Roadfood

>> MISHA COLLINS: This is not what I think of when I think of Houston.

>> Pho for breakfast, man.

>> COLLINS: Pho for breakfast.

>> There it is.

This is marinated steak.

>> COLLINS: This meat goes in this broth?

>> Yeah.

>> COLLINS: I'm going to do the traditional approach.

>> First time that you're here?

>> COLLINS: Uh-huh.

Thank you.

>> Yeah.

You take one.

>> COLLINS: Okay, I like this.

It's like I'm a baby.

Okay, you're not gonna put it in my mouth?

Okay.

>> (murmurs) >> COLLINS: Okay, thank you.

>> If you have kidney stone.

>> COLLINS: That'll help with my kidney stones?

>> Yes.

>> COLLINS: Okay, how did you know I had kidney stones?

Thank you.

In the 1970s, a young couple set out on the most epic road trip of all time.

Jane and Michael Stern were on a mission to discover every regional dish in America, and over four decades, they burned through 38 cars and published ten editions of their iconic guide, Road Food.

Now I'm picking up where they left off, exploring what makes America's communities unique and what binds us all together.

And it's delicious.

>> Major funding for this program was provided by: >> Yours is a front-yard family.

Because out front... >> How're you doing?

>> ...is where all the neighborhood is.

And your neighbors know you well.

>> Mario, what's up?

>> They seen your robe, your run, even your bathing suit.

>> (laughing) >> They also know your home turf stays open to the whole street.

So you stay out front.

We'll stay real-brewed.

And the world just might get a little golder.

Gold Peak real-brewed tea.

(shade rustles) (doorbell rings) >> (softly): Yes!

>> COLLINS: We're in Houston, and we're not talking about Tex-Mex or barbecue.

We're talking about Vietnamese food.

Houston is home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities in the United States.

The food is a mix of very traditional Vietnamese restaurants and restaurants that are iterating an evolving Vietnamese cuisine that are run by first- and second-generation Vietnamese chefs.

So we are exploring this food, learning about this community, learning about Texas, and hopefully, along the way, tasting some delicious things and learning about ourselves.

So, "phuh," why is that spelled that way?

>> That's... >> COLLINS: Why isn't it "phoh"?

>> Vietnamese, it's all tonal.

Every word is one syllable, so then we use accent marks.

For pho, there's an extra accent mark that makes it "phuh."

>> COLLINS: So all names are also just one syllable?

>> Everything is just one syllable.

>> COLLINS: That's fascinating!

(laughs) Pho... >> Pho... >> COLLINS: ...is eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

>> Yeah.

We'll have it for breakfast, we'll have it for lunch, and, of course, we'll have it for dinner.

>> COLLINS: To me, this seems like walking into a little slice of Vietnam.

>> Right.

>> COLLINS: And yet, that's not static.

This community is also changing and evolving.

>> Different cultures from, from a different part of the world come together.

So when Ryan was about six-- Ryan is our oldest-- so I asked him, I said, "So Ryan, what are you?

"Right?

Your dad's Vietnamese, your mom's Korean, your grandpa is Caucasian."

Kid looked at me, he said, "I'm a Texan."

I said, "Attaboy."

>> COLLINS: (laughs) You know, I grew up poor, and I grew up in a, kind of a rough community.

I think I had a similar mentality.

Like, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna prove myself just by working.

I'm gonna get ahead by working harder than everyone else."

>> Yeah.

>> COLLINS: I remember being in fifth grade, and the other kids would, like, just go off and play, and I was, like, "I'm not gonna do that.

"I'm gonna memorize the periodic chart, "so that when I get to class tomorrow, "I'm show, I'm proving everyone that I'm, you know, I'm better than them in some way," you know?

In a way-- I recognize now, as an adult-- in a way, that's, like, a bit of a trauma response.

It's a bit of a reaction to hardship.

>> I'm smiling and I'm laughing because you are describing me, right?

I mean, every time I face hardship, I would remind myself, I would tell myself, "I didn't hop on a boat to come here to fail."

>> COLLINS: Mm-hmm.

>> You know?

Yeah, there are differences, but there's so much more similarities in all of us than, than... than we realize.

And I hope one day that all of us can focus on the similarities and come together.

>> COLLINS: And nice to do it over a bowl of breakfast soup.

>> Nice to do a bowl of pho.

>> COLLINS: Pho.

>> There you go, see, now you know.

>> Welcome, welcome!

>> COLLINS: Thank you.

>> Welcome to Houston and my town.

We're in the middle of the Vietnamese area of town.

We call it Asiatown.

>> COLLINS: Uh-huh.

>> So it's, like, half Chinatown.

>> COLLINS: Oh, it is half... >> It is.

>> COLLINS: Oh, I didn't know that.

>> Yeah.

Where we're at, this is the heart of the Vietnamese area of town.

>> COLLINS: Got it.

There was this mass, massive wave of migration after the Vietnam War.

>> Yes.

>> COLLINS: Of Vietnamese people that came, people who were largely, like, felt endangered for their lives, as the war, as, you know, the fall of Saigon, right?

>> Yes, I was part of that.

>> COLLINS: What is your family's story?

>> We were in Saigon, and my aunt worked for the embassy.

And three days before the fall of Saigon, we left everything-- like, just, my dad came home and he said, "We're going."

We packed a bag, stuffed papers in it, ran to the airport, and we got airlifted out of Saigon three days before the fall.

We actually went to France, but a lot of people came to America, and my husband is one of those, and he's actually the reason why I'm here in Houston.

So his family was in a refugee camp, and they had a choice of where to go.

And the way that he tells the story, he said that all the elders were sitting around and they were trying to figure out where they wanted to go.

And there was this story about the Astrodome being, like, the eighth wonder of the world, and they said, "That's where we're going."

>> COLLINS: Really?

>> Yeah.

>> COLLINS: (laughs) >> This is true.

>> COLLINS: What is the food that they serve here?

>> They do very traditional Vietnamese food.

The specialty here is called banh cuon, which is, like, a, "banh" means a cake, "cuon" means roll.

So it's like a rolled, steamed rice cake.

>> COLLINS: Hi.

>> Hi!

>> Hey, Kim!

>> COLLINS: So is this also a traditional breakfast food?

>> These are all traditional foods of different areas.

So that actually is a typical Southern Vietnamese breakfast.

You'll see a lot of street vendors serving it fresh, and you'll see everybody eating it off the street.

>> COLLINS: Mm!

>> So the sauce is fish sauce, that's made from fermented fish.

>> COLLINS: I'm just glad I didn't pour myself a glass of fish sauce, because I thought that was iced tea.

>> (laughs) >> Don't get it on your clothes, because you'll smell it for the rest of the day.

It's very dangerous.

>> (giggles) >> COLLINS: Well, thank you very much.

>> Thank you for coming!

>> COLLINS: That was lovely.

>> Hi, Misha, nice to meet you.

>> COLLINS: Nice to meet you.

>> Is this my water?

Did someone leave me water?

>> COLLINS: That is your water.

>> Thank you.

Is there a straw in it?

>> COLLINS: No, there's not.

>> I always poke my eye out when people put in a straw.

>> COLLINS: (laughs) You had vision early on and it rapidly deteriorated-- what happened?

>> So basically, my immune system attacking my neurological system.

When I was 20 years old, I lost my vision gradually, and that's when I decided to do a complete career change and go into something that I found more fulfilling, which was creative writing.

>> COLLINS: Mm-hmm.

>> And so that's why I decided to go back to school.

And it was at that point, then I met my husband, and he pushed me to audition for MasterChef and then I ended up winning, and then, yeah, my life just, you know, completely turned upside down and then now I have the culinary career that I can follow, as well.

Life has taken me some crazy places, and it's, it's been crazy, but it's been a good ride.

>> COLLINS: For me, even with my kids now, food is the way I convey love.

>> Yeah.

>> COLLINS: But I wonder what your, what your relationship with food is.

>> My relation with food is, my...

I grew up eating a lot of Vietnamese food.

My parents were both refugees.

When I was living in an apartment, I couldn't afford to eat out a lot, and so I decided to just teach myself how to cook, and I bought a cookbook.

I basically was trying to reverse-engineer my mom's cooking, because I was homesick first of all, and I hadn't had her cooking in several years, because she had gone.

That's how I started loving to cook.

And I think that in a way, that is also my expression of love, is showing, you know, feeding somebody, and that's so many people's, like, way of, of showing love to other people.

>> COLLINS: Yeah.

>> And even in places where I cannot speak the language that they speak there, and we cannot communicate, we can sit down, and I can learn about them by sharing a meal, like... >> COLLINS: Well, there's a reason that that expression "breaking bread"... >> Yes, exactly.

>> COLLINS: ...is like, so, it carries so much meaning.

>> That's exactly why I love food.

>> Hey, guys.

How are ya?

I have some Viet-Cajun grilled oysters here.

>> COLLINS: Oh!

>> Okay, so this is Chef Tony.

He is my co-executive chef and partner in the restaurant.

>> So this is our Viet-Cajun oysters.

We have our garlic butter that I usually use for our crawfish.

>> COLLINS: Thank you.

>> Hey, that's not bad.

>> COLLINS: That's amazing.

Okay, without hyperbole, that's the best grilled oyster I've ever had.

I was just talking to some of the people working on our production last night, and somebody asked, like, "How did you become an actor?"

And I was, like, "Well, "if I really think about the origin story, "it had a lot to do with the fact that "the guy that ran the theater program at my college "told me I couldn't be an actor, and I was, like, 'Let me show you!'"

>> (laughs) >> COLLINS: What else is driving you?

Like, what are you excited about in, in your work now?

>> I really think just, like, representing Asians and Vietnamese.

It's about bringing that representation to the table and then taking your seat at the table.

And it's not going to be offered to you unless you take it.

And I think it's, it's about being bolder and speaking with a louder voice.

And I feel like I have to do that triple fold, because, one, I think being Asian, second, being a woman, and, third, being, you know, having a disability.

So I feel like sometimes I have to speak like three or four or five times as loud to be taken seriously.

>> COLLINS: Well, thank you both.

This was so delicious.

That was really lovely.

Really appreciate it.

>> Okay, so this is probably the beginning of the Vietnamese area here.

So from here going back that way, four miles-ish, is, like, all Vietnamese.

>> COLLINS: That's a big stretch.

>> It is a big stretch.

Houston is the third-largest Vietnamese population in the country, and people keep on moving here, so it's growing.

You want to get in your right lane.

>> COLLINS: Yeah, is this it?

>> Yeah, you're good.

>> COLLINS: Okay, here we are.

>> Here we are!

Okay, we're gonna detour to this little shop right here.

It specializes in a Vietnamese dessert called ch.

It's super-popular among the Vietnamese people.

You want to try?

Okay.

>> COLLINS: Of course.

>> (speaking Vietnamese) >> COLLINS: See all of the beans in there?

And the gelatin noodles?

Like a coconut snow cone.

I'm getting into the beans now.

I didn't think I was gonna like this.

This is like a texture party in your mouth.

>> Welcome to Crawfish and Noodles.

>> COLLINS: So this is Viet-Cajun crawfish.

>> Trong didn't invent it, but he's one of the pioneers in this genre of cuisine, it's called Viet-Cajun, which originated here in Houston.

>> COLLINS: Ah, smells delicious!

>> So I do, I crack the head first and I suck on the juice.

>> That's where all the flavor is.

>> COLLINS: Okay.

>> Oh!

(laughs) >> All right.

(laughing) >> COLLINS: Immed...

I was, like...

I was, like, "No, I don't need a bib," and immediate, first try, it's all over me.

>> Are we going to have a blooper reel?

>> COLLINS: Okay, so now I... >> Be careful, though.

(coughing) >> It's kind of spicy, huh?

>> It's spicy, yeah.

>> COLLINS: This is so good.

>> I told you.

>> COLLINS: It's, like, such a... >> Did I tell you?

>> COLLINS: It tastes quite Cajun.

>> But mainly it's the garlic and the butter.

>> COLLINS: Mm-hmm, there are other Vietnamese spices in here, aren't there?

>> Yeah, there's some Vietnamese spice in there, also.

>> COLLINS: Okay, is this a secret?

>> We try... >> COLLINS: A little bit, it's a little bit of a secret, I can tell.

I love that, my... >> Your hands are tingling, right?

>> COLLINS: My hands are burning a little bit from the hot sauce.

How long have you been in Houston?

>> I've been in Houston since 1988.

>> COLLINS: Why did your family come in '88?

>> That's when we escaped from the communist side and come over.

>> COLLINS: Wow, and how old were you?

>> I was 17 in that time.

>> People tried to escape by any means they could, and they would take these boats and risk their lives.

>> COLLINS: And how long was the boat crossing?

>> By boat is two to three day on sea.

After that, we got to Malaysia.

It is very, very risky.

So when you go on a trip like that, you know, you don't know-- there is three death in front of you.

Three way of dying.

First of all, you know, the little boat can be hit by the hurricane anytime you gone.

>> Or you can get hijacked by pirates.

>> Yeah, hijack.

Or you get shot by the authority.

>> COLLINS: What was your chances of making it, do you know?

>> Each of us have about 20% to 30% chance.

>> So he was extremely lucky, yeah.

>> Very lucky.

>> COLLINS: And did you come with family?

>> I come with my dad and my brother.

>> COLLINS: Uh-huh, I imagine that when you came here first, as a 17-year-old, you probably had some feeling of not being accepted.

How did you come into this totally new country, this totally new life, as an outsider initially?

>> Well, I don't know, I just coming along well.

I knew we, we learned to adapt to the new environment, to adapt to the new people.

We got good friend around, get to know them, and then we just fit into society.

>> COLLINS: Hey!

(laughs) >> Hey, how are you, man?

>> COLLINS: How long have you been standing there?

>> Hey, stranger.

>> We meet again.

>> Come on down!

>> I heard, "Crawfish," and I said, "Okay, I'm there."

>> COLLINS: There's a stereotype of Southern hospitality.

How about Vietnamese Southerners?

Like, how would you characterize this, this community of Southern Vietnamese people?

>> We're very friendly, we're very open, and we're very welcoming.

So, you know, it's many, many people migrating to Houston, you know, we welcome them all.

>> I think we're one of the most diverse city, if not the most diverse city.

>> And also, we are a map of the future.

The makeup of Houston right now is what the rest of the country will eventually look like.

This is the salt and pepper crab.

>> The salt and pepper crab.

>> Dude.

>> COLLINS: It's like a Jenga... >> It's a crab tower.

>> COLLINS: Jenga of crab.

>> It's a Jenga blue crab... Yeah.

>> COLLINS: I'm gonna try to pull this one out.

This is... (laughs, hoarsely): So good.

>> (chuckles) >> COLLINS: I don't think I've ever had crab like this.

>> Good morning, good morning, you guys.

Welcome for being here at the Vietnamese Buddhist Center.

I hope you guys have a great mornings of exploring the Vietnamese culture.

>> COLLINS: You've been sort of the center of, I guess, a lot of attention and some controversy here in the, in the Vietnamese community in Houston.

Can you tell the story of sort of what happened with your, with your billboard?

>> Start with the murder of George Floyd.

I remember sitting in my office and watching that eight-minutes- and-46-second video.

And then I remember finishing the video, and I pushed myself back from my desk and I slumped and I cried.

I'm getting goosebumps retelling this.

So those events just woke something in me that says, "Enough is enough."

Because I've been silent for so long, and being silent, just being complicit to all of this.

So I put up the board.

And the message just said, "Black Lives Matter.

Stop racism."

And then a friend of mine suggested, "Well, why don't you translate it into Vietnamese?"

So I did-- on the left, it says, "Ngung ky thi chung toc," which means, "Stop racism."

And I went to bed just feeling so proud of myself.

For the first time in 50 years, I decided to speak up.

And then the next day, my phone blew up.

Basically the message was, "Nguyen, what did you do?"

I said, "What did I do?

What do you mean?

"It's just a social message.

"All it said was, 'Stop racism.'

"What does the billboard say that would, that offend you so much?"

And then the threats started to come.

>> COLLINS: Were you actually scared at this point at all?

Like, did you, did you think that there was some teeth to these threats?

>> No.

I wasn't scared.

It made me upset.

It made me mad.

So I knew I was on the right side of history.

My mom, when she heard all the threat, that's what's maddening, right?

When you hear your 70-year-old mom just crying like a baby because people want to hang your older son.

>> COLLINS: Obviously, part of what you were coming up against was, you were going up against the political conservatism of the Vietnamese expat community.

>> That's the irony.

I'm a Bush-Reagan kid.

I identify myself as a Republican.

So when I spoke up and then all the attack came, it was, like, why?

Someone posted, like, an old article that a group of Black civil right leaders took out in 1978, calling on President Carter to accept us immigrants.

And in '78 was when my mom put me on a boat to come over to, to escape.

>> COLLINS: Wow.

>> And then so I languished in a Malaysian refugee camp for nine months.

So when I read that, when I read the article, right?

I went, "Oh, my God."

I was an eight-year-old kid, and across the world, a group of Black civil right leaders saying, "Let this child in."

It was, like, "Now it's my time to speak up."

>> COLLINS: A lot of people, for whatever reason, they pick a team and stick with the team, and don't allow themselves to be open to the possibility to change.

And it seems like you were being guided by, you know, kindness and empathy toward your fellow human beings, and allowing that to steer your, your political allegiance.

>> The keyword is that, empathy.

>> COLLINS: Yeah.

>> You know, "Be kind, love all," it's my motto now.

>> COLLINS: You should start a church.

(laughing) >> This is the Hong Kong City Mall.

This is the only billboard here, and I've had it for almost 20 years.

>> COLLINS: This is your... You own this billboard?

>> No, no, I have the rights to this billboard.

And then for the first 18, 19 years, I used it just to advertise my, my business.

>> COLLINS: I'm an actor.

I have four-and-a-half million followers on Instagram.

I have a big platform.

There was a moment at which I decided, "You know what?

I'm gonna use this platform to amplify messages that are important."

I feel like it's a moral imperative.

I, I think that there's a point at which it's all of our responsibility to use whatever billboard we can.

>> There it is, now it says, "Stop Asian Hate."

>> COLLINS: How much does this cost you?

>> About $1,500 a month.

>> COLLINS: Uh-huh.

So you're actually really investing something in this.

>> Yeah.

>> So we are the greatest beings on this planet.

With that in mind, we can use our compassions, wisdom, and courage to live our day to the fullest.

(chanting) >> Thank you very much.

>> COLLINS: Thank you, thank you.

>> For me, growing up, I felt like I had to straddle two different universes or two different cultures, and I didn't really know, like, am I Vietnamese or am I American?

And then now that I'm older, I realize that I can reconcile it, and I'm both, and I realize that I am perfectly happy and I'm perfect the way I am to be both, and this is what it means to serve second-generation or modern Vietnamese food in Houston.

>> If any time come to a good table with good food, you have the best conversation.

And many other people in Houston come to us to be a part of the family.

That's what we're here.

>> COLLINS: I think I came into this with a little bit of trepidation, which was, like, because I'm afraid people aren't gonna be open-hearted, aren't going to, like, be willing to share themselves with me.

And yet you have been so lovely to talk to and, like, I... (chuckles): I...

I'm actually tearing up.

I wanted to do this show because... >> Don't make me cry.

>> COLLINS: ...I wanted to expose, like, the audience to other people and other cultures and show people, like, that we're all more the same than we're different.

But there was a little bit of pedanticness to that.

Like, I wanted to show people.

And I feel like I learned that today.

So, thank you for... >> Thank you.

>> COLLINS: Thank you for being so lovely.

>> COLLINS: If you want to see extended footage of these conversations, or me spilling food on my shirt, or if you want to know more about the restaurants and recipes from this episode, go to roadfood.com.

In the 1970s, a young couple set out on the most epic road trip of all time.

Jane and Michael Stern were on a mission to discover every regional dish in America, and over four decades, they burned through 38 cars and published ten editions of their iconic guide, Road Food.

Now I'm picking up where they left off, exploring what makes America's communities unique and what binds us all together.

And it's delicious.

>> Major funding for this program was provided by: >> Yours is a front-yard family.

Because out front... >> How're you doing?

>> ...is where all the neighborhood is.

And your neighbors know you well.

>> Mario, what's up?

>> They seen your robe, your run, even your bathing suit.

>> (laughing) >> They also know your home turf stays open to the whole street.

So you stay out front.

We'll stay real-brewed.

And the world just might get a little golder.

Gold Peak real-brewed tea.

(shade rustles) (doorbell rings) >> (softly): Yes!