 Hi, I'm Luke Nguyen. Now to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australia and Vietnam's diplomatic relations, I'll be embarking on a culinary journey through Vietnam. I'll be meeting up with inspiring Australians, eating delicious regional Vietnamese foods, and I'll also be cooking with some premium Australian prodges. I've just arrived to Bac Lieu, a province in the Mekong Delta region in the south of Vietnam. It's full of cultural treasures here, surrounded by beautiful landscape, lush green rice paddy fields, and an intricate river system. I'm about to cross over the magnificent Mekong Bridge, built by both Vietnam and Australia in May 2000. Now, it was the very first bridge built over the mighty Mekong River down there, and it links Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong River Delta region, which improves the lives of millions and millions of people. Now, this bridge has become a great symbol of collaboration and friendship between Vietnam and Australia. I'll be discovering real hidden gems, and I'll be visiting one of the most innovative and sustainable prawn farms in all of the world. I'm at the largest, most sustainable and technologically advanced prawn farms in all of Vietnam. Now, the company is called Viet Op, Viet for Vietnam, and Op, meaning Australia, as the company works really closely with CSIRO in Australia to ensure that the most premium and the healthiest prawns are produced right here and exported to the world. Now, I'm really interested to see how it's all done, so let's go take a look. Hello. Hello. I'm Luke. Very clean. Yeah, yeah. Does this affect our booths as well? Oh, wow. How big are the prawns when they begin here? How big are they? It's a 1 gram. 1 gram? It'll seem like it's okay. They're here for 70 days? Yeah. So at the end of 70 days? 22. 22 grams? Yeah, yeah. We have a water treatment outside. So the water comes from the ocean? Yeah, yeah. It comes to the ocean and goes through the system for testing our Japanese soil. Then you pour into this empty bucket of water. Yeah. Just the water alone, it goes through all those stages to ensure clean, safe water for the prawns. Yeah. Amazing. And look. Whoa. Look at them. 17 grams already. So this is 17 grams already? Yeah, yeah. Look at the translucent skin on that. Oh, my God. You can see straight through it. What kind of prawn is it? Tom hae. Tom hae. I think in English it's called the white-legged shrimp. Now, my prawn have a good life. Now the water is treated so it's super clean. Yeah. There's no antibiotics used in any of this. No antibiotics in the whole life. In the whole life cycle, no antibiotics as well. Yeah. Mr. Tate, these prawns are raised to 22 grams. Yeah, yeah. What's your largest prawn at middle? We have 33 grams. Oh, wow. Big ones? Yeah, in the different units in our model. Wow. Beautiful. Big, deep prawns. We try to use different models to compare and find out which one is the best. So, Auntie, the previous prawns, the smaller prawns, so they're there for 70 days. Yeah. How long are these larger ones here for? 100 days already. Oh, so 100 days, they get time to grow bigger. Whoa. Look at that. Oh my gosh, they are big and really strong. That looks like the perfect prawn. Oh, this is really lovely. When they've reached 32 grams, they get transported to the processing plant and then it's done. Within 24 hours, it's complete. Yeah. And then shipped to the world. That's amazing. So, these prawns are antibiotic-free, disease-free. Yeah. Mr. Tate, can I get a job at you? Can you give me a job here? Welcome. Now, the prawns in the basket there, how do they get harvested? You can get it and fill. Yeah. Me go inside? Yeah, have to go inside. Really? Are you going in? No, no, no. Beautiful red-tipped town. They're white legs, unbelievable. Oh, more. The texture is so firm, so fresh. You can't get fresher than this. Straight from the fresh waters of Buckleil. Love it. Now, I'll follow the tractor here. It's the processing plant of it. Where I'm going to meet the general manager, he's going to show me how it all works inside. Hello. Hello. Vietnam possesses cutting-edge prawn producing technology in Vietnam and the world. The prawns undergo a meticulous process, harvested directly from the farm. They're transported to the production facility, pre-washed and scanned. Now, their scanning system precisely categorizes the prawns based on their weight and size, ensuring stringent quality control from farm to factory. This technology represents a pinnacle in prawn production, guaranteeing exceptional standards in every stage of the process, setting a benchmark in the industry. These prawns have been steamed and straight into the ice bath, so they're really vibrant in color and incredibly fresh. They were amazingly textured and firm raw. Yeah. These are so sweet, so beautiful. Yes. They're the perfect prawn. I'm now off to meet the chairman, Mr Luang Tan Van, and cook one of my favorite southern Vietnamese dishes, banh xeo, a crisp rice-flour crepe filled with bitter prawns, pork and mung beans. Now, Mr Van, thank you so much for that experience at Vietnam. It was amazing. Now, I'm going to put in your prawns in here. I'll put it into it for you. Stir-fry that a little bit. I'm going to put some of this in as well. There you go. And some pork. So, we have a rice batter here of freshly squeezed coconut milk with turmeric and also some spring onion and some rice flour. There, like that. And then one more, just like that. Okay. Very good. And then around there. Yeah. So good. Yours looks so good. Yours looks perfect. I've got some mung bean. Mung bean. Mung bean goes in. I need mung bean, okay? I've got a customer here saying, put more mung bean in. Okay, a lot of mung bean. Yeah, yeah. Nice, sweet onions go in there. Now, this can slowly cook. Mung bean. Angle the pan to the heat. Just so it cooks evenly. Now, Mr. Van, what was your inspiration and your ambition when you set up a big old company? After 23 years of Vietnam War, what has been the cold values and the principles of Vietnam War? Where do you see Vietnam War in the future? And what role does Vietnam War play in the prawn agriculture industry in Vietnam? Yeah. I'm a three-year-old. Very good. Nice and crispy. Look at those beautiful prawns popping out. So now I'm just gonna lift it like that, lift it in half, fold it. See that? Beautiful. Wow, that looks good. Now we're gonna try to pick it up. Oh, look at that. Nice and crispy. Now, if you look at the inside, you have your wonderful bit au prawn with the bean sprout. Now, let's go take this to the table and enjoy it together. Yes, this is my wife. Oh, Tiao Ji. Tiao Em. I think behind every great man, there is a greater woman. Right? Thank you. I'm sure, I'm sure. So this is quintessential Vietnamese right now. Fresh herbs, crispy, textual bun cell with bit au prawns. And this is what makes Vietnamese food so much loved around the world, because it's so healthy, all right? I mean, apart from all the oil in the bun cell, this is healthy. I love all the hikimab, bean sprout. So, we have a nice big bowl of nuoc chum here with pickled vegetables. You dunk the bun cell inside and enjoy it. Yeah. Rucka yong. Rucka ngoc. Super delicious. The pepperyness of the, you know, the mustard green. It's a bit spicy. When the water comes in, it's so sweet. The shrimp is made in a very different quality. Because we make it in the mountain. From the mountain to the mountain, it's very thick. Because when the water comes in, it starts to process. So the shrimp is still fresh. Super fresh. It's been 20 years since the start of the Vietnamese company. The manufacturing industry, everything, everything goes first. How many people work in Australia? More than 2,000 people. 2,000 people, wow, that's a lot. In the group, there are some companies. In some provinces, because there are many provinces in the North and South, there are companies that are 100% successful today. And the technical staff, or the staff in there, are 100% successful. Wow. That's the program that I want to emphasize to my staff. To be able to work for a long time. Thank you both for the great work you're doing in Vietnam for our people. Thank you. It's been such a great experience at Vietnam. Walking through the entire farming and production process, and sampling the most premium prawns in the country. I've had such an incredible time celebrating both Australia and Vietnam. And sharing the great love of food and produce. This wonderful series has been so colourful, educational and absolutely delicious. I've really enjoyed experiencing a taste of Australia in Vietnam.