Luke Nguyen's Railway Vietnam

Luke travels on the overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa high in the hills and meets and learns all about the lifestyles of the ethnic minorities. Luke visited Sapa high in the hills in northern Vietnam 15 years ago. He’s pleased to find out that not much has changed and visits a little girl he befriended during that time. She welcomes him into her house and learns how the local dish of dried buffalo is made. He also goes foraging for botanicals with a scientist who is making Vietnam's very first gin.

In this episode Luke visits Hai Phong a major industrial city and the second largest in the northern part of Vietnam. Hai Phong is renowned for its famous fresh seafood and the banh da noodle. The banh da noodle is very unique and special, red in colour with a chewy texture, locals make this noodle at the back of their homes. Next stop for Luke is to visit a master baker who he watches make mini baguettes. Luke then delivers the warm bread sticks to a café where they add their famous homemade pâté. The baguette is filled with the pâté to create the dish banh mi – traditional to Hai Phong. Luke's last stop in Hai Phong is to find the perfect fried shallots - a condiment he uses extensively in his cooking.

In this episode Luke visits Hue; famous for its royal heritage, ancient imperial architecture and rich royal cuisine that inspires him. Luke visits Con Hen village where they specialise in the technique of swirling and de-shelling baby clams, a skill that goes back hundreds of years. Next morning Luke is up early searching for the best bowl of bun bo Hue, a spicy beef noodle soup, he ends up at the ‘Bun Bo Me Keo’ restaurant where the family who own the restaurant have been making their own local version of this dish for the past 70 years. Next, he tours a family business that produces and sells turmeric vermicelli noodle salad. Luke then visits his favourite street food stall in Hue to taste the delicious snack banh ep, a savoury pancake made from tapioca starch, pork, egg, and spring onion cooked in a flat press. Lastly, after Luke’s Japanese bathing experience in a peaceful streamside location, he cooks a healthy steamed snakehead fish dish.

Luke’s next stop is Hoi An taking the train from Danang on a ten-hour journey in one of the train's sleeper carriages. While en-route Luke cooks wok-tossed beef in the train’s kitchen carriage – a difficult feat. First up in Hoi An he visits a family who have been making chilli sauce for five generations. He watches closely as each chilli is handpicked and sorted. Next stop onto the iconic tourist attraction the Japanese covered bridge’ built in 1719 where Luke prepares the dish chicken rice with the help of keen locals. He then visits Tho Village and meets fourth generation blacksmith Mr Thi who creates knives from old bomb shells dropped during the Vietnam War. The end of Luke’s time in Hoi An coincides with his mother in law’s birthday so he cooks her favourite noodle dish, cao lau, unique to the area.

Luke’s next stop is at the popular tourist destination of Dalat, where he starts off in the most authentic fashion at the historic art deco Dalat train station built by the French in the 1930’s. Later, in Thap Cham, Luke hops onto a scooter and rides around the Central Highlands to visit a father and son team of chefs and experience the unique bamboo fire cooking. Together, they create French-inspired dishes using frogs. Luke tries his hand at creating banh trang nuong (Vietnamese pizza) alongside a bustling restaurant that has been around for generations. Lastly, Luke stops off at a restaurant called The Wooden House which has pioneered the farm to table movement in Dalat.