Hy Vong

Some meals are more than just food—they’re an experience. These Spicy Pork Spareribs bring the bold, vibrant flavors of Southeast Asia to your kitchen with the perfect balance of heat, tang, and tenderness. 🌶️🍖

If you’re craving something with a kick, this is the dish for you. It’s simple, full of flavor, and guaranteed to warm you up! Ready to try it yourself?

Link the link below for the full recipe. Let’s get cooking! 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳

Spicy Ribs The vibrant heat in this dish comes from bird’s-eye chiles—a fiery, fruity variety popular in Vietnamese, Thai, and Southeast Asian cooking. You can find powdered bird’s-eye chili online or at Asian grocery stores, or make your own by grinding dried chiles in a food processor, clean coffee gri...

Hi Everyone,
It has been brought to my attention that Beto and Bey , two guys that worked with us for many years are cooking and delivering food. This is their business and not associated with Hy Vong. We have no legal association with them. We are thankful that this country gives immigrants the opportunity to dream and work hard for their dreams.
Love
Kathy

Bey just told me to give him two weeks to get set up.
He will open a Facebook account, get a company name. He appreciates all the response , but they are not quite set up.

Hi Everyone,
Hope the heat is not getting to you, and you are looking toward the fall!
I am going to put up the recipe for spicy ribs. I want to remind you that our book, Mango and Peppercorns has 20 recipes in it. The recipes in the book are: pumpkin soup, Pho, curried chicken and sweet potatoes, stocks, beef noodle soup( bun bo Hue), spring rolls, Hy Vong salad and salad dressing, fish with mango, squid salad, curried shrimp and crab, barbecued pork, pork rolling cakes, spicy ribs , chicken in pastry, and kimchi. So our book , Mango and Peppercorns is also a cook book. I am putting up spicy ribs because of a request , but it is also in the book.
On our website I have put up: curried chicken livers and gizzards, stock, squid salad, and now going up is spicy ribs. The recipes are kept on the recipe part of our website and remain there so you can find them.
I am now sending spicy ribs and tongue in ginger for Karim to post.
I also think we are going to be making kimchi (all kinds) for sale.
So—- stay tuned!
Love
Kathy

Hi Everyone,
When we did the zoom meeting with Northern Illinois University, one of the questions was,” Did you learn more about how each other thought from writing the book?” I immediately answered, no, we lived it.
But I have been thinking about that question. Did we learn anything about how we thought about each other from writing the book. We did live our relationship. I could write another book called “My Refugee and I” I have so many stories that didn’t make it to the book. Like , Vietnamese think if you don’t marry by somewhere in your 20’s you are an old maid. So Tung was in a cultural dilemma. Actually coming to America she was thrown out of her element. The refugees who came first were people with money. She was a farmer. So before there was Facebook or WhatsApp, or even cell phones Tung was calling a Vietnamese guy in Mexico. She ran the restaurant telephone bill up to 2,000 dollars. Because we didn’t have money, our phone at the restaurant was disconnected. It took us one year to pay off the bill so we could have a telephone. A favorite elderly patron would have to drive over from Miami Beach to make a reservation.
So when I asked myself how I thought about Tung, what her grandmother told her father ,”Don’t be hard on Tung”popped into my head. There are no laws in Vietnam about how you can discipline your children so her Grandmother wanted to be sure that no one was hard on Tung. The other thought that popped into my head, “we made progress”.
As with me I don’t think the book shows what Tung thought about me. She was frustrated with me, things were not easy and she blamed me, but what did she really think about me.
This morning we were having coffee and tea at Starbucks and I decided to tell her about my thinking about the question from the zoom meeting with the students. I told her what popped into my head when I thought about her,” Don’t be hard on Tung”. She knew that was what her Grandmother had said and we both laughed. I asked what she really thought about me and she said, “when I came everything was new and different”. As we were talking friends came up, so our conversation ended. But I thought to myself, “we have make progress “. Tomorrow we have coffee again.
Love
Kathy

Hy Vong Stock is the foundation of some of our most beloved dishes, from the comforting Curried Chicken and Sweet Potatoes 🥘 to the rich Pumpkin Soup with Fried Shallots 🎃, and even our signature Spicy Ribs 🍖. For 38 years, this stock was made fresh daily in our kitchen, infusing each dish with the depth and flavor that kept customers coming back. Now, you can make this essential base at home! It’s perfect for making in large batches and freezing for future meals, ensuring you always have the heart of Hy Vong’s flavor at your fingertips. Ready to bring a taste of Hy Vong to your kitchen? Click the link and start cooking! 🔗✨

Hy Vong Stock For 38 years, the first task Tung would tackle each day upon arriving at the restaurant was to prepare three pans of stock: one for light soup, one for hearty soup, and one to use in various dishes. Nowadays, we make stock in larger batches, portion it into 2-cup containers, freeze it, and pull it o...

Hello everyone,

We’re thrilled to share a new recipe that’s sure to excite your taste buds! Our Curried Livers, Gizzards, and Hearts brings together tender offal and aromatic spices, all finished with a creamy touch for a rich, comforting meal. Serve it over rice for a deliciously unique dining experience. Ready to spice up your dinner? Give this recipe a try and let us know what you think!

Bon appétit!
Tung & Kathy

Curried Livers, Gizzards, and Hearts This Curried Livers, Gizzards, and Hearts recipe is a flavorful and hearty dish that combines the rich, savory taste of chicken and duck offal with aromatic curry spices. Perfect for adventurous eaters, this dish is slow-cooked to tender perfection and finished with a touch of cream, creating a comf...

Hi Everyone,
Hope all are enjoying the Olympics! Watching them I have been thinking about competition. I also just watched the movie on Charlie Trotter. This leads me to what Tung taught me. I am very competitive, friendly competitive, but competitive. When our restaurant took off I wanted to enlarge it. Get a big staff, become famous. As I looked at Tung I didn’t see any of this. She cooked for people to enjoy her food, not for her reputation. I tried to get her to come a long, but she was happy just cooking 18 hours a day.
When she first came to my home, she would make a wonderful meal for me and the Vietnamese and then disappear. I didn’t know she was not allowed to sit at the same table with people of importance. I would say to myself, does she know what talent she has.
Finally I gave up and let her do it her way. As the years went by,she didn’t change. At the pop- ups people would ask her to come out of the kitchen and they would clap for her. She would cry and when we went home she cried again and said they clapped for me. One time at South Beach Food and Wine Festival we were to do a dinner with a well known Vietnamese chef from California. She prepared with me the food and then said I could do it , that she needed to stay home and take care of Bobo, the dog. I went and with my competitive nature socked it to them. A Lady asked me where the chef was and I didn’t know what to say- I said she is home taking care of her dog. I was happy the lady replied, I like her already.
From Tung I learned a new kind of freedom!

Ther are more recipes being put up.
If you want a specific recipe, text me!
Love
Kathy

Hi Everyone,
It’s getting to be summer! Hope all are well!
They told me I am retired- so I tried it. I have been going to bed at 3:00 am because I read and all the house is quiet. That means I don’t get up until at least 12:00. I like retirement, but I miss writing and I told you I will give you all Hy Vong recipes. I sent recipe for curried chicken livers and gizzards today and hopefully Karim will have it up on hyvong.com by Monday. Hopefully Tung will let us make a video of some. She has told me she is retired.
So recipes are going up!
Love
Kathy

Hy Vong | Vietnamese Restaurant | Mango and Peppercorns Mango and Peppercorns is an inspiring memoir of food and two unlikely friends who bonded through food and, against all odds, turned a four-table restaurant near Miami’s Little Havana into a nationally acclaimed destination. Join the Hy Vong Community; a home away from home for those who love Vietn...

Hi everyone,

We hope all is good on your side! Today, we are thrilled to share some heartwarming letters we received from students at Northern Illinois University regarding our cookbook, Mango & Peppercorns.

Letter from Alan J Dominguez:
Alan, a Mexican student, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to read our story and learn about our lives. He shared how deeply our perseverance and family values resonated with him, drawing parallels to his own experiences. Alan highlighted the importance of our book in sparking meaningful conversations about social norms, family, and perseverance in his class.

Letter from Faye M. Scott:
Faye poured her heart out in a touching letter, expressing her gratitude for the impact our book had on her students and colleagues. She shared how our story inspired discussions on various themes such as love, acceptance, and perseverance. Faye commended Tung, Kathy, and Lyn for their strength, compassion, and honesty, describing them as "badass women" who inspire and impact lives.

We are deeply touched by the heartfelt responses from Alan, Faye, and all students. It reaffirms our belief in the power of storytelling to connect people across cultures and inspire positive change. We are immensely grateful for the opportunity to share our journey with such a wonderful community.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

Warm regards,
Tung, Kathy, and the Mango & Peppercorns Team

Our book 'Mango and Peppercorns' is now part of Faye Scott's English 110 course at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL! 😊

Just got this amazing picture from Faye – the students are diving into Chapter 2 and already calling us 'badass' women! 💪

Thank you for the love and support. Here's to empowering minds and embracing the journey! 📚❤️

Hi everyone,
It’s been a long time since I texted! I hope everyone has been enjoying our glorious spring! Hot summer is approaching!
I want to share my thoughts with the class at North Illinois College who have been reading “Mangoes and Peppercorns “. I would love to do a zoom if they can fit it in. If not , these are things I hope you saw in the book.
1. What was Tung’s transformation and why did it happen?
2. How did Kathy ( me) change from this relationship?
I can tell you I found a family where I fit and it went along with my own personal values. I don’t think a typical marriage would have worked for me. I am not a clean house, cook , sew, wash clothes type of person. But I love playing and taking care of children, discovering things with them, and showing them the beauty of our world. Phuonglien fit that perfectly. I took her to ballet. Went on school field trips with her.
Took her fishing and her friends and her on excursions. Now that I feel valuable enough ,I see the joy of a regular family . But I will never forget when Phuonglien introduced us as her family.
3. I haven’t spent to much time talking about Phuonglien, I call her Phuongy. She grew as her family grew. At six ,when Tung was learning to drive ,Phuongy learned all the rules of the road studying with her mother for the drivers test. When her mother was getting her citizenship she studied with her mother and knew all about Congress. She was six. When she started staying over at friends homes , playing and watching how other families worked, she told me one day she didn’t have a father. I explained everyone has a father. I told her I heard he was really ugly. We laughed and I spent time telling her what I knew about her father. Our first visit to Vietnam she did not like. Tung’s family was so poor and took all the clothes we brought plus her mother’s clothes. She had not seen before people in such need. After getting her masters she went back with a friend- I know she was looking for her roots.
She was president of the Vietnamese club at Harvard , but did not speak good Vietnamese.
Now I think she has come to the conclusion that she is a daughter of our new world order!
So I hope you enjoyed the book and can draw lines of comparisons to other groups: early slaves, immigrants who work on our farms and refugees to America!
Love
Kathy

More pictures from The Oyster Bash at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. 🦪🥂

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for making the South Beach Food and Wine Festival - The Oyster Bash a memorable success! Tung wowed us all with her oysters, and after tasting each one, it's official - hers were the best!

Our event featured not only amazing oysters but also a showcase of everyone's talent with spring rolls and hearty pho soup. The culinary creativity was truly impressive.

Here are more event pictures. Thank you once again for making this event a huge success. We can't wait to host you at our future gatherings!

Love,
Kathy

Our final day day at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. Everyone cooked spring rolls and pho hearty soup. Will put more pictures - it was so much fun!

South Beach Food and Wine Festival- The Oyster Bash.🦪🥂

What a good job Tung did with her oysters , carambola with tamarind and cilantro. We served six hundred portions , non stop. I tasted everyone’s oysters- Tung’s were the best!!

Getting ready for South Beach Food and Wine Festival - The oyster bash. It was so much fun. What a good job Tung did.!!!

Hi Everyone,
Hope all are enjoying the weekend and even maybe cooking for fun!
Let’s finish looking at “Mangoes and Peppercorns” and my position in this unusual family. Since we all have defense mechanisms I’m going to let you tell me what you saw in me and what transformation you saw in me. Don’t worry I can take whatever you observe.
I will mention what I see.
1. I was fat. I spent my life trying to be skinny and fit in .. I told my doctor recently that American women are finally catching up in weight to me. My three older sisters were beautiful and fit in perfectly. One sister it took her an hour to get out of the bathroom. She smelt like a rose coming out of a dump of a bedroom.There were boy and girl parties all the time, at which time I was up in the maple tree in the front yard. I did do something better than them and that was sports , in fact even better than my brother! I was fat but I could move.
2. I was shy but forced myself to be the life of the party
3. I analyze everything . I think I was the sidekick to Tung on her journey, but even sidekicks change. When I was ten I wanted to be sure there was a God. Like the God my Grandmother and parents talked about. I read and analyzed and finally give up. I told God if you are real you are just going to have to show me. Maybe that was my Kieregaardian leap of faith. After that my faith affected the way I saw the world.
4. I am very independent- my family would say, don’t tell her how to do it, just give her a hint. I am not a corporate kind. When I was leaving teaching and I went to give back the keys to the office, Phuongy was two. She took my hand and walked to the office and I thought I don’t know where we are going but I am going with you.
5. The Vietnamese use to ask me all the time, “ da co chong chua roi? Do you have a husband already. For Vietnamese if you are thirty and don’t have a husband you are an old maid.
When we wrote the book, I had to pass the test whether I am gay or not. One time a girl came in and asked how’s your partner. I said fine, I didn’t think about what partner meant. Two girls asked me when our book was being published , are you coming out in the book- I said you will have to buy the book. Elisa, our writer, asked Phuongy and so I am certified. BUT as soon as I got over my Iowa conservative homophobia, I have some wonderful gay friends! We talk about interests and talents and dreams. We laugh and joke and sexual orientation becomes not important. We meet as humans not as castes or sexual orientation .
So what changed in me. I found a place I could belong -a family that loved me and I them. Our unusual family has been growing now for 50 years.
What else changed in me?
Love
Kathy

Hi Everyone,
The last time I wrote about a Northern Illinois university class reading “Mangoes and Peppercorns” and how I wanted them to look for the transformation of Tung and why it happened and how it happened. The transformation is how Tung began to value herself. We looked at why I think Tung had low self esteem when she arrived in Miami. I hope you made
a list of happenings that effected Tung’s self esteem. As a reminder,here are some things that happened to Tung:( she had smallpox as a child, her experience with school, her not being allowed to sit at
at the same table as a person of position and wealth,
her experience with engagement of a guy in the camp, etc.)
When she came to Miami things happened to her that changed her value of herself. That is what I would like to point out today. What do you think changed her.?
These things, I think contributed to her finding she had value and she began to be happy with herself.
1. When Tung first came to my house , she always said yes. I loved it (Lol) but I’ll never forget when she told me no and asserted herself
2. Tung had courage and talked about Troi(God) a lot
, but she thought she was in her position. I bet a lot of Black slaves thought this as well.
3. Tung found she had a talent and something she loved to do. She loved sharing her food, making people happy.
4. She won awards and praise for her cooking. She would say to me “they clapped for me”. She said this as she was crying
5. She passed her driving test and citizenship test by her effort - no easy way
6. She prove to the Vietnamese she had value the way their culture required. She had a house. I remember one day she cleaning her house so clean , dressing herself beautifully and inviting a Vietnamese family of position over for dinner.
7. Her daughter went to Harvard- an event to show value to the Vietnamese.
8. She helped write “Mangoes and Peppercorns “ and had to talk about the book. When she would sign books , she would say, “no go to school but sign books”.
I had a chance to witness these events, and it was so much fun. I am so proud of her. We don’t always agreed and yes we fight, but we also laugh and joke about each other. Phuongy has been a wonderful go between and someone we both love so much.
I hope you find other events that caused Tung to grow. Let it be known we are still growing.
“Mangoes and Peppercorns “ is our story but it is also a
story of blacks gaining self esteem and of other immigrants other people.
Next time I will take me,( which will require some honesty) and how our relationship (Mangoes and Peppercorns ) changed me. I’m the mango and Tung
the peppercorns! lol
Don’t forget South Beach Food and Wine Festival
February 22-25
Love
Kathy