Author Trang Moreland introduces Vietnamese cuisine
Trang and Jay Moreland with the cookbook of Trang’s recipes they have both been working to complete for the past three years.
Trang Moreland never thought she would write a cookbook. All that changed when her daughter Melissa moved to New York and began contacting her for recipes and cooking tips.
Moreland was surprised Melissa was still interested in eating well and cooking some of the Vietnamese and American dishes she had cooked for her at home.
“I am blessed to have both Vietnam and American food in my diet,” Moreland said. “People don’t usually have both worlds.”
In a message, Moreland expressed pleasure that her daughter had chosen to eat just like her mother.
“I am you,” came the reply from Melissa.
“I Am You” then became the title for the new cookbook.
The book is not just for Moreland and her husband’s children, which also includes son Rick.
“I want to share Vietnam cooking with the community,” Moreland said. “It has a lot of vegetables and rice. It’s very different.”
The author, who lives outside of Dennison, grew up in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States at the age of 21. She soon became a successful business owner. Her first book, “Just Smile and Say Hello,” published in 2017, told her story of growing up in Vietnam.
Though her cookbook won’t be released until March, preorders are available on her website. Moreland will present a program at the Dover Public Library on Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. to talk about the process of creating the book, and she will have food samples available. She also will be at Fresh the Market in New Philadelphia on March 2 with food samples. Other events highlighting the book are in the planning stages.
Moreland, with help from her husband Jay, began the long process of cooking, writing the recipes as she went and taking photos of the completed dishes.
“I spent three years. I wanted to be sure with the photos and recipes it would be easy to follow,” Moreland said. “The last six months, I did not take a day off.”
It was much more work than she anticipated. Each recipe was cooked multiple times to ensure the recipes could be made according to the directions she’d listed. Getting photos was a challenge too. Looking at photos later, if a dish didn’t look as good as it could have or the presentation or plating was off, then the dish needed to be cooked again so photos could be retaken.
Each recipe has a page of photos that include the finished dish and the ingredients you need to make it.
Some of the recipes in the book are chicken stir fry, bitter melon with egg, banh xeo (a Vietnamese crepe), sweet and salty pork chops, chicken fried rice, egg rolls with rice paper, rice soup with chicken and mushrooms, sweet rice with mung beans, crispy tofu, rice noodles with cabbage, chicken curry, and hamburger fried rice, her husband’s favorite.
Each recipe has notes from its background, like the chicken stir fry, which was a customer favorite from when Moreland operated Trang’s Family Restaurant in Bowerston for five years. She also includes optional ingredients and exchanges in some recipes.
“The recipes are homey,” Moreland said. “You can buy a few ingredients, and you can use them for all the recipes in the book.”
She has included a page of information on MSG, which she says faced unwarranted skepticism in the past and has been endorsed as safe for consumption. The compound is naturally occurring in tomatoes, cheese, mushrooms and other foods.
Moreland feels using MSG offers the added advantage of reducing sodium intake while increasing the savory flavor of meals.
In addition to finding many of the ingredients she needs at local grocery stores, the couple grows a large garden each summer, with a large container of lettuce placed right outside the kitchen door. She grows the melons that are used in the bitter melon with egg recipe.
Moreland has received much positive feedback on her recipes from those who have the task of taste testing. Comments include the following:
“Trang’s dishes bring me so much joy. Not only is her food absolutely delicious, but it is incredibly fresh and nutritious.”
“Trang’s cooking is definitely restaurant quality and a unique style of home cooking. Challenge yourself in the kitchen to try something new and you’re sure to be pleased with the results.”
The best part of writing the cookbook is Moreland’s husband Jay became a cook when she enlisted his help to make sure her recipe instructions would be easy to follow. He is now happy to pitch in on cooking duties at home, especially if his wife is coming home late.
“It’s the biggest benefit for me. I didn’t see it coming,” Moreland said.
Moreland is available for speaking engagements for groups. Email her at trangmmoreland@gmail.com. To preorder books, go to www.authortrangmoreland.com. She also is on Facebook at Trang Moreland-Author and Instagram at morelandtrang.