{"id":3896,"date":"2020-09-01T10:02:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T02:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesmartlocal.com\/vietnam\/?p=3896"},"modified":"2020-09-08T16:44:00","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T08:44:00","slug":"ambiguous-hotpot-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesmartlocal.com\/vietnam\/ambiguous-hotpot-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Desperate Foodie Texts Cooking Page Admin About Ambiguous Hotpot Recipe At 3.15AM & Gets A Reply"},"content":{"rendered":"

Puzzled foodie asks a cook a question about his hotpot recipe<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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From forgetting important ingredients to overlooking a step that makes the dish turn out much worse than expected, home cooks who<\/span> follow online recipes<\/b> face a lot of challenges. As much as we want to contact the owners of the recipes we follow with our questions and even complaints, not many of us have the boldness to do so<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the case for <\/span>Tra My<\/b>, a stalwart Hanoian foodie. Puzzled for over a month by a mix of Internet slang and Vietnamese dialect in a hotpot recipe<\/strong><\/a> shared by a Vietnamese cook living in Japan, she took the initiative to <\/span>contact the cook online <\/span>at 3.15AM <\/b>in search of clarification.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It started with a hotpot recipe<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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In a post shared on a Facebook page <\/span>Ch\u00e1o H\u00e0nh Mi\u1ec5n Ph\u00ed<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Tr\u1ea7n Th\u00e0nh Trung<\/span><\/a>, a Vietnamese citizen living in Japan, shared his exciting <\/span>conversation<\/b> with his fellow group member Tra My <\/strong>from Hanoi. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Tra My and Trung are group members of\u00a0 <\/span>Ch\u00e1o H\u00e0nh Mi\u1ec5n Ph\u00ed<\/span><\/a>, a group where members share life stories that they deem interesting. Impressed by many of Trung\u2019s posts and his <\/span>story-telling skills<\/b>, Tra My had decided to check out his Facebook page to learn more about him.<\/span><\/p>\n

To her surprise, most of the posts on his Facebook page were about cooking – he regularly shared his recipes for both Vietnamese and Japanese dishes. <\/span>Out of his many recipes, Tra My had been particularly interested in a Japanese <\/span>hotpot recipe <\/span>he posted on 11th July.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hotpot
\nImage credit: Tr\u1ea7n Th\u00e0nh Trung<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The ingredients Trung listed out for this dish include frozen salmon, shrimps, squid eggs, crab sticks, cabbage, a mushroom, lemon juice, and<\/span> half a box of a mysteriously named ingredient called<\/span>\u00a0 \u201cI wanna \ud83d\ude17 <\/b>you\u201d<\/b>, which could be used for desserts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hotpot
\nThe ambiguous hotpot recipe in Vietnamese
\nImage credit: Tr\u1ea7n Th\u00e0nh Trung<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Puzzled by the name <\/span>\u201cI wanna \ud83d\ude17 <\/b>you\u201d, <\/b>which is not found in any food dictionary in any language, Tra My was determined to figure it out. The <\/span>emoji \ud83d\ude17, which was the only hint, simply means \u201c<\/span>kiss<\/b>\u201d. But still, \u201c<\/span>I wanna kiss you<\/b>\u201d cannot possibly be a cooking ingredient.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After over a month of researching about this ingredient in vain, this relentless foodie decided to contact the cook for the answer.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The \u201cI wanna \ud83d\ude17 you\u201d ingredient<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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It is not known if Tra My is a <\/span>night owl, <\/b>but texting a stranger at 3.15AM in the morning must have required <\/span>a lot of courage on her part.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"hotpot
\nTra My’s message sent at 5.15AM Japan time, which is 3.15AM Vietnam time<\/em>
\nImage credit: Tr\u1ea7n Th\u00e0nh Trung<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In her long, detailed message, Tra My explained why she reached out to him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hotpot
\nImage credit: Tr\u1ea7n Th\u00e0nh Trung<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCan you tell me what this box is? It\u2019s been over a month and <\/span>I\u2019m still curious about it.<\/b> I ate the hotpot dish this evening but still couldn\u2019t find out what that missing ingredient was. My curiosity has caused me to be sleepless, so I decided to ask you directly about it so I can be delivered from this obsession,\u201d Tra My said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wowed by the interesting message from a stranger, Trung\u2019s first reply was \u201c<\/span>Oh my God,<\/b>\u201d followed by his expression of surprise that she had been struggling with his recipe for so long.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hotpot
\nImage adapted from: <\/span>Tr\u1ea7n Th\u00e0nh Trung<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a <\/span>kiss<\/b>, also known as <\/span>pineapple<\/b>,\u201d Trung finally gave Tra My the answer she\u2019d been seeking for over a month.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"hotpot
\nImage credit: Phoenix Han<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Turns out, the Vietnamese word for \u201c<\/span>kiss<\/b>\u201d is <\/span>\u201ch\u00f4n,\u201d<\/b> which also happens to be another word for <\/span>\u201cth\u01a1m\u201d<\/b>. While \u201cth\u01a1m\u201d means \u201ckiss\u201d in its verb form, it means \u201c<\/span>pineapple<\/b>\u201d as a noun, and is commonly used in Southern dialect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, pineapples are called \u201c<\/span>d\u1ee9a<\/b>\u201d in the North. That\u2019s the reason why Tra My, who is Hanoi-based, was not able to figure out the wordplay used by Trung, who\u2019s originally from Saigon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have asked me earlier.\u201d Trung added to the conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n

All\u2019s well that ends well. Tra My got the mysterious ingredient she came looking for, and Trung\u2019s day was brightened up by a stranger\u2019s open admiration for his recipe. In his post shared on the Facebook group, Trung said, \u201cI really want to <\/span>\u2018pineapple<\/b>\u2019 you. You\u2019re such a cutie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Desperate foodie texts a cook about his hotpot recipe<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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As a saying goes, <\/span>“He who asks a <\/span>question<\/b> remains a fool for five minutes. He who <\/span>does not ask<\/b> remains a fool forever.\u201d <\/span>Tra My could have ignored the ambiguous ingredient and put her own spin on the hotpot dish instead, but she decided to put an end to her curiosity and figure out what the ingredient was.\u00a0 And<\/span> her boldness was rewarded<\/b> – she got what she came for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It remains unknown how the conversation between Trung and Tra My went on from there, but this could be<\/span> the beginning of a very interesting relationship<\/b> between two people who are in love with food.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also check out:<\/span><\/p>\n