Reddit Reddit reviews Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors

We found 9 Reddit comments about Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Cookbooks, Food & Wine
Books
Cooking Education & Reference
Gastronomy History
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors
Ten Speed Press
Check price on Amazon

9 Reddit comments about Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors:

u/aaarrrggh · 21 pointsr/Cooking

Hey, thanks for your comments :-)

I'll definitely take on board what you've said about freezing the meat. I actually did freeze it for about 10 mins as it said to do that in the book, but I had no real frame of reference for when it said 'slice thinly'. To me, the way I'd sliced it was quite thin, but obviously I can see now that it's actually rather thick for this particular dish. I will take into account what you say here about using a long knife as well. What's butcher paper by the way? Can that be bought in most supermarkets?

I'm not sure what the brand of the noodles was. The noodles were something of an after thought and I didn't get the right ones. I'd spent quite a long time finding a butcher's that had bones that I could use for the broth, and when I finally managed to get them (had to go to three different butchers and drive around quite a bit before I managed to get what I needed) I didn't have much time left, so just got the best match for the noodles I could find.

I'll make sure to use the proper fine rice noodles in the future.

I didn't use thai basil (what's the difference between thai basil and standard basil? Is there a significant difference?), but we did actually use fresh mint and we also had lime.

I actually scooped a large amount of fat out of the broth as it cooked, but left a little bit in. I'm pretty sure the recipe said a little bit is ok, but again, I had no real frame of reference so made my own call on that. I'll remove as much as I can next time then.

It was all done with beef bones, so no chicken stock or anything like that. I'll write up the blog article tomorrow if I can, so you'll be able to see the full process from start to finish. I took pictures at each point along the way, so you'll be able to see exactly how I made it then.

The blog is called 'cooking from books', and the idea is actually to take recipes in published books and then cook them and post the results up for everyone to see. I came up with the idea after I started trying to learn cooking but found some books had no pictures in them, or only showed the very final product - I felt like it could be useful for other people, and it'd also push me to cook more stuff and try new things :-)

This is the book I got the recipe from

and this is my blog :-)

One final comment - would you be ok with me possibly using your comments here (and subsequent comments) in the article itself? I'm going to mention that I first found out about pho on reddit in the article, and it'd be cool to say how I posted up the results and got some good feedback from you guys :-)

Thanks!

u/chapcore · 8 pointsr/Chefit

Asia's a big, ancient place. Even within each nation there are unique styles of regional and ethnic fare.

With that in mind, I'd love to see some recommendations here for awesome Indian, Filipino, Hmong, Uzbek, etc. cookbooks.

Japanese

Lets get beyond sushi and hibatchi.

Shizuo Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art is a great starting point. If you want to get technical you should check out Ando's Washoku or Hachisu's Preserving the Japanese Way.

If you want to start simple, Hachisu also has a great book on Japanese Farm Food. Ono and Salat have written a great noodle slurping opus in Japanese Soul Cooking.

Chinese

What we've come to think of as Chinese food in the US is a natural part of human appropriation of food styles, but with all due respect to Trader Vic's, crab rangoon and other buffet staples really aren't the real deal. Food in China is extremely regional. You don't have to go very deep to see the vast differentiation in spicy Schezwan recipes and Cantonese Dim Sum culture.

For your reading pleasure:

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking Eileen Yin-Fei Lo.

Breath of the Wok by Grace Young and Alan Richardson.

Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees by Kian Lam Kho and Jody Horton.

All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China by Carolyn Phillips.

Some people might freak out that I'm placing Erway's The Food of Taiwan under the Chinese category, but I'm not going to get into a political debate here. Taiwan has had a lot of different culinary influences due to migration / occupation and that is really the take away here.

Go forth, make bao.

Korean

Korea is having it's moment right now and if you want the classics, Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall's Growing up in a Korean Kitchen is a good baseline. It has all the greatest hits.

You also can't cook Korean food without kimchi. The only book I've read is Lauryn Chun's The Kimchi Cookbook which is kind of underwhelming considering the hundreds of styles of Kimchi that have been documented. The process of making kimchi (kimjang) even has a UNESCO world heritage designation. With that in mind, I think it's only a matter of time before we see a English book on the subject that has depth.

Given the cuisine's popularity, there are several other cookbooks on Korean food that have recently been published within the last year or so, I just haven't gotten around to reading them yet, so I won't recommend them here.

Thai

David Thompson's Thai Food and Thai Street Food are both excellent. /u/Empath1999 's recommendation of Andy Ricker's Pok Pok is excellent but it focuses on Northern Thai cuisine, so if you want to venture into central and southern Thai fare, Thompson's the other farang of note.

Vietnamese

Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen provides a nice survey to Vietnamese cooking. Charles Phan also has a couple of cookbooks that are quite good but I'm sure that there are zealots out there who would bemoan authenticity in either Vietnamese Home Cooking or The Slanted Door, but seriously, who gives a shit, the dude has Beard Awards under his belt for fuck's sake.

TL;DR OP means well but its long past time to bury "Asian" as a catch-all for such a large and diverse part of a continent, no?

u/jinxremoving · 5 pointsr/Cooking

I haven't looked at a lot of alternatives, but I bought Into the Vietnamese Kitchen on a whim and haven't been disappointed. Well written and has nice pictures, each recipe has some backstory about its place in Vietnamese cuisine and culture.

For Italian cuisine, The Silver Spoon is often recommended as a cornerstone of Italian cooking, but I found it to be pretty unsatisfying, at least in the translation. Light on technique and a lot of recipes that may be authentic, but aren't something you're ever likely to make (assuming you can even find the ingredients).

u/Chris_love · 4 pointsr/Cooking

I like Andrea Nguyen's Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. Her blog Viet World Kitchen is also good (I'm on mobile, otherwise I'd link). Most of the Vietnamese dishes I regularly make started with Nguyen's book or website.

EDIT: Links to both: http://www.amazon.com/Into-Vietnamese-Kitchen-Treasured-Foodways/dp/1580086659/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449674932&sr=8-1&keywords=into+the+vietnamese+kitchen

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/

u/dagaetch · 4 pointsr/Cooking

Andrea Nguyen, cookbook and blog (and some suggested cookbooks from her blog). Also Charles Phan has a couple good cookbooks.

u/retailguypdx · 4 pointsr/Chefit

I'm a bit of a cookbook junkie, so I have a bunch to recommend. I'm interpreting this as "good cookbooks from cuisines in Asia" so there are some that are native and others that are from specific restaurants in the US, but I would consider these legit both in terms of the food and the recipes/techniques. Here are a few of my favorites:


Pan-Asian

u/mikeczyz · 3 pointsr/cookbooks

Well, I'm half-Chinese. I'll give you two cookbook recommendations which are full of recipes which really resonate with that part of my background:

  • Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. While I'm generally not big on Chinese cookbooks not specializing in one or two regional cuisines, this book gets a pass because it's so organized and pedantic. It builds itself up from simple to complex and includes recipes which build on each other. It also features a large section on ingredients. An additional pro is that it includes the Chinese characters which makes it easier to find the proper product at your Asian grocer. I love it so much that I lugged this book to Taiwan with me and used it as my cooking guide/reference.
  • Land of Plenty by Fuchsia Dunlop. Of all the regional Chinese cuisines with which I have experience, I love the multi-layered flavors of Sichuan the most. It was through Dunlop's book that I first discovered this magnificent cuisine and it encouraged me to discover some of the Sichuanese restaurants in the Bay Area. Instructions are clear and she does a great job bringing Sichanese food to life. An absolute must own if you are at all interested in regional Chinese food. Her book on Hunanese food is also pretty killer.

    In addition to the aforementioned Chinese food, I'm just a fat piggy who loves to eat. Here are a few more recs:

  • Thai Food by David Thompson. This is the bible of Thai food for English speakers. It's nearly 700 pages long and not a page is wasted on fluff. It's more than just a cookbook, it's a anthropological study on Thai people, their history and the way they eat. An immense book. If you are more into pictures, check out his book on Thai Street Food.
  • Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen. This was the book that really unlocked Vietnamese food for me. I adore how many fresh herbs/veggies are used and how it creates a complex, yet light, cuisine. And don't get me wrong when I say light...it's as full flavored as can be, but without heaviness. In the interim since this book came out, others have showed up on the market which are as good (see Charles Phan's recent book), but Nguyen's book will always have a special place in my heart.
  • ad hoc at home by Thomas Keller. Thomas Keller is arguably the most important American chef of the past 20 years, so when he turns his sights on homestyle food, you can be sure it's done with correct technique and style. While this book isn't as notable as TFL cookbook or his sorta primer on sous vide cooking, I'm including it because it has recipes which people will actually use. Unparallelled technique, good recipes and delicious food equal a winning cookbook. One note: it's not dumbed down and some of the recipes take time, but everything I've ever made from it has been great.
  • Alinea by Grant Achatz. {Disclaimer: I worked for Grant Achatz for a couple of years.} Everyone should own at least one cookbook which is completely out of reach, but serves to inspire. When you flip through this book, your jaw will drop and you will wonder, multiple times, "WTF?!?!?!" It's an amazing testament to how open and possible American cuisine is at the moment and you'll do yourself well to flip through it. Additionally, the photographs and the book itself are phenomenal. The paper, in particular, is well worth the price of admission. It's sexy shit, yo.

    Feel free to drop me a line if you need more recommendations. I've got quite the cookbook collection (I love to cook, it's not just cookbook porn) and love to share my thoughts.
u/larissaqd · 2 pointsr/Cooking

Not bad for a first attempt, don't be too hard on yourself!! I think you used bun instead of pho noodles and agreed the beef should be sliced thinner.


You have to buy the bible, this is my favorite Vietnamese cookbook and has the best pho recipe (grandmother-approved!!):


Into the Vietnamese Kitchen by Andrea Nguyen

Oh and looks like the author posted the recipe on her blog:


Andrea Nguyen's Beef Pho Recipe

u/aKingS · 1 pointr/food

Just got this yesterday.

Hopefully I can start creating some of these wonderful dishes at home.