VIETNAMESE CUISINE IN ANIMATION “LINH”

IF YOU HAVE WATCHED LINH: MAGIC POWDER, YOU MUST HAVE WONDERED ABOUT THE CUISINE IN THE FILM. HERE ARE SOME INSIGHTS FOR YOU TO EXPLORE. IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE FILM, PLEASE ENJOY IT HERE.

VIETNAMESE CUISINE IS MORE THAN JUST PHO AND BANH MI

Vietnamese cuisine is cleverly integrated into the animation. As a natural reflex, when we asked which dish to put on the film, the Director immediately said "Let's make fish vermicelli soup". At first, the whole team was quite hesitant, but the more we were involved in the project, the more this choice made sense. The dish sells itself with a large, white and delicious piece of fish which will surely create a culinary impression for the movie. Besides, this is also one of the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine. In fact, the traditional Vietnamese food besides pho must also include bun (rice vermicelli). The soft rice vermicelli with mildly sweet broth have trembled the hearts of so many passionate food lovers. Authors Dan Tham and Karina Tsui once admired that Vietnamese vermicelli soup is as charming as a jazz song.

From sketch…

To “reality”…

Fish vermicelli soup is also a culinary quintessence of Vietnam. Each region has different cooking methods, but they are all delicious no matter how. The fish vermicelli soup in our film has familiar ingredients of Southern sour & sweet fish soups, placed on a simple stainless steel tray, yet still looks incredibly appetizing. To have a “final” bowl of fish vermicelli soup, it took us several months with a series of different versions. From the gorgeous, vibrant drawings, we finally chose the basic yet extremely eye-catching version.

Read more articles about Vietnamese fish vermicelli here.

MAGIC POWDER

You must be very curious, right? Just sprinkle this powder on any dish and it will become vibrant and delicious.

Magic powder is not totally strange but is inspired by the "miracle" kitchen corner of Vietnamese people. Regardless of the region, most Vietnamese people cook with lots of spices. One of the indispensable things is seasoning powder. However, this famous Magic Powder is one of the research works of Blue Ghost and Uncle Pig Chef. No one can know for sure the exact formula.

The director told us that when he went abroad for the first time, he visited a Vietnamese friend who treated him with home-made stir-fried beef with onions. The most interesting thing about his recipe is the seasoning powder. He put the seasoning powder "generously", saying that this is his indispensable ingredient.

A foreign director was also curious about the reason why we still need this powder if the dish was already delicious? If he lived in Vietnam, he would understand right away.

Well, now you know that our inspiration to build this animated world is just that simple and familiar.

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Leo DINH