Holding Onto Tradition:Vietnamese Cooking

For those who love bot the exotic and traditional Vietnamese cooking hits the mark. It has the flavors of Southeast Asia  combined with century old recipes.Best of all it can be made at home thanks to a new cookbook. For those who love  Vietnamese, it;s time to make it at home instead of searching for the rare restaurant featuring it.

The cookbook is Vietnamese Home Cooking by Charles Phan,the famed San Francisco chef who has a string of six restaurants around the city. The book has come out from Ten Speed Press and an interview with him was in the Wednesday's New York Times Dining section. He is a devoted father and cook ,making his famed dishes for his three kids at their apartment above his one restaurant,Out The Door.They are the dishes that are also in the book and easy to make for American audiences.

The Phan family came to the US two years  after the fall of Saigon in 1977 when Mr Phan himself was only sixteen. He and his mother who still cooks for the family make the  wonderful dishes that they brought with them. One is a mix of tomatoes, chard and squid over rice. Most Vietnamese dishes are either steamed,braised or stir fried dishes.He makes his kids  the traditional steamed chicken with lily buds and dried shiitake mushrooms. His wife is his sous chef helping him cut and dice, His mother cuts up persimmons and peeled longan fruit for dessert. Despite it all his three kids still want American fare every now and then despite being surrounded by their  father's masterpieces,

If you love the exotic and traditional then buy Mr. Phan's book. If you're a fan of his restaurants, then definitely purchase it .You can bring the flavor and the fun home with you.