Into the Vietnamese Kitchen

Andrea Nguyen’s first book is now a Vietnamese culinary classic, a go-to resource for the herb-pulsing flavors in dishes such as banana blossom salad, chicken dumpling and chrysanthemum leaf soup, and banh xeo (sizzling crepes) with mounds of cilantro, mint, perilla, and balm. Nguyen and her family fled Saigon in 1976, and her mother left behind almost everything but a clutch of recipes. Compiling her own recipe collection, along with family stories, Nguyen honors generations of culinary traditions. But she also leans on adaptability: Make do and learn to trust your palate, adjusting fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chiles to personalize the flavors of Vietnamese cooking.