MASTERCLASS

This refreshing and good-for-you drink is surprisingly easy to brew at home.

Kombucha.

Kombucha is a probiotic drink made from sweetened tea fermented with bacteria and yeast – commonly known as a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). It’s fizzy and slightly tart thanks to the same natural processes used to make sourdough and kefir. Readymade kombuchas have proliferated in recent years, but brewing your own is rewarding, economical and easy. More importantly, it will taste more vibrant than mass-produced kombucha, courtesy of the gentle aromas of tea and the final addition of fresh fruit, citrus and herbs tailored to your personal taste.

The sound of batter hitting a hot pan gives bánh xèo, translating to “sizzling cake”, its name. Almost like a crisp, savoury pancake, bánh xèo are a Vietnamese favourite. They’re made from a turmeric-tinted batter, which is usually filled with pork and prawn; the size and style in which they’re cooked, however, changes from region to region.

“In central Vietnam they’re tiny, they’re like the size of a taco, and as you go further south they get bigger and bigger,” says Cuong Nguyen, chef-owner at Sydney’s Hello Auntie.

Here, we pull apart a larger-than-life bánh xèo from Hello Auntie, based on a southern-style recipe Nguyen’s mum used to make for him.