Cong Giap (from Nghe An) and his coworker Son Thach are two members of the QuangLinh Vlogs Team who have lived and worked for many years in Angola.

Apart from assisting locals in agricultural cultivation, they regularly cook dishes to introduce Vietnamese cuisine to local residents, such as do xao me ga (stir-fried chicken gizzard and green beans), nom tai heo (pig's ear salad), thit lon quay (roast pork), com ga (chicken rice), bun thit nuong (grilled pork and vermicelli), and banh my sot vang (Vietnamese beef stew baguette).

In a video uploaded to a YouTube channel with over 630,000 followers, Cong Giap and Son Thach can be seen going to a farm in Maiala village to cook a popular Vietnamese dish, grilled pork vermicelli, for locals.

Son Thach, who has many years of cooking experience, worked as the chef. He sliced the meat and marinated it with seasonings similar to those in Vietnam, such as onion, pepper, salt, and five-spice powder.

After waiting for the meat to be absorbed with the spices, Giap, together with the village leader’s secretary (an Angolan), started placing the meat on skewers for charcoal grilling. Son Thach also began to prepare the dipping sauce, the vermicelli, and fresh herbs.

While grilling meat, Giap introduced the dish to the village leader’s secretary, instructing him how to prepare it in the best way.

The secretary was surprised at the elaborate preparation, and noted, with some emotion, that it was "the first time eating such delicious food."

“The dish is so aromatic, sir. We've never seen anything like it. There's no meat to eat. People just go to the forest, and they eat whatever they find," the Angolan secretary told Giap.

After finishing grilling, they set up a table and invited the locals working at the farm to enjoy it.

Besides hot grilled pork, Giap and Thach prepared sweet and sour fish sauce with sliced carrots, papaya, and some fresh herbs available at the farm.

“Grilled pork suits the eating habits of the locals. They prefer vermicelli mixed with ingredients like this to noodle soup. I think this grilled pork vermicelli will suit them,” he added.

During the meal, the Vietnamese man asked everyone for their thoughts on the dish.

An Angolan man said it was very delicious. “I have never eaten meat before. It’s the first time that a Vietnamese person has cooked such a delicious dish for me,” he said.

Thao Trinh