Hardie Grant Books Vietnamese: Simple Vietnamese Food to Cook at Home

I'm a sucker for a pretty cover and the pink and pastel colours of the binding of this book lured me in and I'm so so glad they did :-)I love Vietnamese food and have a few books on it but this is the best by a long way. Not had the book long, but what I've cooked from it so far has turned out amazing, full of flavour and tasting so fresh.! I've made the Ginger Chicken, super flavourful and all from a few easy to find ingredients, was not sure about leaving the skin on the chicken as I only usually like it when it's crispy from a roast chicken, but I thought i'd follow the recipe as is and I'm glad I did, it worked really well.I’ve also made the seafood spring rolls, amazing! Not a parsnip fan in general which these contain but they really work in these, highly recommended.The Sticky Marmalade and Mustard ribs, one word - YUM!The Vietnamese Baguette recipe I can't wait to try and use for Bánh Mì, I made a lot of baguettes last year during lock down looking for the perfect one, this one looks really good :-)Of course, Phò' has to be attempted, always wanted to make it myself and both the Beef and Chicken ones in this look superbIt really is one of those books where i want to cook everything, the photos are so inviting and the whole thing is written really well too.Well done Uyen Luu, this book is fabulous x

This book is beautiful! If you're looking for a cookbook that makes cooking vietnamese food easy this is the book for you! There are some delightful recipes that are easy for you to create in your kitchen. The way the book is broken down is great too! Dishes to eat with rice, feasting menus for dinner parties, the quick midweek meals section is a great go to for tasty quick meals and the salads! This book teaches you the art of getting those flavours just right! I'm a huge fan of vietnamese food and have always struggled to get the flavours right when making it at home. Uyen has managed to sum up everything in this book. I especially like the notes section on each recipe which gives you suggestions on other ingredients you could try in the recipe. The basics section at the back of the book is fantastic too from teaching you how to cook the perfect sticky rice to making those essential pickles and dipping sauces! *chefs kiss*

I have been a big fan of Uyen Luu's food for the past decade and adore her supper club and her previous cookbook. This new cookbook is a stunner and is well on the way of being one of my most used cookery books. The recipes are well written and easy to follow. Vietnamese ingredients may not be in everyone's pantry (they are certainly not in mine) so I really appreciate that there are substitutions given. A lot of the dishes are vegetarian or can be adapted to be. Most importantly, everything I have tried was absolutely delicious. The chicken pho tasted like the one I had in the soup kitchens of Saigon, I was so happy I was able to recreate this iconic Vietnamese dish. I then used the leftover chicken in the Vietnamese chicken salad, which even my picky kids loved. Another beautiful and comforting dish was the slow cooked beef with lemongrass. In fact I will stop writing this review now and cook some more, I have my eye on the fresh salad rolls and the lemongrass ribeye steak noodle salad, yum!

As someone who hates cooking, had never eaten Vietnamese food and had sworn off cookery books, this purchase was a gamble! Well, I definitely won! There are recipes to suit all abilities and the ingredients aren't as rare as unicorns' horns. So far I have tried the baked lemon chicken, the spare ribs and the ginger chicken in the photo above and they are so easy, quick to make and absolutely delicious. I'm looking forward to making the chiar sui over the weekend. Already ordering another book to give to family as present.

One of the preconceptions over dishes from the far east is they require ingredients which are difficult to find, expensive, and things that are bought once and used infrequently after.The recipes found in this book are not so, they are easy to make and contain many staple ingredients. Instructions are easy to follow and pictures are clear. I am very happy with this purchase and will be using it a lot more in the future!