A bowl of rice with crab soup brings 'Mother's Cuisine' to the world

In an old tiled house in Phu Binh district, the mountainous province of Thai Nguyen, the owner of the YouTube channel Am Thuc Me Lam - Dong Van Hung (27 years old) reads to his mother - Mrs. Duong Thi Cuong (59 years old) the long comments of viewers. "Watching videos of the Am Thuc Me Lam channel, I feel like my hometown is appearing before my eyes. The dishes of stir-fried crab with betel leaves, crab soup with sweet potato leaves, squash, stir-fried water spinach, fried field shrimp... are associated with my childhood", a comment from a Vietnamese living abroad in Europe. For more than 4 years, Mrs. Cuong and Hung have always relied on the affection of viewers from all over the world to make efforts to develop the channel. The origin of Am Thuc Me Lam is simply a story reminding children living far away to remember their mothers, about meals at home. However, things that come from the heart often touch the heart. Mother's cuisine is no longer limited to family stories but contributes to promoting Vietnamese cuisine to the world. Anyone who is far from home is homesick, missing their mother waiting at the door. Dong Van Hung also has that feeling when he goes to work far away. The Thai Nguyen boy's feelings of nostalgia are also mixed with worry. Because Mrs. Cuong, Hung's mother, stays home alone. Hung was born into poverty, Mrs. Cuong raised her son with vegetables from the garden and fish caught in the fields. The meals of the mother and son sometimes only consisted of boiled vegetables with fish sauce. "Occasionally, my mother and I could eat an egg or a chicken. The main meals were vegetables grown by ourselves, the best was catching crabs and snails to cook in a pot of soup. Hung liked the crab soup his mother cooked the most," Mrs. Cuong said.

Hung went to school, everything was not as complete as his friends. He was sad but understood the situation of a mother and a child, did not get angry or blame his mother. He loved his mother, took the initiative to help with housework and farming. Just like his mother's wish of "having a child to keep her company", Hung could confide in his mother all his joys and sorrows. The older he got, the more Hung resembled his mother in his simplicity and gentleness. Even his slow, calm, and quiet way of working was not unlike Mrs. Cuong's. Loving his mother, Hung did not go to university but chose to work and earn money in Bac Ninh. When her son was away from home, Mrs. Cuong took care of the farming alone, and ate alone. After lovingly blaming the dogs, she turned to talk to the chickens. In the afternoon, she put her hoe on the porch and quickly cooked dinner. The poor meal was now even more desolate, she felt uneasy in every corner she sat in. Hearing the dogs barking, she picked up her bowl of rice, went to the door and waited...

Hung went to work for a few days and excitedly called his mother to ask about her. Hearing her son say, “Mom, working at the company gives you delicious food,” Mrs. Cuong just kept quiet. Mrs. Cuong was not angry but only felt sorry for her son who had not had a full meal for more than 18 years. Every day, he only had a few simple, plain dishes. The company's meals had many dishes and changed frequently. So, of course, Hung was happy.

However, no one loves their children as much as their mother, and delicacies are not as good as a bowl of white rice with soup cooked by their mother. “At first, I found the company's meals delicious, but gradually I got bored and missed home-cooked meals more. The meals my mother cooked are still the best in the world,” Hung confided. Hung remembers his mother's crab soup the most. Hung said: “Maybe because I ate it since I was little, I found my mother's crab soup seasoned just right. I remember the meals with my mother and grandmother, the three of us gathered together, picking up vegetables and fish for each other. After my grandmother passed away, there were only two of us. The meals were simple but warm. Whatever was delicious, my mother would give it to me.” Every time Hung returned home, his mother "treated" him to the most delicious crab soup in the world. Hung slowly poured the soup into a bowl of fragrant white rice. After working as a factory worker, Hung switched to being a photographer. He went to Hanoi to make a living, worrying about his mother's meals alone. In February 2019, Hung started creating content on YouTube. He tried it with his mother's crab soup. While visiting home, Hung asked his mother to go to the garden to pick vegetables to cook crab soup, so he could film it and make a video. Mrs. Cuong thought her son was filming it for fun, as a souvenir. She didn't expect Hung to post the video of her cooking the soup on YouTube.

At that time, social media platforms were not lacking in dirty content, attracting views, disregarding moral values ​​to make money. Hung had not thought about making money with YouTube, and did not want to use his mother's image to attract views. He just wanted his videos to remind children far from home to remember family meals and visit their parents more often. The video of Mrs. Cuong going to the garden to pick sweet potatoes and catch crabs to cook soup was rustic and peaceful, quickly attracting viewers. The first video had more than 20,000 views after only about 5 days of posting. Hung recalled: "The channel only had about 200 subscribers, but the number of views far exceeded that number. I shared the first video on my personal Facebook, without using channel-attracting tricks to increase views. The views that the video got all came very naturally. Perhaps, it touched the emotions and nostalgia of many people." Because he did not intend to make money from YouTube, Hung still maintained his photography job in Hanoi. Occasionally, Hung would return home and film his mother working in the fields and cooking. Surprisingly, after 3 months, Hung's channel "Mother's Cuisine" had 100,000 subscribers. This motivated Hung to return to Thai Nguyen and develop the channel with his mother. As for Mrs. Cuong, when she learned that her son had posted the video online, she was shy and did not want to continue filming. However, Hung encouraged her: "Mom looks very beautiful on screen. Everyone compliments her on her beauty and kindness." Young people in the village also complimented Mrs. Cuong on how beautiful she looks on screen and enjoyed watching the channel's videos. Thanks to that, she became more confident and continued doing her daily farm work, honestly, without acting.

People in the village gradually got used to the image of Mrs. Cuong going to the field with her son carrying a camera behind her. The mother worked quietly, while the son fumbled to adjust the camera, looking for a good angle. After more than 4 years, Mrs. Cuong gradually got used to appearing in front of the camera, no longer shy like the early days. However, the rustic nature and hard-working appearance of a mother in the countryside remained unchanged. Mrs. Cuong smiled and shared: “Now, the two of us work more harmoniously. Before, I was not used to it, and my son made me do the same thing over and over again, which was also annoying. When I wasn't filming, I cooked faster, but when I was filming, I had to do it slowly, carefully, and it took a lot of time. Sometimes, in the hot summer, I was tired and frustrated. Seeing that, Hung encouraged me to try harder and complete the videos more carefully.” In each video, Mrs. Cuong also recalled memories of her youth. Those were stories that she had experienced. A difficult and arduous time, but contained lessons on being a human being.

Mrs. Cuong's life, which was sad and lonely for many years, is now happier thanks to her children and grandchildren and the love of viewers from all over.

Since Hung got married, the cooking videos on the channel Am Thuc Me Lam have not only included Mrs. Cuong but also her daughter-in-law and grandchild. She smiles more and enjoys her food more. Her joy is genuine and contagious, making viewers happy too. Mrs. Cuong reads the comments of young viewers with the heart of a mother. She is moved when many young people comment that "seeing the channel's meals makes me miss my mother". Many people even call and say "you look so much like my mother", making her cry.

Famous, Mrs. Cuong and Hung are still simple in the way they dress and speak. She confided: “My personality has always been the same, nothing has changed. It's just that now I feel happier and more excited. I'm still a country person, I still go to the fields to plow every day”. Hung, like his mother, does not chase after money, does not take advantage of his fame to make a lot of videos. He takes care of every step, filming each stage according to reality, so it takes a lot of time. Waiting has become a habit, the audience of the channel Am Thuc Me Lam is always eager, when there is a new video, they immediately watch it. Every month, Hung only posts about 2-3 videos, sometimes only 1 video every two months. After 1 year of development, the channel Am Thuc Me Lam is not only loved by domestic viewers but also has many followers from viewers around the world. In early 2021, the video of Mom wrapping Chung cake and making a traditional New Year's Eve meal of the channel was introduced on the YouTube Fanpage with nearly 100 million followers. Mrs. Cuong and Hung were overwhelmed with emotions, joy and pride. This turning point contributed to changing the thinking and development goals of the Thai Nguyen boy's channel.

Dong Van Hung shared: “The honor of appearing on the YouTube Fanpage was a coincidence, not within my expectations. At first, my mother and I only wanted to introduce family dishes but were supported by everyone, including many foreigners. That coincidence unintentionally contributed to promoting Vietnamese cuisine. From then on, I began to realize the responsibility of promoting the country's culture, tourism, and cuisine to the world. I came up with ideas, aiming for more unique content, both spreading family values ​​and contributing to introducing a beautiful, hospitable Vietnam”. With positive contributions and creativity, the YouTube channel Am Thuc Me Lam is considered the number 1 YouTube channel in Vietnam, conveying messages about the beauty of culture, traditional cuisine, family love, and images of Vietnamese people to friends at home and abroad. Currently, the channel has reached more than 1 million followers on YouTube, won the YouTube gold button and more than 700,000 followers on Facebook, more than 200,000 followers on TikTok... In 2020, the channel was selected by YouTube as the representative of Vietnam to compete in the YouTube FanFest program worldwide. Dong Van Hung was honored to receive a certificate of merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for his outstanding achievements in the emulation movement "Thai Nguyen promotes digital transformation program" in 2021. In the same year, Hung was awarded a certificate of merit "Promising young face of Thai Nguyen" by the Provincial Youth Union Executive Committee. Recently, Dong Van Hung continued to be honored as "Advanced youth following Uncle Ho's teachings" of the province. Hung said that the leaders of Thai Nguyen province regularly encourage and motivate Hung to develop the channel Am thuc me lam, contributing to promoting the beauty of his hometown in particular and Vietnam in general.

Receiving timely encouragement, Hung and his mother were excited and came up with many new ideas. Mrs. Cuong sincerely confided: "I thank everyone. My mother and I are loved by everyone, so we are gradually getting better, not suffering like before." Continuing his mother's words, Hung revealed that he is expanding the promotion of the country's culture and tourism by taking his mother on trips. During the family's trips, Hung filmed Mrs. Cuong tasting specialties, learning about cuisine and experiencing local culture. Hung hopes that the trips with all members, combining work and nurturing family affection will last forever. Design: Hoang Cuc Photo: Provided by the character

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