Hello and welcome to The Umami State of Mind. This is a place for passionate eaters, lovers of good food, people who travel for food, like to talk about food, or simply enjoy looking at food. You might find anything food-related that might inspire you to get cooking, eating out, or maybe simply try what you’ve hadn’t had before. Let me just share with you some foodie thoughts along the way.
I don’t know if this is an Asian thing, but it seems to me that almost everyone Asian is obsessed with food. As far as I’m concerned, I grew up in Germany, but at heart I enjoy the Asian mentality of food as a major socializing and recreational practice. There are streetfood markets everywhere, day and night!!! You can eat your way through around the clock. In China or Asia generally, the first thing you’re being asked is “have you eaten yet?”. Actually, this is a pointless question because after a meal is before a meal. So myself, I was born to Chinese-Vietnamese parents who had to flee their country and settled down in Germany where they started their businesses in…guess what…food. A major part of my family are making their living with food. They either run restaurants, Asian grocery stores, or are otherwise related to foods. Probably I was simply born into it…sort of with a (not silver) spoon in my mouth 😉 My surroundings and everyone in it are talking food and I’m glad about it, so I can always have someone to share my passion with.
I also like eating out a lot and as I move around I’m chasing down all the good food that I can find, whether low-budget hawker stall, streetfood, strange food or upscale dining, I don’t care as long as it tastes good.
In fact, my never-ending quest for good food also made me passionate about cooking myself. I remember all my friends being jealous about me and my siblings being able to eat in our family’s restaurants for free everyday, but who doesn’t love a good old home cooked meal. Surely, it wasn’t about the food that our chef made, it was and still is delicious, but a little variation is always welcome, isn’t it?
Good food makes for a good state of mind and as a food lover I’m always in for a nice treat wherever I go. I love traveling, cooking and enjoy looking for hidden gems and delicious delights. I’m also infatuated with spices and love to experiment with them in my dishes so I do try to get hold of anything I can find along my way. Great foods and good company are my umami ingredients to life and I’d be happy to welcome you to my culinary journey. Visit for recipes, restaurant reviews and many more!
Truong Nhu-Thi
born and raised in Nuernberg (Germany)
Friedrich-Alexander University Graduate