((PKG)) VietCajun
((Banner: Something Reimagined))
((Reporter/Camera: Elizabeth Lee))
((Adapted by: Aisha Henderson))
((Map: Houston, Texas))
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
This is how we sort out the crawfish. Back in Vietnam, my grandmom was a very great cook. So, I have the taste many years growing up with her, so I kind of have that taste in me while I work along help her along to prep the dish.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
My name is Trong Nguyen. I’m the owner and also I’m the chef of this Crawfish and Noodles. I was born in Vietnam. When I left Vietnam, I came to the U.S. through the refugee because my family was military family to fight side-by-side with the U.S.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
The first immigrant came to the U.S. is pretty much the people live in the shrimp boat. You know they do a lot of shrimp and stuff. So, a lot of Vietnamese is familiar with the seafood industry.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
They do a lot of crawfish. They do a lot of shrimp, a lot of catfish, alligator, you know, on the Cajun style. So, from there, the Vietnamese is seem to understand the culture more, so the Vietnamese dive into that kind of business.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
Most of my supply is come by some of the Vietnamese vendors, same with the crab, same with the shrimp because Vietnamese have a very large community that do shrimping and fishing.
((NATS))
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
Most of the Cajun, they already have Cajun seasoning and stuff like that, so all they do is just modify a little bit and you get a good meal on the table to serve the customers.
((Terri Tran, Customer))
It’s delicious. It’s very flavorful. There’s lots of seasoning on it, and the crawfish is cooked perfectly.
((Mike Vandenbold, Customer))
I was born and raised in south Louisiana, so I know Cajun crawfish. So, when we came here, the extra VietCajun spice is what made it for us. We like these better than the traditional Cajun crawfish.
((Trong Nguyen, Owner/Chef, Crawfish and Noodles))
We sprinkle that with Viet-Cajun seasoning right now. The VietCajun is something totally different. My version is, I use a lot of Vietnamese seasoning to mix it in some of the Cajun part to make it because Vietnamese like seasoning. They like garlic. They like butter. They like onions and stuff. And then some of the spice in there we love. The main thing is good food needs to be shared.
((NATS))