arena, are expanding. We express congratulations on the successful hosting of the Southeast Asian Games. All this is the exceptional merit of the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Communist Party.
Our countries have a lot in common. The Vietnamese people, like the Belarusian people, have learned to survive and resist aggression throughout their history.

On July 3, we celebrate a national holiday – the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus. On this day in 1944, the capital of our country, the city of Minsk, was liberated from Nazi invaders.
During the Second World War, a real genocide was applied to the Belarusian people – every third Belarusian, more than three million people died. More than 200 cities and settlements were destroyed and burned. But we survived and restored the country. We cherish the memory of that war, which for us will forever remain the Great and Patriotic War!
Belarus is once again denied the right to an equal and mutually respectful dialogue and the right to live on its own land according to its own Law. We are not listened to! Labels are hung on us, and countless and baseless sanctions are imposed. Our friends and partners are under unprecedented pressure.
Belarus has never been a friend against or to the detriment of anyone. It has always proceeded from the need to ensure mutual benefit and consider the interests of partners, even when they have taken unfriendly steps. We have always taken responsibility; we have been a donor of security and stability in Europe. That is what our State has done, is doing, and will do its best to resolve the conflict in Ukraine peacefully.
We highly value friendly ties with Việt Nam and strive to bring our relations to the level of strategic partnership. In confirmation of this, in May this year, we opened the Consulate General in HCM City.
This year is significant. Belarus and Việt Nam established diplomatic relations 30 years ago! But the history of friendship and mutual sympathy between our peoples is much more profound. Thousands of Vietnamese citizens studied and worked in our republic during the years of the Soviet Union. Belarusians helped the formation of an independent Vietnamese state. We managed to maintain sincerity, mutual sympathy and a deep trust in each other.
Belarus is interested in restoring the pre-COVID level and the dynamics of contacts with Việt Nam at a high level. We hope that this year it will be possible to organise the visit of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus to Việt Nam.
In 2021, the trade turnover between the countries reached more than US$200 million. However, the potential in this area is far from exhausted. BELAZ mining dump trucks, MAZ trucks, and Belarus tractors have been known in Việt Nam for many decades.
By the way, it is the Belarusian tractor that is depicted on the banknote of 200 Vietnamese đồng. Many people also remember the legendary motorcycle the “Minsk,” known since the days of the USSR.
In turn, the Belarusian consumer is well acquainted with such traditional Vietnamese goods as silk, seafood, tea and coffee, etc. Recently, Vietnamese microcircuits and electronic equipment under the brand “Made in Việt Nam” have become widely known.

Belarusians know and like the resorts of Việt Nam well. They prefer the local weather, the availability of services and many other advantages compared to other countries. We will be glad if Vietnamese citizens visit Belarusian sanatoriums, nature reserves, and places of military glory and plunge into the atmosphere of the centuries-old traditions of the Belarusian people. The only thing missing is direct flights. But we are working on it: we are working on the launch of charter flights, and in the future, possibly regular ones.
In the relations between our countries, the folk wisdom “A friend in need is a friend indeed” has a special meaning. In December last year, Belarus delivered humanitarian cargo to Việt Nam with a total weight of more than 15 tonnes, containing medical and personal protective equipment. In response, the Vietnamese side handed over tests to Belarus to determine the coronavirus infection.
Even though we are separated by more than 7,000 kilometres, I am convinced that our peoples’ long-term strong and sincere friendship will adequately respond to emerging challenges and bring cooperation between our countries to a higher level. — VNS
Source: http://ovietnam.vn/events/belarus-and-viet-namtime-tested-friendship_335153.html
Your Vietnam
The story of a unique Vietnamese ‘mother’ in Japan
Published
2 days agoon
July 4, 2022There is a special Vietnamese woman in Japan. She has worked for a company for 16 years, where she is affectionately and respectfully called ‘mother’ not only by younger Vietnamese colleagues and students but also by her Japanese colleagues.
At nearly 70 years old, the woman, whose name is Le Thi Minh Nguyet, is probably the oldest Vietnamese woman still working full-time in Japan.
In fact, her age makes her as old as the grandmothers of the Vietnamese interns studying and working in the East Asian country.
She is not called a mother because of her age, but because of her responsibility and commitment in her role as an interpreter and trainer at the Kantojoho Sangyo Kyodo Kumiai, also known as Kantojoho, union, which specializes in training and placing technical trainees for Japanese companies.
Motherhood abroad
One Sunday, Nguyet’s only day off of the week, she spent the entire day leading some technical trainees to their third vaccination against COVID-19.
Although she is not responsible for it, she always makes it her priority.
Nguyet has become accustomed to taking care of Vietnamese interns over the past 20 years.
Since the maximum length of stay for each intern is three years, she is familiar with many new Vietnamese interns experiencing culture shock in the first few days after arriving in Japan.
“I consider them as my children,” Nguyet said.
She also treats them very seriously as she loves them so much.
The woman can use her own money to help some disadvantaged technical trainees, while never ignoring or compromising with anyone who violates local government and company rules.
Nguyet cannot forget the times when she helped some female trainees get abortions, which is a difficult time for any woman.
“Some of them hugged me at the time and said, ‘How compassionate you are, you resemble my grandmother,'” Nguyet recalled.
“I understand that they might be too ashamed to ask for help in such situations.”
Over the years, the experienced instructor has come across so many memorable stories about young Vietnamese trainees.
She was particularly impressed by the life story of Hanh, a young male trainee from the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long.
Nguyet learned from Hanh’s roommates that he ate only eggs every day for meals.
She thought this was strange and wanted to know the reason.
After talking to Hanh, she knew that he came from an extremely poor family in Vinh Long.
He wanted to save as much money as possible while working in Japan so that he could build a house for his parents when he returned to his hometown a few years later.
Eggs are cheaper in Japan than in Vietnam and have fetched a fixed price for years.
Nguyet remembers well the day Hanh came to say goodbye to her before returning to Vietnam after completing his internship.
He told her about his plan to use some of his savings to open a business renting equipment out for wedding events.
“Now he’s settled down,” the friendly woman laughed cheerfully.
The years she has spent working in Japan have been made even more meaningful by such happy moments.
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Le Thi Minh Nguyet (R, 2nd) sits in a provided photo with Vietnamese trainees who worked in electronics assembly in Japan in 2007. |
A special connection to Japan
Nguyet is a former student of the first class of Japanese interpreter training at Hanoi Foreign Trade College in 1972-77 and has worked for Japanese companies since her graduation.
After having worked in Vietnam for more than a decade, she went to Japan when her daughter decided to study there.
She accompanied her daughter to Japan primarily for her personal needs, but deep down she also wanted to do something useful to help her compatriots.
Nguyet then joined Kantojoho, which is the leader among 3,535 unions in Japan in terms of the number of Vietnamese trainees working under its leadership.
The Kantojoho Sangyo Kyodo Kumiai has more than 30 years of experience in recruiting and managing Vietnamese technical trainees in Japan.
What sets the union apart is that it focuses exclusively on working with the Vietnamese labor market, particularly the southern provinces and cities, which account for 90-95 percent of the trainees it recruits.
It is not easy to say in detail what kind of work Nguyet has done for the Kantojoho Sangyo Kyodo Kumiai.
She is involved in almost everything related to Vietnamese trainees, even some activities that sometimes do not fall within her scope of duties.
In tragic cases where the union has to cope with the death of a trainee due to an illness or accident, ‘mother’ Nguyet is even asked to handle the challenging situation with the relatives of the deceased.
She took such responsibility twice and tried to help the family members of the deceased trainees out of her kindness and compassion to overcome the tragedy.
Help for more than 1,000 Vietnamese workers
Nguyet has been living in a small room in Tochigi Prefecture as a permanent employee of the Kantojoho Sangyo Kyodo Kumiai Union for more than 16 years.
She rides her bicycle every day to visit the Vietnamese trainees who live and work in the neighborhood.
She has mentored more than 1,000 young Vietnamese, and counting.
There are about 450,000 Vietnamese interns throughout Japan, including 1,600 in Kantojoho.
She works with an average of 400 trainees per year.
“I would not stop while the union still needs me,” said the 69-year-old trainer, showing her pride in making a small contribution to the education of young people in Japan and Vietnam.
According to Le Tran Hung, one of Nguyet’s younger colleagues at the Kantojoho Sangyo Kyodo Kumiai, openness is her strength, but also her weakness.
“She always tries to approach problems in the right way, but she never compromises on the wrong thing,” Hung said.
Nguyet has made an important contribution to Vietnam-Japan friendship through her unsung work and dedication, he added.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Source: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/features/20220704/the-story-of-a-unique-vietnamese-mother-in-japan/67820.html

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