In the second installment of this SBS TV series acclaimed chef, Luke Nguyen, ventures deeper into the Greater Mekong region to discover the food cultures of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
Luke Nguyen is a chef and owner of Sydney’s award-winning Vietnamese restaurants, Red Lantern and Red Lantern on Riley. He is also a bestselling author.
Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam Series 1, Series 2 and Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong are also available on DVD.
This series not only has mouthwatering recipes, but also offers a great travel experience for the viewer. I personally enjoyed how I was taken on a journey across these South Asian countries just in the comforts of my living room! I also enjoyed how Luke chose some odd locations to demonstrate his cooking in the series, it was very entertaining to watch him try and cook and defy Mother Nature. In one of the episodes, Luke sets up his cooking station (portable gas stove) right at the beach when the tide was actually coming in, so Luke frantically tries to finish cooking his dish before the tide got too high! It was very funny, he got soaked and water was splashing onto his ingredients!
Luke overall is a very entertaining presenter and I really enjoyed watching every episode of the series. I loved how he made his dishes seem so easy to cook (and yes they were pretty easy!) but with a great range of amazing ingredients which makes those amazing flavoursome dishes Luke is famous for.
Luke begins his culinary journey in Laos’ capital city, Vientiane, with its bounty of hidden foodie gems. He then journeys north to Laos’ ‘food capital’, Luang Prabang, before travelling south to the fishing mecca, the 4000 Islands. Luke crosses the Mekong River into Cambodia, beginning in the ancient city of Siem Reap, where locals teach him how to cook traditional Khmer dishes. He then travels south to the bustling capital, Phnom Penh, where he gets a new take on street food. Heading further south, Luke explores the seaside towns of Kep and Kampot, famous for their crab and pepper. Finally, Luke returns to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. He seeks out the foodie wonders of border town, Chau Doc. He cooks with his parents on a houseboat in Cai Be, and explores the coconut islands of Ben Tre.
Presenting the best in local and international cuisines, SBS is home to a who’s who of the food scene – along with Peter Kuruvita, Maeve O’Meara, Tetsuya, Matthew Evans, Adriano Zumbo and many more, Luke Nguyen is just one of the SBS chefs and personalities whose great shows are available on DVD.
Visit www.madman.com.au/sbsfood to see the entire SBS Food DVD range and enter the competition to win the entire collection of 34 DVDs!!
DVDs are available at Dymocks and Sanity stores nationwide (RRP $29.95).
Giveaway: I have 15 x DVD packs consisting of Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong Series 1 & Series 2 to giveaway to 15 lucky readers! All you have to do is tell me:
“Why would you like to have Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong 1 & 2?”
So what are you waiting for? Leave a comment and don’t forget to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win! Please submit all entries for this giveaway before the 31st of March 2013.
Kimba's Living 
I've always wanted to travel across Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia! But since it's easier said than done, watching Luke Nguyen's Greater Mekong 1 & 2 would give me a sneak peek of the experience.. plus I love Luke and Vietnamese food! – Leah (you have my email address, lol)
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I've always been intrigued by the cuisine of Southeast Asia and would love to learn how to make some of those incredible dishes. This sounds amazing!
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Have always wanted to travel through Vietnam and enjoyed watch Luke's episodes on TV and felt like I was experiencing it myself! Sarina.Birchwood@qbe.com
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Love Vietnam -the people and the food. We have had the privilege of travelling some of the Mekong River so feel a great connection to the places Luke visits.
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Watching Luke gives me inspiration to cook something different, healthy and fun instead of the same old stuff each night
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Travel is all about food. The Luke Nguyen pack combines both. Such a brilliant way to explore and work up a list of places to try to visit 🙂
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His Red Lantern restaurant is hard to get a table so next best thing is to watch him and try to replicate his flair with cooking great Asian dishes
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I love Luke's travel series, they are so amazing to look at and I love how he opens up my eyes to foods I wouldn't ordinarily consider eating.
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I love Asian cooking but I'm not very good at getting it to taste just right. I'd love some DVD's to help me learn some tips!
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I LOVE LUKE NGUYEN!!!! I NEEEEED THIS BOX SET PLEEEEEASE!!!!!! Sam
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Our family of five had our taste buds come alive when we recently started watching Luke Nguyen. My husband writes down the ingredients, I write down the method and the kids say “when are you cooking?”Sharon
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Id love to win these DVDs as I've only recently started watching Luke's shows! I am a HUGE fan of Asian cuisine and would love the opportunity to learn to cook more of it. Susan Susandeanhay@yahoo.com.au
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I would love these DVDs as I don't eat much Vietnamese food and my boyfriend is a Vietnamese so they will be good for me to have a better understanding (and hopefully learn to make more) of Vietnamese cuisine. sw_shiyi90@yahoo.com
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It would be nice to have one of his DVDs. My sister loves good Vietnamese food and cuisines from regions surrounding Vietnam. Unfortunately, I don't make superb Vietnamese food so it would be nice to learn more about it from his DVDs.
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Its a style of cooking that has always intersted me and this would get me on the right
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Hubby loves to cook and has been thinking of expanding into Vietnamese food. I LOVE Vietnamese food so this DVD would be a great way to 'encourage' his foray into my favourite food!
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My email address is kmmp.mail AT gmail.com
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Hy there the DVDs sound fantastic. It would be great to have them to watch together with my girlfriend, we have both been to Vietnam previously (before we met each other) and it would be fantastic to get to sit down and watch these and make some Vietnamese memories of our own if we could learn to cook the recipes. We both love Vietnamese food in fact we had beef pho bo last night it was delicous 🙂 I would also love to learn the differences of cultural Vietnam, I have only been to the northern part so to learn more about the southern region with these DVDs would be great for that too.Anway if I win, my email is wordchef5000@gmail.com . Hopefully thanks for the prize I would love it but either way thanks for the awesome blog it's always an enjoyable read :)Have a nice dayMatt
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I'd love to travel to SE Asia, and this would get me in the mood for planning a trip there!desdrata [at] hotmail.com
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Having been a tight-budget international student who always loves to cook and share with others, Luke's recipes are easy, simple, fresh, nutritious, economical and never fail to impress. They always bring a satisfying smile (I am always rubbing my tummy after a good meal) and relief (never out of my budget) to me. If I could get his DVDs I could boost my cooking skills to the next level.tnsource[at]gmail.com
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Luke Nguyen is another culinary genius. I would love to win his DVDs and make my cooking better. My email is cerepheal AT gmail.com
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It's my 'Laos' if I miss out on these great dvds, as I want to 'Luke' and learn from such a great chef!Roberto Colombibertc@selc.com.au
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A 'Phnom'enal set of dvds that I'd love to 'Penh' the recipes from!Marie Pohnetalovamariep200381@yahoo.com.au
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My dinners are all wrong, I want inspiration from Mekong!Emma Pstarbabe1927@gmail.com
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I loved the food when I visited Vietnam so it would be great to recreate some of it at home.
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So desperately needing a getaway to eat sumptuous Asian meals but so little time. The closest I'll get is making master Luke Nguyen's dinners for the time being. If only I *knew* how to make them… ;)Elisasnowflake.ndc(at)gmail.com
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If I can't get there to taste the wonderful foods I would love to be able to see it instead! And because I want to be able to see Luke Nguyen on demand! loocy_luu@hotmail.com
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I'd absolutely LOVE to win a Luke Nguyens DVD pack! Each Tuesday night is 'Foreign Meal' night at my house, where I cook something that no one has ever eaten before – usually from another country.Inspiration is starting to dry up, and I can't remember many of the meals that Luke created while I watched the TV series. Hopefully the DVD will jog my memory and let me make marvellous and mysterious meals!James Thompsonjamesthommo_comp[at]yahoo.com.au
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I hate Luke Nguyen, I wish animals would rise up and cook him using the cruel methods I've seen this malicious prick use on his show.
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To be able to experience cooking around the world without leaving the lounge would be the perfect way to spend my maternity leave!
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His shows always make me hungry. Would love to try his fresh approach to asian cooking. thanks for that chance .
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I want to cook my own Vietnamese at home – it's easier than travelling to Cabramatta each time I have a Viet craving.
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A fantastic series from a great chef that cooks wonderful healthy food. Love to see the more uncommon places that we don’t usually see in cooking shows.
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I fell in love with Vietnamese cuisine and the beautiful Vietnamese people on a trip there last year. Would love to develop this food passion!corinne.leslie@gmail.com
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Because it would be so inspiring!
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My favourite foods are Vietnamese and Thai but while I love cooking I haven't mastered either of these types of dishes yet. (Makes it easier to insist on take away this way!) But if I won the DVDs I would then take the plunge and invest in the necessary sauces, herbs and spices.
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I've been to Red Lantern and ADORE every dish and ever since I have been buying his cook books and practising his recipes. (not the same.. but I'am getting there)I would love to experience his travels and new foods.
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These look fantastic i love cooking foreign dishes and i find alot easier to follow for new recipes than just a recipe from a book or online page and luke nguyen always makes his recipes/dishes look so inviting and simple to follow, i also love seeing his travels and the places he visits from his point of veiw.operationhotmother@hellokitty.com
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To enjoy the wonders of Asia and the wonderful food and culture of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.
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