How hurricane recovery shaped the Vietnamese food scene in Louisiana

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I’m standing near the water in Venice having one of the best meals of my life. No, not Venice, Italy; not even Venice, California. I’m in Venice, Louisiana, on the Mississippi Delta, 70 miles south of New Orleans. A gaggle of Vietnamese-American fishermen and I are congregating around a plus-sized metal pot of boiled, just-caught shrimp, each of us plucking a morsel from the scalding broth, twisting off the head, tossing the remnants into the water, then popping the tender meat in our mouths. The taste is a wonderful mix of salty, sweet, spicy, and savoury, as hints of lemongrass protrude on the back of my tongue. It’s classic Louisiana shrimp boil but with Vietnamese accents. “Wait,” I say, putting my hands in the air, broth dripping down my wrist. “You eat like this all the time?”

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