Christine Ha, A Vietnamese-American Culinary Ambassador
Christine Ha's journey to overcome challenges, asserting herself, and becoming a cultural culinary ambassador for Vietnam in the United States (US) has inspired many young people in Vietnam.
Born and raised in the US, Christine Ha's parents are of Vietnamese descent. Her childhood was filled with Vietnamese dishes cooked by her mother. At the age of 14, her mother passed away, and Christine faced the most significant challenge of her life, gradually losing her eyesight. Despite this, with the utmost independence, Christine graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas in Austin. She also completed a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston. Christine Ha, formerly the chief editor of a Gulf Coast literary magazine, combined her writing skills with a passion for cooking, leading her to triumph over 30,000 contestants and claim the title of "Master Chef" in the US in 2012.
After winning the competition, new doors opened in Christine Ha’s career. Her first cookbook, "Recipes from My Home Kitchen," became a New York Times best-seller.
Beyond being a culinary arts envoy overseas for the US Embassy, hosting the cooking show "Four Senses" in Canada, and being a judge on "Master Chef" Vietnam, Christine ventured into entrepreneurship with her cooking talents. In 2020, she opened her first restaurant, "The Blind Goat," in Houston. Later, with chef Tony Nguyen, she opened a second restaurant named "Xin Chao" (which means “Hello” in Vietnamese) and the third, "Stuffed Belly," opened its doors in June 2023.
All three restaurants are renowned for traditional dishes like braised fish and caramelized pork with eggs. Notably, Christine Ha incorporates Vietnamese fish sauce as a seasoning for most of the dishes. She blends Vietnamese ingredients and spices with American and Canadian dishes to create cultural diversity in both local and international cuisine.
In her role as the Art Ambassador for the program "Chef Christine Ha in Vietnam", she guided visually impaired children in making mooncakes, using a special combination of American and Vietnamese ingredients such as pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and cheese in the sticky rice cake. Christine also inspired and encouraged visually impaired children to step into the kitchen.
In addition to the mooncake-making session, Christine Ha participated in discussions on the theme "Women in Entrepreneurship: Challenges and Opportunities in Vietnam and the US" and cooked with women from ethnic minority groups in Buot Hamlet and Son La Province. She spoke with disadvantaged youth studying vocational skills at the REACH Institute. She served as a judge for a creative cooking competition using chicken at Hutech University organized by the US Egg and Poultry Export Council. Christine Ha's active and continuous engagement in every place she visits is warmly welcomed and appreciated by the Vietnamese public.
Story: Bich Van
Photos: Thanh Giang/VNP
Translated by Hong Hanh