Viet World kitchen

One of the basic Asian stocks is dashi and it's incredibly simple to make. If you have some on hand, you'll soon know that a littledashi goes a long way toward giving dishes savory depth and a slight smokiness. It is one of the stealth ingredients in Japanese cooking and can be made days in advance. Korean cuisine uses a similar stock too and I often used Japanese dashi for K...

Buying mayonnaise at a grocery store is a newish thing in Vietnam. Vietnamese people - whether they are home cooks or street food vendors, traditionally made mayonnaise fresh for banh mi because it's cheaper and all the ingredients are readily available. Buying sốt bơ trứng (buttery egg sauce) at the market is a new and splurgy notion.

Abroad in places like America,...

Eggs are a perfect food in many ways and given that good ones are pricey these days, you do not want to botch cooking eggs - something that I've done many times during my cooking career. Of all the ways to cook an egg, boiling eggs is what I struggle with most. It's so simple, as only two ingredients and a pan are involved. You can cook the eggs to different levels of donenes...

Vietnamese coffee and condensed milk is a flavor combination that's hard to beat. It's chocolatey, caramel-ish with a hint of vanilla. If you love all those elements (who doesn't?), you will adore these brownies, a recipe by chef Sheldon Simeon based in Maui. He has credibility as a chef and restauranteur, as well as Top Chef contestant. I value him for his Asian American fla...

One of my 2026 goals was to teach more online cooking classes! It's taken so long to open a class because I've been fine tuning a recipe for bánh xèo - Vietnamese sizzling rice crepes. They are a classic Saigon treat that many people swoon over. To make bánh xèo thin, crispy, and light is a feat normally left to professional street food chefs or tenacious home cooks.