"VietnameseFood" news and stories

While these two-bite salad-rice-paper rolls with shredded carrots, scallions, fresh mint, rice vermicelli and sunflower sprouts tucked inside -- are called spring rolls, they're technically "summer rolls." Spring rolls, or cha gio, are the deep-fried versions. The Vietnamese name for this lighter variation is goi cuon. Both spring and summer rolls can also feature pork, shrimp or crabmeat as well as pretty much any crisp vegetable you want to slice and fold in. And if you want to add even more texture, wrap your fixings in a lettuce leaf instead of the rice paper.

Blogger cproppe dips her rolls into a spicy mixture of chile, soy and hoisin sauces with lime juice, and you can see her recipe here. Or try another recipe for Vietnamese spring/summer rolls from Kitchen Daily.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool for a shot of having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

"The Little Saigon Cookbook: Vietnamese Cuisine and Culture in Southern California's Little Saigon"
By Ann Lee
Photography by Julie Fay
Insiders' Guide -- 2006
Buy it on Amazon

Though exotic cuisines may be daunting endeavors for many cooks due to foreign and sometimes costly ingredients, "The Little Saigon Cookbook" is a clear, straightforward cookbook that sheds light on the culture while making its cuisine approachable and delectable.

Interspersed with interesting stories about Vietnamese culture and traditions, the book is a well-thought out tribute to Vietnamese foodways -- with delicious recipes to boot, ranging from the obvious dishes to lesser-known exciting ones like the Shaking Beef Salad with Watercress and Tomatoes or Pork Braised in Caramel Sauce.

See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.

• Hot Southern Florida weather pairs well with fresh vegetarian and Asian fare: Malaysian restaurant Parc 28 in Weston offers "boldly spiced fare" in a cuisine that takes inspiration from Malay, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, Thai and European influences; "fresh and vibrant" vegan cuisine is offered at Miami's Om Garden; Lauderdale-by-the-Sea offers "light, fragrant, healthful" Vietnamese food at Basilic.
• Culinary historian Maricel E. Presilla discusses the honor of cooking a feast for Fiesta Latina at the White House and her attempts to "convey that the allure of Latin food is as irresistible as the rhythms that pulled President Obama out of his chair to dance" that night.
• The "Desperation Dinners" feature raves about infused vinegar and its ability to "excite the palate" and elevate otherwise simple dishes.
• Once incorrectly reputed to have a correlation with breast cancer, the grapefruit has been expunged -- and is even suggested as the perfect pink fruit for Breast Cancer Awareness month.
• Cabernets are the quintessential U.S. wine: "big and brash, supremely self-confident, a little loud, even rude at times."
• Recipes: Maricel Presilla's Milk Chocolate-Coffee "Cortadito" Brulées, Pink Grapefruit and Fennel Salad, a complex Vermouth Molasses Marinade, Corn Tortilla and Mixed-Bean Lasagna.
• Calendar highlights include a silent auction for painted pumpkins, $35 prix-fixe meals for Dine Out Lauderdale, Rosa Mexicano's Chocolate festival and a "Top Chef" Talent Hunt.

A few weeks ago a friend and I were at a Vietnamese market in the Bronx of all places when we came across the delicacy pictured here. Since the damn thing was so cute she purchased two for herself. I only bought one, largely because cuteness doesn't score quite as many points with me. Looking around the store, I noticed several moon cakes and it soon dawned on me that this little piggy is meant to celebrate the Vietnamese version of the Chinese Moon Festival, which took place yesterday.

The other day I decided to eat the little guy. Like many moon cakes, he was packed with a sweet filling, in this case lotus seed paste. For some reason I started with the head. I soon made short work of the dense cake, which served as breakfast along with a cup of green tea.

Since you can't read the little tag, here's the gist of it. The English name of this confection is "The gold pig with riches and honor." The Vietnamese text reads, "Bánh Heo Phú Qui Bánh Con Heo Trung Thu." My curiosity about exotic foods runs pretty much neck and neck with my obsession with foreignlanguages. Thanks to the wonders of VDict, I was able to translate the Vietnamese. VDict stumbled over the word "qui," but here's its translation "pig pie endow mid-autumn pig pie qui." All of which seems to make sense since Trung Thu is the Vietnamese name for the Moon Festival.
Now that I ate the little guy, I'm waiting for the riches and honor to start rolling in. Still, I can't help think that I should have eaten it by the light of last night's full moon to seal the deal.

Up until, oh, about six to eight months ago, I stubbornly refused to eat Vietnamese food. If everyone else in the party felt like Vietnamese, I'd surrender, but not quietly, and would make it clear throughout the whole meal how much I hated what we were eating. I don't like cilantro, I don't like its combination with lime juice (which is completely ignored when eating Mexican food, of course), and I mist certainly did not like fish sauce.

However, after all that "hmph!"-ing, I must shamefully admit now that I am quite addicted to pho. There is something about the steaming hot broth that is so paradoxically refreshing in the summer, and yet so warm and comforting in the fall and winter. Though I am not afraid of beef, I never order pho with any of the sliced rare beef combinations. It might have to do with the fact that the places I've eaten pho are always tiny little dives. But even if we were in the King's castle eating pho, i'd still order the tofu pho because I love it.