{"id":17694,"date":"2019-02-05T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/?p=17694"},"modified":"2020-06-17T13:02:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T20:02:11","slug":"vietnamese-food-any-day-andrea-nguyen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/vietnamese-food-any-day-andrea-nguyen\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnamese Food Any Day by Andrea Nguyen | Cookbook Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review copy provided by the publisher<\/em><\/h2>\n

Walk down the Asian foods aisle in your local supermarket and it looks a lot different than it did 30 years ago. There are still throwbacks like canned sweet and sour sauce or crispy fried La Choy noodles, but these days, you’ll see rice vinegar, fish sauce, chili garlic sauce, noodles of all sorts, panko crumbs and rice paper wrappers. The Venn diagram between supermarket and Asian market is overlapping in such a way that you can cook delicious Asian dishes without making a trip to a speciality market. And that’s the premise that Andrea Nguyen’s latest book, Vietnamese Food Any Day<\/a>, is built on.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re curious about Vietnamese cuisine, but have been intimidated by the ingredients, Vietnamese Food Any Day<\/a> proves its within your reach. The book is inspired by Nguyen’s own experience and the hacks her mom made to recipes after they immigrated to the US. In 80 recipes, she takes you through favorites like Any Day Viet Pickles, Rice Paper Rolls and Banh Mi. Then, she expands it to Shaking Beef, Honey-glazed Pork Riblets, Sizzling Rice Crepes and Spicy Sweet Pomegranate Tofu. The book wraps up with a sweets and coffee chapter including No-Churn Vietnamese Ice Cream, Silken Tofu and Mandarin Oranges in Ginger Syrup, and Matcha “Pandan” Waffles.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In Seattle, we have several Asian food markets, from Uwajimaya to H-Mart to VietWah. I made a point to check out the Asian food aisles in the two big supermarkets nearest me, QFC and Fred Meyer. They’re surprisingly well stocked, even carrying the Kadoya sesame oil I grew up with and “Three Crabs” Fish Sauce. With the rise of gluten-free diets, finding rice noodles and rice flour is easier than ever. It might just not be on the Asian aisle.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been cooking from the book for a couple of weeks and the recipes really are<\/em> designed to be ANY DAY dishes. Most are 30-60 minutes to prepare, with soups taking longer. My favorites so far are the Crispy, Caramelized Pork Crumbles served over rice with stir-fried greens, the Shaking Beef (there’s a tofu variation that’s also fantastic), and the Char Siu chicken. Scroll through the gallery up top for photos. The book also provides a recipe for Caramel Sauce, an ingredient in a handful of the recipes, including the Shrimp in Coconut Caramel Sauce recipe below. It’s 100 percent worth making.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nguyen has been a teacher and advocate for Viet food for years and has several books under her belt, including Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, Asian Dumplings, The Banh Mi Handbook, and of course, The Pho Cookbook (review)<\/a>. Enthusiasts have followed her work for years, but I think it’s Vietnamese Food Any Day<\/a> that’s going to help break open Viet cuisine for the casual home cook and make it part of their rotation. Vietnamese Food Any Day is worth a place not just on your bookshelf, but in your kitchen on the regular. I am loving it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nguyen will sign Vietnamese Food Any Day<\/a> this Saturday at\u00a0Omnivore Books in San Francisco<\/a> and at BookShop Santa Cruz on February 26<\/a>. Additional events in March are listed below. Keep an eye on her blog at VietWorldKitchen.com<\/a> for more dates.<\/p>\n

Tucson Book Festival<\/a>\u00a0(Tucson, AZ;\u00a0 March 2, 4-5pm)
\nBook Larder, Seattle<\/a>\u00a0(Seattle, WA;\u00a0Mon. 3\/18, 6:30-8pm)
\nNow Serving, LA<\/a>\u00a0(Los Angeles, CA;\u00a0Sun. 3\/24, 6pm)<\/p>\n

Get Vietnamese Food Any Day on Amazon <\/a>|Apple Books<\/a>|\u00a0 Bookshop.org<\/a> |IndieBound<\/a><\/p>\n

This post includes affiliate links that kick us a small percentage at no cost to you. If you found this review useful, please use them to support my work – thanks!<\/em><\/p>\n\t\r\n\t

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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> Print Recipe<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Shrimp in Coconut Caramel Sauce<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Andrea Nguyen <\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\tServes: 4<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCooking Time: 35 mins<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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My niece Paulina requested this savory-sweet comfort food from southern Vietnam, a region where cooks use coconut milk and coconut water for a sunny array of dishes. I happily obliged because it\u2019s delicious and involves a nifty technique\u2014coconut water is reduced with other ingredients until it caramelizes a bit to create a lovely syrupy sauce. Enjoy t\u00f4m rim n\u01b0\u1edbc d\u1eeba with rice and a simple vegetable, like the charred brussels sprouts on page 170. Choose a large skillet or sauteuse pan with a light interior to easily monitor the color changes during cooking.<\/p><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t

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Ingredients<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t