Food and Chef Nini Nguyen’s hometown of New Orleans are synonymous. Nini has witnessed this firsthand as people flock from every corner of the world to revel in the Creole and Cajun cuisine that’s deeply engrained in her hometown. But there’s another side to her city’s beloved food scene that she wants to share—a side she came to know during her early childhood. Some of the fondest memories Nini has of growing up in the Crescent City are the days spent visiting the Asian markets with her grandmother in New Orleans East and seeing their community’s Asian influence on display.
“This was way before farmers’ markets were cool,” Nini says. “But these markets are probably exactly like you’d think. I remember walking around in awe, seeing fish on piles of ice and
