The Lure of Hanoi Chicken by Ruth Paget
I bought The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches by Andrea Nguyen for its cover photo of a succulent, grilled chicken baguette sandwich with pickled daikon radishes and carrots, spicy chile peppers, cucumber slices, and cilantro.
I thought I could make that sandwich and bought this cookbook for its savory, spicy, and perky fresh recipes.
Nguyen writes that the banh mi’s (pronounced bun me) ingredients hearken back to Vietnam’s colonial past:
-the baguette bread is of French origin
-several condiments such as hoisin sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, and oyster sauce are of Chinese origin
Nguyen helps first-time Vietnamese cooks with a pantry listing and later in the book provides recipes for everything from pickles and condiments to Indonesian saté chicken as a filling. Among the pantry items Nguyen lists the following items:
-baguette buns
-red chile peppers
-cilantro
-garlic
-ginger
-lemongrass
-shallots
-Chinese five spice powder
-curry powder
-fish sauce
-hoisin sauce
-oyster sauce
-sesame oil
-sriracha chile sauce
-vinegar
Nguyen lists how to construct a basic banh mi as follows:
1-Hollow out the center of the slice of baguette to firmly hold the fillings in place
2-Season the bottom layer of bread with condiments
3-Place protein filling on the bottom layer of bread
4-Place pickled vegetables on top of the protein
5-Place cucumber slices on top of pickled vegetables
6-Place cilantro on top of cucumber slices
7-Place the top baguette slice over everything. Press down the top of the baguette and serve.
Nguyen finishes the book with pan-Asian filling selections that will find fans including:
-Indonesian Chicken Saté
-Sri Lankan Black Curry
-Spicy Wok-Seared Shrimp
-Doner Kebab
-Peppery Portabello Mushrooms
Nguyen’s recipes for Hanoi Grilled Chicken Thighs sounds especially perky with its combination of lime juice and fish sauce seasoning.
Cultural information plus doable recipes make The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches by Andrea Nguyen a great buy, especially for families who would like to try Vietnamese food for the first time.
By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
