Cho Lon’s Lemongrass Chilli Chicken

WHEN I WAS TEN YEARS OLD, A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD BOY NAMED DUNG CAME TO LIVE WITH US IN SYDNEY. HE WAS MY SECOND COUSIN ON MY MOTHER’S SIDE. HE CAME FROM VIETNAM ALL ALONE, SPOKE NO ENGLISH, VERY LITTLE VIETNAMESE, BUT WAS FLUENT IN MANDARIN. DUNG AND HIS FAMILY GREW UP IN SAIGON’S CHINATOWN, ‘CHO LON’. WHEN I WAS IN SAIGON, I TRACKED DOWN DUNG’S FAMILY AND WENT TO VISIT THEM. AS I ENTERED THE STREETS OF CHINATOWN – THE AIR SCENTED WITH THE RICH AROMA OF CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE, THE LANES