My name is Amy Le Nguyen. I was born in Thailand at a refugee camp after my parents escaped Vietnam by boat. Eventually we were sponsored to come to America and lived here ever since. I, like many other 1st and 2nd generation Vietnamese Americans, are put in a unique situation having to balance our parents Vietnamese traditional values with the values we are developing as we grow up with American experiences. It wasn’t until much later that I truly appreciated the duality of my upbringing.
Vietnamese food has always been a way for me to connect with my parents and my Vietnamese community. I have learned so much about our family history, culture, and traditions from eating at gatherings or watching my parents, aunties, cousins cook delicious Vietnamese meals. It’s no surprise, I ended up being so passionate about cooking and ingredients.
Amy Le’s Kitchen is more than just a food blog. Through my love of cooking, I am hoping to keep my parents traditions alive by preserving the recipes I’ve learned and passing it down to my kids and all of you!
My parents, brother, some of their siblings at the refugee camp in Thailand. Do you see me? I’m in my moms belly.
The next generation Nguyen-Le multicultural family ( not all pictured here). All thanks to our parents for their bravery many years ago.