My mom has one, a chef friend have one. They are talented, no-nonsense cooks. Did I need a microwave splatter cover too? Do you? What are microwave splatter covers? They're dome-shaped BPA-free plastic covers designed to shield your microwave’s interior from the bits that may spit from food as it heats up. My mom and... Read More The post Microwave Splatter Cover Recommendations appeared first on Viet World Kitchen ..read more

Corn is a New World food but it is beloved in Vietnam. Home cooks and street vendors prepare corn favorites like velvety corn soup, grilled corn on the cob coated with scallion oil, refreshing corn milk, and corn and coconut sweet soup. Years ago, at a Ho Chi Minh City sidewalk restaurant where my friends... Read More The post Vietnamese Stir-Fried Corn (Bắp Xào) Recipe appeared first on Viet World Kitchen ..read more

Anyone who enjoys almonds should enjoy orgeat. When made well, it captures the essence of the nut, it's perfume and delicate sweetness. When poorly made it tastes like sweetened almond milk. People have told me that you can make orgeat by boiling down commercial almond milk, but it may have gums and other ingredients in... Read More The post Orgeat, a Recipe for Happiness appeared first on Viet World Kitchen ..read more

A good Bellini is a rare thing, despite the cocktail being simply a combination of peaches and prosecco. But once you've had a good one, you thirst for the next. The effervescent cocktail was first made by Giuseppe Cipriani in 1948 at Harrys Bar in Venice, Italy. It was summer, he wanted to spotlight the... Read More The post The Best Bellini's Secret: Peak Season Peach Puree appeared first on Viet World Kitchen ..read more

Hooray and thanks for your interest and patience. A trio of online cooking classes are now open for registration! I've been teaching cooking classes and writing cookbooks for over 20 years. People who take my classes and buy my books are curious cooks. You have a diversity of culinary and health interests. You want to... Read More The post New! Online Cooking Classes Now Open appeared first on Viet World Kitchen ..read more

Among my 2024 goals was to launch virtual classes. Months ago, I wrote up a bunch of ideas and sketched out a curriculum. But so many other projects got in the way. Or, I let them get in the way because I wanted the classes to be special and to have them be “perfect” for launch. It was sheer procrastination. This month, I said to myself: “You’re going to do it! You have fewer stressful things on your schedule. Look at all the folks who signed up for other online classes you’ve taught elsewhere. What the HECK are you waiting for?” Additionally, I’ve recently had some new recipe and technique b ..read more

Most of us think of tofu as a tender whiteish block but it can take on a myriad of forms. For instance, imagine a thin layer of tofu that’s been pressed so firmly and under so much pressure that it’s mostly devoid of water. That’s gāndòufu (干豆腐, dry tofu), which is sold at Asian markets as stacked sheets, mostly about a scant ⅛ inch thick but there are some that are about 1/32 inch thin. Peel off a sheet and you’ll notice how sturdy it feels, kinda thick like khaki fabric, but nubby like linen or flax. The texture comes from coagulated soy milk curds being are pressed on pieces of coarse fabr ..read more

You don't need a tandoor oven to make great chicken tikka, which means chicken pieces in Hindi. This easy recipe, from Maya Kaimal's Indian Flavors Every Day, comes together easily with readily available ingredients. The main seasonings include a heady marinade of garlic, ginger, spices and yoghurt. Maya adds a little twist though. She punches up her chicken tikka skewers with a bunch of freshly grated lime zest. It adds zip and aroma, blending in well with the spices. As she notes, chicken tikka is a Central Asian dish brought to India by the Mughals, whose culture reflects those in what we ..read more

We just returned from Thailand and Vietnam. If we could, we would have stayed on vacation a little longer. I have to admit that this was an experimental trip for me and my husband. Even though I was born in Saigon, I can’t stand the heat and humidity that saps the life energy from me the moment I step outdoors. My first trip in 2002 to the motherland was in winter, during the dry season. We departed around December 31 to get in on an airfare deal. January’s damp cold in Hanoi and Hue reminded us of the Bay Area. Hoi An was dreary, at best. Saigon (formally Ho Chi Minh City, but it’s hard for ..read more

Many of us are living in a phase of life where we’re in between. Our elders, and sometimes our friends, are passing. We sense our own eventual precarity. Whenever I catch up with close friends, we ask each other, “How’s your mom [dad]?” Hopefully, things are alright. When they are not, we say a little prayer and/or send our regards. We may never get to meet our friend’s parents but feel like we know them because we know our friends. For mother's day, here’s an update on my mom. For most her life, Clara Nguyen Thi Tuyet voluntarily lived in my dad’s shadow. They were a modern couple, but she a ..read more