Thursday, August 27 2026
Thursday, August 27 2026
TEACHING ASSIGNMENT : Chefs Nguyễn Văn Thông and Nguyễn Nam Lộc with Sri Lanka colleagues at ASEAN Food Festival in Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel in Colombo
MONETABRIEF — Two chefs from Vietnam, who travelled to Sri Lanka for an ASEAN food festival showcased traditional dishes while training colleagues in Sri Lanka in Vietnamese cooking techniques and the use of local ingredients.
The festival, held in Sri Lanka in August, featured cuisine from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar and Indonesia as part of activities marking ASEAN’s 59th anniversary.
Vietnamese cuisine varies significantly across the country’s three main regions — the North, Central Vietnam and the South — and the dishes presented at the festival reflected the diversity.
One of the country’s best-known dishes is Phở Bò, or beef noodle soup, from northern Vietnam.
"I also prepared Bún Chả Cá from Nha Trang in Central Vietnam and Gỏi Cuốn from the South," said Nguyễn Văn Thông, an award-winning Vietnamese Culinary Culture Artisan and Vice President of the Vietnam Young Chefs Association.
"We made Hanoi-style fried spring rolls, Nem Rán, and Saigon-style Chả Giò with prawns. We served them with two kinds of sauce — sweet-and-sour fish sauce for Vietnamese tastes and cocktail sauce for international guests."
Thông was joined by Nguyễn Nam Lộc, a culinary instructor specialising in food preparation techniques at Saigontourist Hospitality College.
During their visit, the two chefs trained colleagues at Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel in Colombo on Vietnamese cooking techniques.
They brought mainly dried staples from Vietnam, including dried phở noodles, wheat noodles and bún rice vermicelli, while sourcing most fresh ingredients locally in Sri Lanka.
Thông and Lộc shared techniques in ingredient selection, preparation and flavour balancing, helping local chefs learn how to reproduce Vietnamese dishes using ingredients available in Sri Lanka.
One example was Chả Cá, or Vietnamese fish cake, prepared using locally sourced Sri Lankan sailfish, known in Vietnamese as cá cờ.
"This fish is very good. It is very similar to the fish we have in Vietnam," Thông said.
The chefs also prepared vegetarian dishes after recognising strong local interest in such foods. (Colombo/Aug26/2026)
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