Food fuels me -- not just my physical being but my creativity and intellectual curiosity. As a cookbook author, freelance food writer, and cooking teacher, I work to capture the human experience as it relates to food. Through writing stories and developing recipes, I get to be a cultural detective of sorts.

I focus primarily on Asian food, history and culture, and my two published cookbooks include Into the Vietnamese Kitchen and Asian Dumplings (Ten Speed Press, 2006 and 2009). My food journalism appears in the Los Angeles Times and Saveur magazine, where I'm a contributing editor. Get a taste of my food writing and recipes at:

vietworldkitchen.com

asiandumplingtips.com

My camera is usually nearby so I can remember special moments, flavors, textures, and techniques. I'm not a professional photographer but have worked with some of the best and learned from them.