Lê Văn Tư

What he does each day

Lê Văn Tư is the fire keeper at Bếp Rơm. He has grilled snakehead since he was young, and at Bếp Rơm he works the fire counter facing the yard, where 8 seats let guests watch the grill.

Before opening he builds the wood into red coals and stacks dry straw on a rack beside the counter. Straw catches quickly, so he never leaves the fire: each snakehead of about 800 g lies in burning straw for around 18 minutes, he turns it once, then brushes off the ash. For guests at the counter he peels the scales in front of them; at ordinary tables the scales are already peeled when the fish goes out.

Besides the fish he keeps the wood fire for the grilled free-range chicken, the prawns and the mushrooms in The grill.

Dishes he is responsible for

Cá lóc nướng trui (snakehead grilled whole in burning straw) and the grilled chicken. He wrote how one fish travels from pond to table, the six stations of one fish. What he tells is how our kitchen works, not a claim about the craft in general. There is more on the story page.

This profile is a fictional character on a demo site.