Customer Reviews

The Vietnamese Cookbook (Capital Lifestyles)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Diana My Tran's unassuming cookbook is a real treasure for several reasons:
1) Recipes are easy and tasty!
3) Lots of Vietnamese dishes that are ubiquitous in the home but uncommon in Vietnamese restaurants.
2) No boring, pretentious, affected prose about how charming life in Vietnam was before the war a la Mai Pham.
4) Recipes do not compromise authenicity but their flavor profiles should appeal to the Western palate.
5) Color photographs of the star of any cookbook - the food.

I am Vietnamese and I've bought all of the popular Vietnamese cookbooks on Amazon. This slim little book by a woman who is not a professional chef is the best one out there for all of the reasons above. It's not a perfect 10 because Diana My Tran doesn't use caramel sauce and recipes like Ginger Chicken and Caramel Shrimp should start with caramel sauce. Honey just doesn't work -- you're better not even attempting it. Also the Pho Bo recipe is way too streamlined -- but if you live in a major metropolitan area then there's no reason to make it at home when you can just go to your local noodle house. The best thing about this book is the large number of Vietnamese recipes like Butternut Squash soup that my Vietnamese mother makes (before I bought this book, I thought she invented it) but no restaurant would serve. I recommend it to all of the young Vietnamese people who never learned to cook and also to anyone who's looking flavorful cooking that isn't scary.

Similiar to the Pleriplus book, _The Food of Vietnam_ this book has very nice photography and simple recipes. It is also pretty small at only 119 pages including index. This book also shares some of Pleriplus' flaws:

1) Not much background information; 2) Assumption that you know to cut for tenderness or prepare more difficult things like cleaning shrimp or squid; 3) Does not expand the knowledge base of cooking technique or theory for its user; 4) Recipes are modified greatly;

The recipes are modified for faster time preparation. Which is very advantageous for the beginner but a purist will definitely NOT be happy with the recipes e.g., pho ba broth being made with 30 minutes of simmering or the lack of caramel use in recipes. The intent of the book is for speed which it admirably provides.

Since Vietnamese cuisine is adventursome in its approach there is room on the shelf for another book that makes free with the recipes.

The better book to buy is Corinne Trang's _Authentic Vietnamese Cooking_ whose recipes are sound and provides more interesting reading in general. If you are a history/culture junkie then Lonely Planet's World Food Guide to Vietnam is surprisingly good with a few recipes thrown in.

Overall, a pretty book that provides speed but not much substance for the hardcore. It is, however, a nice beginner's book.

We own several asian/vietnamese cookbooks, but this cook book is the best we've seen. The recipes are easy to follow, quick and taste as good as recipes from our most favorite vietnamese restaurant. The recipes are also easy to follow. My husband who is a novice, has cooked three dishes from the book with great success. Also the photographer is a National Geographic Photographer who has included some wonderful pictures.

First of all, I'm Vietnamese. Second of all, I grew up in America and never bothered to learn how to cook. I recently married and found that I couldn't live the rest of my life eating my husband's cooking. I also wanted to expose my stepson to Vietnamese food. I bought this book as a starting point.

I was very surprised to see that I had not heard of a lot of the dishes included in this book. A lot of the food I grew up with and find in restaurants were not included. The dishes that I did have needed a little bit of tweeking in order for it to taste Authentic to me. For example, the nuoc cham dipping sauce in the book is made with lemon juice. It didn't taste correctly when I made it that way. I called my mom and found that she uses vinegar. It tastes much better and lasts much longer in the fridge that way. Also, the Clear Vegetable Soup recipe needed a little bit of sugar.

I feel that the book is a great starting point, but I personally have marked up the book with my mother's adjustments so that the food tastes like home.

My girlfriend gave me this cookbook almost two years ago and I should have written this review sooner.

I have made several recipes including the Caramel Shrimp, Shaking Steak and Onion and the Vietnamese Chicken Salad. The ingredients are relatively easy to locate in the International section of the grocery store or in Asian specialty shops. Like most Asian cooking, the preparation is the most of the "cooking time."

Every recipe I have made was wonderful, with just the right balance of herbs and spices. Most of the recipies are low in fat and have a good balance of protien and carbs.

I you want to learn to cook Vietnamese, you should start with this book. The photos are beautiful and will help you in the presentation of the dishes.

I LOVE TO COOK, AND I COLLECT COOKBOOKS. THIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE EASIEST COOKBOOKS TO USE AND FOLLOW. THE RECIPES ARE EASY TO PREPARE AND DELICIOUS. I DON'T MIND SHORTCUTS TO SAVE TIME. I HAVE A VERY BUSY HOUSEHOLD WITH LITTLE TIME FOR TEDIOUS RECIPES. THE VIETNAMESE COOKBOOK PROVIDES TASTY GOURMET RECIPES THAT ARE QUICK TO PREPARE, WITH ALL THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE I NEED TO COOK QUICKLY, AND STILL PRESENT AN AUTHENTIC VIETNAMESE MEAL. GOOD FOR YOU, DIANA TRAN. LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE.

i received this book as a gift and it is the best gift i ever had! I am very busy and never have time to try to cook vietnamese meals. Thanks to "The Vietnamese Cookbook" i have learned many quick tricks to cook delicious vietnamese dishes and also loose weight. I can't wait for your next book Diana My Tran!!! BRAVO!!!!!

This is a suberb cookbook for anyone wanting to venture into Vietnamese cooking. The recipes are high-taste, low-fat and most can be made in 15 minutes. I use it 2-3 times a week, including while going to Weight Watchers. I can't wait for Diana My Tran's next cookbook.

Fine color photos of not only finished dishes but Vietnamese scenes and people pepper a cookbook packed with unusual dishes, from Spicy Lemongrass Pork Chops to Crab Tomato Soup and Cashew Chicken. A great start for newcomers to the cuisine!

This book is definitely a must have for those wanting to learn how to cook vietnamese food. I have to agree that not everything is correct to the authentic foods in Vietnam but in the fast paced lifestyle here in the US afew changes don't really hurt. You still get almost the exact effect. I;m a college student and have been learning to cook a few foods from my mom over the phone so I got this book as an additional reference. I also got one for my brother which can't cook at all. The pictures help you figure out if you did it right or not(it you've never had that item before). I really like that it teaches you family meals. Not all those courses you would go to a resturant and order. With as many resturants that there are now, just go out. But its different with mom's home cooked foods. It makes a good start with the different types of Rices.