LEARNING THE HUSTLE WITH JENNY LAM
By Linda Liem
Pollinators celebrated Harmony week in conjunction with the Mid West Multicultural Association by sharing with Geraldton some lesser-known parts of Vietnamese culture.
For those of you who missed out, it was a fantastic Saturday evening hosting the gracious Jenny Lam – a former MasterChef contestant, a multi-business owning entrepreneur and author of the cookbook – ‘Eat Like a Viet’.
Linda chatting with Jenny about life, love and mirroring the grit of our parents. (Image credit: Linda Liem)
The downstairs area of City Hive was transformed into a low-key, intimate setting – where Linda (City Hive host, event organiser and interviewer) and Jenny had beautiful chats about life, family, cooking and business. She humbled us with stories of cooking with her father in her youth, revealed the work ethic deeply ingrained in Vietnamese culture, and what a marriage breakdown taught her.
A regular coworking space transformed into an intimate Q+A space and demo kitchen. (Image credit: Angie West).
Jenny has been moulded through her varying experiences of growing up poor, starting a business from a young age, with rapid east-coast business expansions in her tweens, before eventually asking herself what the point was. After many years working in corporate marketing, one day her friend nudged her –
“Jenny, it’s time for you to go on MasterChef.”
Her time as a contestant on MasterChef taught her about the culinary world outside of Vietnamese cuisine; while teaching her to be adaptable to high-pressure environments and to pause and plan before cooking.
Jenny’s mother was always tough on her growing up – she exclaimed “why can’t you cook a good meal in 60 minutes?” – to which Jenny replied “mum, imagine someone came into your kitchen, moved everything around and then asked you to cook to a brief.”
During the filming of the show, she would ask her fellow participants what they liked and didn’t like about cookbooks they used. “Jenny, I think you’ve got what it takes to create your own cookbook,” a fellow participant said.
Shortly after leaving the show, Jenny decided to pursue this dream and travelled to Vietnam to research and shoot for the upcoming book.
“I’d hate for those recipes to die with me. I wanted to preserve them and journal all that family history that brought me so much joy.”
Robbie Garvey (Red Lime Jones), Portia Bodycoat (Verve Cartel) and Jenny Lam. (Image Credit: Angie West)
Thereafter, opportunities opened up for Jenny, with contrasting commercial stints at Wildflower and Long Chim. At Wildflower, she learnt strict preparation systems, such as how to cut tape and set-up your kitchen like Marie Kondo; while Long Chim taught her the importance of having fun at work.
When it came time to open the family-owned Bunn Mee eatery in Leederville, Jenny compiled all her learnings. She put in place some of the strict elements she previously learned, and her staff wondered why she was so over-the-top.
“The small things reflect the big things in your life – it keeps the standards really high.”
She admits, “when you start working on yourself, your diet, your exercise, your frame of mind – it’s like there’s two Jenny Lam’s in here.” It’s finding this balance in her life that has allowed her to relax into the many hats she wears and continue forward with success.
After the Q&A, we flipped the chairs around for an interactive cooking demonstration. Jenny taught us all how to make bánh xeo from scratch and with budget ingredients. She filled the session with little nuggets of culinary tips and tricks – such as how to cook rice the Asian way by measuring with the crease on your finger, how to peel a prawn in three seconds and how to hold a knife so you can chop with the motion your whole arm instead of just your wrist.
Jenny also taught us how to prepare, make, and eat delicate bánh xeo morsels – the Vietnamese way – wrapped in a lettuce leaf, stuffed with a few fresh herbs and dipped into nuoc mám chám sauce.
Bánh xeo - Vietnamese crepes with all the trimmings. (Image credit: @brodardrestaurant).
Afterwards, audience members joined-in to help cook the Vietnamese crepes, while having one-on-one discussions with Jenny. Other Vietnamese delicacies were shared around the room, including basil seed drink with grass jelly and tropical fruits (hôt é), and Aunty Nhan’s (from Platform Market) mung bean filled sesame balls (bánh cam).
Overwhelmed with joy and the hospitality of Geraldton locals, Jenny promised she will back in the near future. To that, we welcome you back with pleasure and open arms.
Jason, a local Vietnamese resident helping out with making Bánh Xeo - Vietnamese crepes. (Image credit: PM Haik).