I remarked that in Việt Nam, there was always something about a male chef busy digging into a vat of mì hoành thánh with a cigarette dangling between his lips that inspired my confidence. Mr. Sơn told me I was not alone in that. “I don’t know why, but it’s usually men who cook mì hoành thánh,” he said. “It seems to be more suited to men cooking it for some reason. Customers expect to see a man at a mì hoành thánh stall.” Just as I have never seen a man serve bánh cuốn, I think it would surprise and unsettle me to see a man slopping out the flimsy rice pancakes, not that it should.
