Books like Vietnamese Food Any Day — picked by fans

I believe 2 things without a shred of doubt: all humans are creative and anyone can cook. Samin Nosrat adds the critical finale: “…and make it delicious.”

Everyone can benefit from this book, especially those who appreciate good, well-executed dishes but don’t quite understand what makes them so irresistible. As someone who didn’t do much better than fail at high school and college science, Nosrat makes incredibly complex concepts simple and doable! Not to mention, it’s delightfully illustrated.

The infographics, tables, and flowcharts make the content engaging and accessible. It is a cookbook, indispensable kitchen reference, and testament to the power of creative collaboration. Here is evidence that cooking is an art and a science. 

"Good, simple food is meant to be shared and enjoyed. Cook often." These lines from the introduction of "Tasty" perfectly capture the spirit of this delightfully useful cookbook. Finamore obviously knows his way around the kitchen, and his recipes are both practical and joyful. Clearly written and full of friendly tips and advice, this is a cookbook that more than lives up to its promise of delicious results for everyday meals (from breakfasts to snacks) without taxing the cook. It's also a smart and entertaining read, and just the type of cookbook that will indeed inspire you to cook often.

In the opening pages of this wonderful book, Slater writes: "Cooking should, surely, be a lighthearted, spirited affair, alive with invention, experimentation, appetite, and adventure." – and the pages that follow go a long way to make this possible. Jam-packed with over 600 recipes and ideas for simple, comforting everyday dishes, "Eat" is as much fun to cook from as it is to read. The recipes themselves are written in the style of extended tweets, and most are accompanied by ideas for creative variations, helpful notes, and charming narratives. There are few strict rules here, just tons of tempting recipes and even more inspiration to spark your own cooking adventures.

The premise behind this jubilant and personal collection is that cooking is "simply a huge and often very fun puzzle of piecing together techniques with different ingredients." Throughout the 98 recipes (everything from breakfast to mains, from drinks to dessert), Turshen highlights essential techniques (labeled as "small victories") and then offers inventive ideas and inspirations for creating other dishes (called "spin-offs"). It's a cookbook designed for anyone looking to become a more relaxed, confident, and creative cook. Turshen's love for cooking and feeding others is infectious, and her down-to-earth approach makes it easy to be swept along. 

A beautiful book of stories and recipes by a Vietnamese mother and daughter. I found this book when I was dining at their restaurant in Beverly Hills.

I have always loved their food so purchasing their recipe book was a no-brainer but as a happy surprise, I fell in love with their heartwarming family stories on top of amazing recipes. The stories of how their family survived from Vietnam, came over to the San Francisco area in the United States, opened a Vietnamese deli shop, and fast-forward many years, and now they own multiple restaurants all over California.

I relate to some parts of their stories I am also not originally from here. From making inexpensive lunch items for office workers in San Francisco to hosting celebrity-filled post-Oscars show parties, I have enjoyed reading every ounce of this book! Plus, Helen An’s pursuit of combining healthy ingredients with modern-day cooking… show more.

Having lived in Vietnam in the 1990s for four years, the author longed to return and did so ten years later with her photographer sister Julie. Together with her old friend Huong, they travelled to seven cities to record regional dishes. They enjoyed eating haute cuisine and home-cooked meals, and at small eateries that are each famous for a specialty so, at times, they were racing through thick traffic on motorbike taxis to two places for the day's lunch.

Kim gives a clear sense of the vibrant environment and the people's lives, their strength, and friendliness. One could almost taste the fresh and light cuisine through the innovative words of Kim and Julie's wonderful photos.

This book is written by Binh Duong, the owner and chef of a Vietnamese restaurant in Hartford, CT, and Marcia Kiesel, who was a food and wine magazine journalist and tester. I once opened and ran a popular pho restaurant in Cambridge and I relied heavily, almost fully, on this cookbook. Its recipes are almost never off-tune (and I highly recommend the dipping sauces and condiments chapter). Its recipes are easy to follow and every detail is clearly spelled out. Some ingredients may be foreign (tree ears, tiger lily buds) but nothing a decent Asian market would not have.

In a rescue-gone-wrong, Reeder’s chopper went down, landing on its side and leaving the pilot frantically attempting to disentangle himself from the safety harness to escape the burning craft. Years later, after relaying this story to a large audience, Reeder was told by a fellow veteran that he had witnessed the incident and had Reeder in his gunsight, intending to save him from burning to death. The would-be shooter had looked away an instant, and when ready to fire, found Reeder gone. Reeder managed to evade the enemy for a time but was eventually captured and subjected to unfathomable cruelty and deprivation.

I read this book during the depths of the Covid pandemic. Fitting, indeed, because it postulates a different kind of pandemic, no less terrifying and disruptive. What grabbed me was not the topic per se, though (as prescient as it was, when it was written). Instead, I found myself really cheering for Alexis, a hero who didn’t want the job of being a hero—and yet takes on the challenge while proving that heroes don’t need to be perfect.

Never in my life have I read a book that so closely echoed my heart and mind as an Iraq War veteran, unsettled wayfarer, and conscientious objector. It was a true reflection of my soul as I was searching for meaning within my own life and a fractured America.