Staff + Student LoginWaikato Management students create Vietnamese hangi
29 September 2011
Hangi with a Vietnamese Twist: Waikato Management School Students Thang Nguyen and Daniel Nguyen plating up the Vietnamese hangi as part of the Education New Zealand Earth Food Competition.
Vietnamese inspired hangi kai got the thumbs up from Aucklanders and Rugby World Cup visitors when Waikato University Management School students took part in the fusion hangi competition held in Auckland’s Queen Street.
Teams from various tertiary institutions took part of the Education New Zealand promotion held to coincide with the World Cup.
Teams had to come up with recipes that used traditional hangi ingredients with an international twist.
The Waikato University team of Daniel Nguyen and Than Nguyen (friends, but not related) came up with pork and chicken recipes that proved popular with onlookers.
International student adviser Huy Vu accompanied the students to Auckland and says about 700 people watched the cook-off and the 80 portions created by each team were quickly devoured by appreciative onlookers including MC John Hawkesby.
“Our Hangi Boys didn’t win the competition, but if there’d been a second placing, I think we would’ve won that,” says Huy. The students cooked grilled chicken thighs with avocado cream, mango salsa, cabbage slaw, Umeshu vinaigrette and herb crouton, and pork belly with Vietnamese pickled slaw and lemongrass-scented broth.
Daniel Nguyen (who in another life has been a chef) is completing a Bachelor of Tourism (Hons) and Thang Nguyen is studying a Bachelor of Management Studies majoring in marketing and finance.
