Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam is not a comprehensive cookbook. It contains ten unique recipes that intertwine with the story of a five-week culinary journey I took with my sister and best Vietnamese girlfriend through Vietnam. The recipe at the bottom of this page was taught to me by my Vietnamese "mother," a woman who welcomed me into her home as her own daughter during the four years I lived in Vietnam. Its distinctive flavors are among the first I remember tasting when I arrived in the country, and they are still among my favorite. While the instructions may seem intimidating at first, keep in mind that spring rolls are not dependent on the precise measurement of ingredients. Once you get the hang of them, you will discover that they are among the easiest dishes you can make. And of course, if you have any questions about the recipe, please feel free to drop me a note.
One reason Communion does not contain a full collection of recipes is that there are already good Vietnamese cookbooks available. I am including the list of my favorites. Hopefully, inspired by my book, you will want to prepare a Vietnamese meal for your own family and friends.
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
This wonderful book is written by Andrea Nguyen, who is the goddess of Vietnamese cooking. Her
Viet World Kitchen website is indispensible, with a blog that keeps tabs on Vietnamese food around the world.
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen isn’t always for beginners, but her recipes are well worth the effort. Andrea is also the author, most recently, of
Asian Dumplings.
Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table
Before Andrea Nguyen, there was Mai Pham. Intertwined with stories of her former life in Saigon, Mai’s recipes encompass the traditional flavors of Vietnam. I often like to use both Andrea and Mai’s books for a single recipe, so that I can compare ingredients and techniques, as well as their stories about each dish. As always, I recommend buying this and all other books from your
local, independent bookstore.
The Little Saigon Cookbook
As everyone loves to write in articles nowadays, full disclosure. This cookbook was written by my dear friend
Ann Le, and the photographs were taken by my sister. I love this book not only for the recipes, but for the understanding it gives me of the area known as Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam, an hour south from Los Angeles. If you are ever there, you will countless restaurants serving the gamut of Vietnamese dishes. An
article I wrote about the community for
Preferred Destinations magazine contains a list of my favorite restaurants and is a good place to get started.
Café Vietnam
Although out of print, this small volume is worth tracking down from your used bookstore or a used book website such as
AbeBooks. Consider this book an introduction. Its classic recipes are easy and unintimidating, and will help you test the waters of Vietnamese food. Author Annabel Jackson also helped compile
The Cuisine of Viet Nam, a wonderful primer about Vietnamese food from Hanoi’s
The Goi Publishers .
Ingredients for filling, Part One:
- 2 cups carrot, peeled and julienned (about 2 medium carrots)
- 2 cups manioc (also called yucca), peeled and julienned (about 1 small manioc)
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, julienned
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. vegetable bouillon powder or concentrated liquid
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
Ingredients for filling, Part Two:
- 3 cups sweet potato (white flesh), julienned, mixed with 2 tbsp. white vinegar and 1 tbsp. sugar and set aside (about 1 medium sweet potato)
- 8 ounces baked tofu, unflavored, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
Ingredients for final mixture of filling:
- 2 ounces green (mung) bean vermicelli (about 2 cups), prepared per package directions and cooled
- 4 sheets dried bean curd skin (tau hu ky), crushed into small pieces (about 3/4 cup)
- 3/4 cup toasted peanuts, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted rice powder
Rice paper: 1 packet 10- or 12-inch rice paper, made with just rice and water (12-inch pieces are easiest to work with for this recipe)
Herbs: Fresh mint, Thai basil (Italian basil is fine), rau dap ca, rau tia to, and other Asian herbs (if you can find only mint and basil, these rolls will still be terrific)
Directions for filling, Part One:
1. Heat oil in a large frying pan.
2. Fry carrots, manioc, and cabbage. Do not let the mixture get too soft. Test the manioc to make sure it remains al dente by the end of the following process.
3. Add mushrooms, and fry a bit longer.
4. Add sugar and vegetable bouillon to taste, and fry just a bit longer still.
5. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool. Drain any liquid.
Directions for filling, Part Two:
1. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Flash-fry the sweet potato until it is yellow-brown and crispy. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
2. In same pan, flash-fry the baked tofu until crispy. Remove from pan and set aside to cool. (This step is optional. You don’t need to fry the tofu.)
Directions for final mixture:
Once all the cooked ingredients have cooled, mix them together in a large bowl with the rice vermicelli, peanuts, roasted rice powder, and crushed bean curd skin.
Directions for making spring rolls:
1. Using a hard surface, such as a wooden cutting board, lay out a piece of dampened rice paper. You can dampen (soften) the rice paper in a wide bowl of warm water. Remove as much excess water as possible (let it drip off) before making the spring roll.
2. Line the lower center of the paper with herbs.
3. Lay 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the mixture into a cylinder shape on the herbs. The amount can vary depending on how large you want your spring rolls.
4. Fold the bottom fourth of the rice paper up over the mixture.
5. Fold the right edge of the rice paper in a fourth of the width of the paper, as if you are making an envelope.
6. Fold the left edge of the rice paper in a fourth of the width of the paper, as if you are making an envelope.
7. From the bottom, roll as fast as you can.
Ingredients and directions for dipping sauce:
1. Mix 1/4 cup carrot, peeled and shredded; 1/4 cup cucumber, peeled and shredded; and 1 tbsp. sweet white vinegar. Set aside to marinate. (Do this at the beginning, as you are preparing the spring roll ingredients.)
2. In a bowl mix the following:
- Simple syrup of 1/2 cup water and 1/8–1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sweet white vinegar
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 red Thai chilies, seeded and minced
- 2 tbsp. toasted peanuts, finely chopped
3. Cut the carrots and cucumber into small pieces.
4. Mix carrot and cucumber blend with remaining ingredients. Top with peanuts.
Serving: 10–15 spring rolls, depending on how big you roll them.
