A set of miniature meal with rice, tofu and vegetables by Vietnamese chef Le Thanh Hieu. Photo courtesy of Le Thanh Hieu

The 31-year-old and his micro kitchen have become visitors on different television channels in both Japan and Vietnam. Meanwhile, his YouTube channel Miniature Hieu’s Kitchen has 224,000 subscribers, as well as more than 600,000 on TikTok.

Hieu was born in Quang Ngai Province but arrived in Japan in 2010 to study chemistry. After graduating, he worked in a confectionery company before becoming an IT engineer in Kanagawa Prefecture.

He has introduced his audience to Japanese food such as Oyakodon (chicken and egg bowl), Okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes) and Takoyaki (octopus balls,) or Vietnamese specialities such as banh chung (glutinous rice cake) and pho (rice noodle soup).

He has cooked more than one hundred dishes, which are about the size of a fingertip and require great labour and attention to detail.

"I fell in love with miniature food after watching a video of a Japanese woman. Her dishes were really special, cute and inspired me. With my cooking experience, I thought I could do it and I wanted to try to test my skills," Hieu told Việt Nam News.

"It is never easy when you begin doing something new. It was really hard for me to buy tiny kitchenware and ingredients."

Chef Le Thanh Hieu has cooked more than 120 tiny dishes in two years. Photo courtesy of Le Thanh Hieu

The kitchenware he needed is not found at supermarkets but at specialized stores. Sometimes, he has to produce items that he could not find himself.

Meanwhile, he hunted down many special ingredients from food providers for French cuisine and tried to grow several mini plants at home to serve his demands.

"I spent nearly two years to complete my kitchen space, and a lot of money buying a recording device, cookware and spices because the smaller they are, the more expensive they are," he said.

Hieu made the first dish of banh chung in December 2019, when the Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival was approaching and he wanted to introduce Vietnam's traditional dish to Japanese people.

After that, he made banh cuon (steamed rolled crepes), bitter melon soup and bun bo Hue (Hue-style beef and vermicelli soup).

Hieu not only cooks savoury dishes but also bakes many kinds of cakes as well as making different drinks and desserts. 

Le Thanh Hieu grows mini bitter melon to serve his cooking shows. Photo courtesy of Le Thanh Hieu

"It is really different cooking normal dishes compared to tiny ones. With such small cookware, tools, utensils and appliances, cooking is hard. Just a second of carelessness, and you will drop or break something and they are easy to disappear to nowhere," he said.

"Time and fire for cooking are also big issues. After a long time in this field, you get experience and know-how to adjust well. Last but not least is measuring ingredients, especially in baking. You have scales for baking normal size things, for tiny cake baking you can only measure with your eyes."

According to Hieu, no matter what food you cook, the important thing is technique. Cooks should research dishes before cooking so that they will produce the best food. Bun bo Hue without shrimp paste would be something else entirely, while fish to make sashimi must be deboned and carefully cleaned.

Mini dishes of spaghetti by chef Le Thanh Hieu. Photo courtesy of Le Thanh Hieu

"Before cooking a new or a difficult dish, I read a lot to know clearly its typical features. Sometimes I have to cook one dish several times to find the best version,” said Hieu, who spends up to four hours cooking and recording one or two times per week.

"To date, I have cooked more than 120 dishes, ranging from Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese, to Thai and Korean. The most difficult was Takoyaki because the balls were very tiny, around 5mm each. The cooking method was extremely hard to ensure of its flavour and taste."

His tiny eye-catching and delicious dishes have brought him a huge number of fans who wait to see his dishes every week, and hope to see him in person.

Le Thanh Hieu and his micro kitchen in Japan. Photo courtesy of Le Thanh Hieu

Hieu has been invited to talk about his kitchen and dishes on all of Japan's largest TV stations such as Asahi, NHK, TBS and Fuji, as well as VTV in Vietnam. 

"What he has done is incredible. It is great that he can do what he likes and it is much more wonderful because he maintains cooking activities regularly. If I have a chance I would like to see him cooking directly," said Kamiya Yoshie, a culinary expert who owns the Facebook page Gohan Daisuki (I Love Rice).

Meanwhile, cook Okazaki Takumi of Hanoi's Okachan Shokudo Restaurant wants to work in the same kitchen with Hieu, and both plan to take part in a cooking contest.

"Most of my fans are Japanese because I am living there and my videos have Japanese subtitles. In this country, people love and collect miniature things. There are some people who also cook tiny food like me, and then I think it is the reason why my channel is welcome," Hieu said.

"Being a guest of many local televisions is my honour. I think it is a good chance to introduce Vietnamese people, culture and cuisine to audiences in Japan and then in the world. I hope that my passion will be a small push and bring positive energy to people.

"In Vietnam, miniature food is still something new. It is a challenge but also a field with much potential."

Le Thanh Hieu introduces Vietnamese pho bo (noodle soup with beef) on his channels. Photo courtesy of Le Thanh Hieu

Japanese oyakodon (rice with chicken and egg toppings).

A real choux and its mini version.

Mini dumplings.

Delicious panacotta.

A pair of basket-shaped cakes with fresh fruit.

A fresh drink.

Le Thanh Hieu serve meals to his regular 'visitors' at the Miniature Hieu’s Kitchen. Photos courtesy of Le Thanh Hieu

Source: Vietnam News

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