kanzis_slave

Funny, I just noticed I the photographer of The Little Saigon Cookbook is a relative of the editor to a book I'm contributing too. Small world! She'll be pleased to hear it gets high marks.

That is a great site. Thank you!

Thanks all, for the suggestions. Keep em coming. English Language is good but I can settle for Vietnamese language. I've spent most of my time in S. Vietnam, so I gravitate towards S. Vietnamese cooking, but I like what I eat from the North. I worked in a local restaurant in the S. but the chef and all the cooks were from the north. The staff always complained that the food was terrible and they hated even the smell (the rest of the staff were from the S.). Funny to hear them complain. I thought the food was fine. After you've been in one city for a while and get to know the cuisine styles of you "home base" it's fun to go to another city and see just how different EVERYTHING is, even though you're just a couple of hours away. Even the most basic street food is quite unique. Sadly, I've not done much cooking. My kitchen in the past was a traditional one--meaning no refrigerator, no stoves, no running water. Everything had to be done on a clay oven with coal, all preparation by hand. It was rather discouraging. Now that I have some modern conveniences, it's time to learn!

The town in Vietnam where I've lived has a big sign near the market with pictures of several fish, octopus and and other items not to eat, as apparently locals persist in eating a lot of risky things. I was once left at a house with a friends family while they went to run errands. They brought out a platter of the foulest looking crabs I've ever seen. All different kinds that looked right out of a starwars movie. Bizarre shapes, colors and mysterious appendages coming off of them. I didn;t want to be rude, so i ate with them and we had a round of beers. My friend came back later and was shocked I'd eaten with them. he gave me a good reprimand, because although he was a local, he would have never touched them, and told me I'd have explosive diarreah the next day. I learned that not everything that's eaten should be eaten. A lot of the shock-value items eaten on travel shows are crazy novelties that average locals in that culture don't normally eat.

I'm looking for sort of an entry-level cookbook, but something that kind of covers all the bases as far as general street food. I'm looking for tried and true--nothing fancy or innovative. Any suggestions?

Can anyone suggest places to order (ideally online): Vietnamese groceries (or asian groceries in general) Vietnamese kitchenware, plates, cooking utensils Fruit trees and plants commonly found in Vietnam

In the south, I've always eaten spring rolls made with rice paper. They are made so many different ways (sizes, fillings, fried vs raw), but the little ones we make here in the USA are not often eaten whole and plain in S. Vietnam. Instead, after they are fried, they are cut up and added to soups, or, after they are chopped up, they are once again wrapped in rice paper with mint and other herbs, meat balls, boiled eggs, sliced star fruit and cucumber. Then they are dipped in fish sauce. Kind of like a twice-wrapped spring roll. The way we eat spring rolls here, would seem odd to a vietnamese person, much like eating the sandwich meat and leaving behind all the bread, cheese, dressings and condiments would seem odd to us.

Thank you for that. I'm looking forward to trying it. It's been frustrating for me back here in the USA because all the bottled chili sauce they use in VN restaurants and sell in the Asian food stores here is not the same thing commonly used in Vietnam. It all seems to come from Thailand or Taiwan, which of course are not the same recipe. The other common condiment I'm looking for is the brown bean sauce used in VN, requently used with Pho and other soups. It always sits right along with chili sauce on the table. It's mild and sweet. My VN friends here in the USA use Hoisin sauce, but that's not the same thing.