Charles Phan - Vietnamese Home Cooking

Copyright 2012 by Charles Phan
Photographs copyright 2012 by Eric Wolfinger

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press,
an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division
of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicaion Data
Phan, Charles.
Vietnamese home cooking / Charles Phan, Chef
Owner of The Slanted Door.
p. cm.
1. Cooking, Vietnamese. I. Slanted Door (Restaurant)
II. Title.
TX724.5.V5P54 2012
641.59295922dc23
2012014119

eISBN: 978-1-60774-385-9

v3.1

For Dad and Ah Neung

For years I have been asked to write a cookbook, and for years I would come up with excusesI was opening a restaurant, or my wife was having a baby. But after three kids and six restaurants, I ran out of excuses.

When I finally decided to write a cookbook, I knew I didnt want it to simply be a collection of recipes, I wanted it to be rich with information. I wanted to introduce cooks to unfamiliar (but widely available) ingredients and expand their cooking repertoire by showing them new ways to treat familiar ingredients. I wanted to teach readers about clay pots and woks, about caramel sauce and lemongrass. And I wanted to share the fundamental flavors that make Vietnamese food so unique and, I think, so good. My hope wasand isthat this book helps cooks understand the Vietnamese aesthetic, our way of cooking and eating.

The book is organized around fundamental cooking techniques, in the hope that by mastering these techniques youll become a better, more confident cook. But this organization also reflects the way that Vietnamese people truly eat, building meals that include a stir-fried dish alongside something fried, along with a simple soup and a grilled piece of meat. Many of the recipes here can be served as main courses, but I encourage you to try preparing a meal in the Vietnamese-style, choosing dishes from several different chapters and serving them together as part of a family-style, multicourse meal. Its what we do at the restaurants, what I do at my house, and what Id encourage you to try in yours.

Charles was trained as a potter and architectit is only by accident that he turned out to be an extraordinary chef. To me he is first and foremost a craftsman, and it makes perfect sense that his first cookbook would be organized around techniquethis is really the craft of preparing great food.

T. Olle Lundberg, Charles architect and drinking partner

For more on Charles Phan and his cooking inspiration, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cw40YdWKBA (2:11)