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It’s highly likely that you first befriended pho at a restaurant or pho joint, where the menu items may have seemed overwhelming. Welcome to the ultimate Viet have-it-your-way food experience, which has its pros and cons. An extensive pho menu allows people to dial in their personal preferences but it can also confuse. At first…
I’ve long contended that China influenced Vietnamese pho big time, but it wasn’t till this week that I got a clear sense of what Chinese beef pho is actually like. Yes, it exists, and I found a recipe in my friend Georgia Freedman’s new book, Cooking South of the Clouds, which focuses on the cooking…
You read that right. I can barely believe that I got to type that. Last Friday in New York, in front of about 600 people, The Pho Cookbook was awarded one of the culinary world’s highest accolades, a James Beard Foundation Award for Excellence. Who is that man on the medal? The late James Beard…
Is this banh mi salad a banh mi? Yes, because banh mi means bread and sandwich in the Vietnamese language. This salad uses elements of the banh mi sandwich to create a light and refreshing summer dish. Bread is the star and this banh mi salad is a great way to use day-old baguette. After…
I love sandwiches and I love mayonnaise. It’s a win-win situation. I bought the condiment for years abut while writing The Banh Mi Handbook, I spent about a month working on different recipes – from regular and eggless (vegan) to Sriracha and umami mayonnaise. Making mayo from scratch is utterly easy. Moreover, homemade mayonnaise takes…
When summer hits, I’m on the lookout for green tomatoes. No, not the heirloom, fancy ones that are green in their ripe state. I’m talking rock hard, unripe tomatoes. They’re firm, meaty and perfect for pickling because they’ll retain a little crunch. I eat pickles too fast to do the canning jars and sterilization. Instead,…
When it comes to Thanksgiving, my family celebrates in nontraditional ways – we make our favorite foods and my dad offers a blessing that usually includes a line like this: “We thank you Lord for the food on our table and thank you to the people who made the food.” He has many other eloquent…
Some of my better ideas come early in the morning, when I first wake up. This week, I had a hunch that I could make incredible gluten-free takoyaki dumpling balls. What are takoyaki? They’re a super popular Japanese street food dumpling (second to gyoza!) that are often filled with chunks of cooked octopus. Takoyaki are…
Anthony Bourdain’s sudden death triggered an outpouring of emotion from all over, but for me, it eventually led me into the kitchen to make wonton noodle soup and refresh my memory of experiences long ago. My first job after college was with the federal government. I was a bank examiner and quickly learned to hate…
I have an extensive collection of fish sauces but it hasn’t included fish-less fish sauce simply because vegetarian fish sauce has always disappointed me. However, I recently came across two brands of pineapple-based vegetarian fish sauce that looked promising. They were about $4 each at the Green Farm market in Orange County’s Little Saigon in…
When I met Stewart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, chef-owners of State Bird Provisions restaurant in San Francisco, we chatted about Southeast Asian peppercorns and garum. They source Cambodian Kampot pepper for special dishes and drinks at their acclaimed restaurant, which offers a clever menu of East-West influences. I also recalled the State Bird garum…
I woke up the other morning wondering what would happen if I made a Vietnamese green hot chile sauce with tomatillos. I’ve recommended subbing green jalapenos for red chiles in the regular hot chile sauce (tuong ot) but didn’t think about the tomato that goes into the sauce. I just assumed that one would stick…
Hello, this site was created and maintained by me — Andrea Nguyen. Based in Northern California, I’m a James Beard Award-winning author, freelance writer, editor, cooking teacher, and consultant. Let’s dig in →
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