Customer Reviews

Vietnamese Food & Cooking

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4 star:		(2)
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I purchased this book first on a sale and found it so well written and clear that I decided to buy another one as a gift. The recipes are described in American and European measures (lb/oz and cups, Kg/g and spoon or metric system) making it easy for anyone to read and follow the recipes. The illustrations are very nice and the recipes cover both Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine: many are simple to make and already brings great satisfaction to your palate. Some are more complex (making stocks can be an adventure) and very flavorful as well as inspiring. By the way, for the stocks, don't be so impressed: preparing one day the pork ribs (needing to boil first in water), save the water for a later stock for a delicious soup. Same for chicken (all stocks preserves great in the freezer anyhow so don't be scared of playing).

From a few combinations, I started to make recipes within the spirit of the cooking of the countries so, this book is very educational beyond speaking of the introductory overview of the Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine and ingredients).

I highly recommend this book.

We bought this book after looking it over at the library. It provides a fantastic education about typical ingredients and the culture of Vietnam. The recipes have all been delicious so far and we have made quite a few. Nothing is too difficult and I was easily able to find the ingredients. I did have to go to the Asian market for one thing, but otherwise all were readily available. Love it and glad to have it on my cookbook shelf.

This book is simple to read and understand. The recipes aren't very authentic but are easy to follow. The recipes are more geared for restaurants. The first quarter of the book, is a write up about the cultures and food of Vietnam and surrounding countries. I made about 4 meals from the book and absolutely loved them.

This book is beautifully illustrated and features about 65 pages of introductory material about the history of Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as pictures and definitions of the many ingredients of the cuisine. This is very helpful because the recipes themselves are so authentic, that many require some sort of substitution with local ingredients, unless one has an unlimited budget and an incredibly well-stocked Asian market nearby.
If you are the kind of cook who thinks, " I don't have dried squid and chicken carcasses to make a stock; organic chicken broth simmered with some vegetables and a couple sloshes of fish sauce will be close enough",you will do great with this cookbook, and find it inspiring. If you are strictly a by-the-recipe person, you will enjoy it for the cultural notes and beautiful illustrations, but might find it frustrating to actually cook with.