[.ca] Book Of Vietnamese Cooking (ISBN 1557882746)

From Amazon.com:
The Book of Vietnamese Cooking provides a fine introduction to this elegant Southeast Asian cuisine. Author Dei-ta Hsiung gives enough information in this slim volume to explain the subtleties of Vietnamese food, how it evolved, and how it differs from that of its neighbors. In addition to a picture of the completed dish, for all 80 recipes you will find three to six color photos showing key steps in their preparation. The glossary of ingredients describes every item called for in the recipes and explains how to use them. Likewise, the section on equipment tells what you need. Both sections offer handy substitutions, such as using a deep-sided sauté pan for a wok, and lime juice in place of tart tamarind. Along with familiar Vietnamese dishes like Shrimp Paste on Sugar Cane, Green Papaya Salad, and Chicken with Lemongrasss, The Book of Vietnamese Cooking includes such regional choices as Hot Pot from the north. Vegetarians will be pleased to find a recipe for the classic dipping sauce made without the ubiquitous fish sauce, and for Vegetarian Fried Noodles. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese names of the dishes are omitted, making it hard to associate what you find in this book with dishes you may know from a favorite restaurant. --Dana Jacobi

Decent, albeit not 100% representative introduction.:
In its almost 50 parts, all written by experienced cooks and cook book writers, HP Books' "The Book of ... Cooking" series takes you to the cuisines of various regions of the U.S. and around the world; all in easy to follow, well-explained recipes. While the series' individual parts can generally be counted on to provide an excellent (even if not all-encompassing) introduction to the unique flavors of the respective cuisine they portray, this particular installment, the Book of Vietnamese Cooking, has been criticized for containing Chinese (or more specifically Cantonese) rather than Vietnamese recipes. And indeed, some of the dishes presented here seem to fit better onto the menu of a Chinese restaurant - or even a Thai or Indian eatery. (Satays, curries, hot and sour soup, Mongolian style lamb, sweet and sour recipes, spring rolls ... you get the picture.) Nevertheless, while I admit that I only know the Vietnamese cuisine from cook books and restaurants, not (yet!) from a visit to the country, there are enough recipes here which I do indeed associate with the notion of eating Vietnamese food; such as chicken, shrimp and pork with lemon grass, fish sauce, spicy chicken salad and to some extent, hot pots (not exclusive to the Vietnamese cuisine, but part of this as well as other Asian cuisines). The book also contains a brief introduction into the basics of the Vietnamese cuisine, the necessary equipment and utensils and a glossary of ingredients, and a number of unique dishes such as green papaya salad, papaya and pork soup, lychee sorbet, sesame shrimp toasts and shrimp paste on sugar cane. From aromatic duck to zucchini with ginger, this collection of recipes, while not as representative of the cuisine portrayed as the series' other installments, still provides a decent introduction to Vietnamese cooking; even if you won't achieve mastery in the subtleties of this particular cuisine based on this book alone. Also recommended for fans of Asian cooking: this series' books on Thai, Japanese and Chinese Cooking, on Stir-Fries, and on Curries and Indian Foods.

decorative but non-functional:
This book is decorative in a certain way -- in a kitchen that is not serious in its function nor pursuit of excellence. There are much better books on the market for Vietnamese cuisine to be found on the American book market (Trang, Pham or Routhier). The steps illustrated are very short-cut in the way they are prepared and the final result is not Vietnamese food that is bold but something that hints at but does not accomplish authenticity. On par with the Periplus series or even the little cookbooks this is not a book for those building, or researching a library on the flavors of Viet Nam nor its more sublte flavor cultures. If you want a beautiful cookbook for your table try _Hot, Sour, Sweet and Salt_ . But if you want a cookbook that works than try Trang, Pham or Routhier. Do not get this book unless it is on the remainder table and only on a lark.

This is a Chinese cook book, not VietNamese!:
Deh-Ta Hsiung should stay with the Cantonese cooking instead venturing into unknown areas. A nice and colorful book does not make a cook book.

Strays from the subject:
This book looks like one that would be reasonably straightforward and easy to use. Unfortunately, I found it to contain CHINESE recipes and it seemed rather unauthentic.