Ann Mah's newsletter / October 2021

Hooray, restaurants are open again in Hanoi! And some big news.

Photo: Laura Mulkerne

Hello!

After being closed for nearly three months, Hanoi’s restaurants are open again! Shops and other services have reopened too, people can go out for exercise, dogs can go for walks. The city’s legendary traffic has also returned! It’s quite a relief to see people and cars and motorbikes on the streets again, and dancers and badminton players in the park.

There is a real feeling of hope and renewal in the air, which makes this next thing hard to say: After only a year, we are leaving Vietnam. As you read this, we are getting ready to board a plane back to the United States. This was a difficult decision to make, but my husband was offered a job back in Washington DC that was impossible to refuse. For me, it’s an opportunity for our daughter to return to school in person, in the classroom. After three years of distance learning (in one form or another) we are looking forward to retrieving some regularity in our work and school lives.

But still – oh, there is a pang! For Vietnam has captured my heart with its beauty and charm and burgeoning plant life. I will miss the little low plastic stools, the dense vegetation, the way a bicycle fruit vendor can brighten your whole day. I will miss wandering winding alleys snapping photographs, knowing there’s something fascinating around every corner. In a way I feel like the color is seeping from my everyday life. I’ll dream of it here forever.

Here’s what else I’ve been up to…

Hanoi’s beloved bun cha

What I’ve been eating

–The minute I heard restaurants were open again, I went and ordered bun cha, which is a dish of rice noodles, pork meatballs, fried spring rolls, and fresh herbs that’s a Hanoi favorite. You can read more about it in this article from Culture Trip.

–Last month we celebrated the Moon Festival with a friend’s homemade moon cakes. This New York Times article discusses the regional differences in these festive treats (though I wish it had covered more!).

–A plate of fried eggs and rice can hardly be considered cooking, but everyone has their own twist. “Many cultures have some variation of egg rice,” writes Eric Joon Ho in the New York Times magazine. “It’s one of those dishes that you don’t really talk about because it’s so basic: fried eggs, white rice and something for seasoning.” Like the dish, his essay is also simple perfection.

–Forget chocolate chip cookies – you know what I like to bake with kids? Chouquettes! I wrote all about it (including a recipe) for Cubby.

Bananas at the corner store

What I’ve been reading

–The experience of studying abroad can be transformative – but how has it changed since Covid? Inspirelle takes a look at the current situation, and I chime in with thoughts on how American students have changed since 1949 (which is when my new book is set!).

–Redstone Winery read The Lost Vintage for their book club and hosted me for a fun Q&A in which I offer advice on starting out as a food writer, and talk a little about my new novel.

–My friend Juliette Fay’s new book is in stores now and I can’t recommend it enough. Catch Us When We Fall is a beautiful novel about some of life's darkest demons – grief, addiction, and broken promises – but Juliette’s characters are so lovable and emotionally complex it left me suffused with light and hope. I read this book in a gulp, alternately crying, laughing, and cheering.

–I also just finished the novel Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau, which will linger in your heart like a favorite song on repeat. Set in the 1970s, it’s about a young girl who finds a summer job babysitting for an eccentric family that happens to be hiding a famous rock star and his movie star wife.

–Speaking of books, I’m keeping track of everything I’ve read this year via my list at Bookshop.org, complete with raves and rants.

Cyclist during lockdown

A bientôt!

And so – next stop Washington, DC! (But first, a week in California to visit family we haven’t seen since Christmas 2019.) Along with seeing family and friends, I’m looking forward to pork dumplings, kale salad, and wearing knee-high socks for the first time in over a year (Vietnam is too hot for socks). I’m not looking forward to unpacking, house-hunting, and jet lag, but hopefully the moving gods will be kind this time. I’ll keep you posted as we get settled. Thank you for reading – and if you have any tips on finding a home to rent, or squeezing too much stuff into too small a space, please leave them in the comments. I need them! :)

XO Ann