Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey – BBC2/BBC HD 8pm

Jane Simon | Mirror.co.uk | 23/07/2009

Tonight, in Vietnam, seeing the fish farms under the floating houses along the Mekong River, his first guilty thought is of the Russian roulette scene from The Deer Hunter. And although he’s got a translator, there are some communication problems even when he’s speaking English.

In the market, shopping for ingredients for the local soup called Pho, he actually says at one point: “We need four for four phos.” (I think). And he also picks up a new recipe of which he says: “If you cook just one dish from this series – make it this one.”

Stock up on fish sauce now.

Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey – BBC2/BBC HD, 8pm

Jane Simon | Mirror.co.uk | 16/07/2009

Become a chef – see the world. That could be Rick Stein’s motto as he nibbles his way around Cambodia tonight and then slips down the Mekong River to Vietnam on his latest exotic jolly.

Food-mad to a fault, the introduction to this new series sounds suspiciously like a Mitchell and Webb sketch. “I’m here to discover not just the food,” Stein promises, “but what makes places like Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam tick. What’s so special about Bali, Sri Lanka, Malaysia or Bangladesh? Well – the food of course. But beyond that it’s the people. People talking about food…”

With this suitably one-track mind, Stein enthuses tonight about mini mangoes, curry paste, fresh crabs and peppercorns and discovers that Cambodia’s French colonial past lives on in the shape of the baguette.

Every week he’ll also be finding recipes you can create in your own kitchen – but be warned, tonight’s taste sensation is a raw beef salad.