Synopses & Reviews
Bring the Flavor of Vietnam to Your Kitchen
Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and spicy: these are the flavorful tenets of Vietnamese cuisine. This exhilarating culinary culture is rich but light, deeply flavorful but made with simple ingredients, and filling while also easy to prepare. Thatand#8217;s the message that authors Van Tran and Anh Vu wanted to bring to a hungry crowd when they opened their banh mi stall in London, an international city that surprisingly lacked the tastes of the authorsand#8217; childhoods in Hanoi. As their business expanded, The Vietnamese Market Cookbook followed. The recipes are simpler than you might think but explode with the purest flavors of vegetables, seafood, lean meats, spices, chiles, and treasured Vietnamese condiments like fish sauce. Old and new favorites collide: Asparagus and Crabmeat Soup, Papaya Salad with Crispy Anchovies, Claypot Chicken with Ginger, Sea Bass Carpaccio, Kumquat Jasmine Iced Tea, and Crand#232;me Caramel. From chapters like and#147;Sweetness and Happinessand#8221; to and#147;Spiciness and Adventureand#8221; and and#147;Saltiness and Healing,and#8221; this lusciously filling book will bring a little bit of Vietnam into your home.
Review
and#147;Take a tour through the five flavors of Vietnamese cuisineand#151;sweet, sour, spicy, bitter, and saltyand#151;in this vibrant, educational cookbook created by Vietnamese-born sisters Tran and Vu. The two run several popular food stalls in London featuring their home cuisine, most notably the classic band#225;nh mand#236; sandwich (of which there are several variations in the book). But this cookbook, which is organized by flavor profile rather than standard classifications like soups and main dishes, showcases so much more than sandwiches. Adventurous cooks will delight at recipes for beef pho, Hanoi shrimp fritters, and papaya salad with crispy anchovies. The bookand#8217;s gorgeous photos pay homage to the abundance of fresh produce starring in these dishes. Also included is an extensive section of master recipes and Vietnamese pantry staples.and#8221;
--Booklist
Synopsis
Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and spicy. Vietnamese culinary culture is both rich and light, deeply flavorful yet with simple ingredients, and filling but also easy to prepare. In Vietnamese Market Cookbook the recipes are simpler than you might think: they rely heavily on vegetables, seafood, lean meats, spices, chiles, and a small stable of Vietnamese standby ingredients like fish sauce. Along the way, authors Tran and Vu share intimate food memories of their mothers, their families, and themselves. From "Sweetness and Happiness" to "Spiciness and Adventure" and "Saltiness and Healing," this beautifully photographed and lusciously flavorful book will bring a little bit of Vietnam to your kitchen.
About the Author
Van Tran and Ahn Vu are the owners of the popular market stalls Banhmi11 and two market cafes, No. 101 and No. 17, in London. Both born in Vietnam, they spent their childhoods in Hanoi. They had no professional training as chefs when they left their jobs in finance, but successfully filled a gap in London's culinary scene with banh mi sandwiches, which led to their ever-expanding restaurant empire. Their book, The Vietnamese Market Cookbook, was first published in the UK in fall 2013 and was lauded in The Guardian, Time Out London, Zest, Jamie Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, Top Sante Magazine, and Metro London, among others. They live in London.