Few cookbooks manage to capture both the sweep and intimacy of a country’s cuisine quite like Vietnam: The Cookbook. In this 450-recipe compendium, Anaïs Ca Dao van Manen takes readers on a sensory journey from Hà Giang’s mist-draped highlands to the lush Mekong Delta, distilling a year spent cooking and eating alongside the Khmer, Chăm, and Red Dao communities.
Structured around Vietnam’s traditional cooking methods and eating customs rather than regions, the book reveals the country’s astonishing culinary breadth, from quick quán ăn vặt street snacks such as Shaken Mango with Chilli and Fresh Summer Rolls, to deeply comforting family dishes like Braised Carp with Pickled Bamboo Shoots or Beef and Celery Stir Fry.
While the global palate already knows phở and bánh mì, this book invites readers to wander further into the less visble reaches of the cuisine to discover dishes like Fried Crickets with Lime Leaves, Chicken Feet Pickled in Calamansi, and the subtle brilliance of Stir-Fried Bitter Gourd with Eggs. Recipes such as Duck Stuffed with Rambutan reimagine familiar ingredients in unexpected ways, opening the door to Vietnam’s playfulness with texture and flavour.
Van Manen’s writing is generous and unhurried, always giving cultural context its due. Each recipe opens with a note of insight: how fertilised duck eggs (hột vịt lộn) are believed to have cooling properties and therefore balanced with Vietnamese coriander, or how phở encompasses crisp, stir-fried noodle nests as well as the broth-based dish that is beloved the world over. Her tone bridges chef’s precision and traveller’s curiosity, offering both a technical guide and a love letter to the daily ingenuity of Vietnamese kitchens.
The book’s design itself mirrors the country’s vibrancy: lush photography captures not just dishes but the paddies, markets, and mountains that shape them. A comprehensive pantry section and detailed notes on regional variations make it as practical as it is beautiful. Particularly striking is the section on rice, which is a vivid reminder of how a single plant can underpin an entire civilisation, from fermented wine to delicate summer rolls – and the culinary universe in between.
Born in Paris to Vietnamese-Dutch parents and now based in Vietnam after years cooking at Bones, Auberge de Chassignoles, and Trullo, Van Manen brings a quiet authority and palpable affection to every page. Her voice, informed by the breadth of her global experience, traverses continents, cultures, and kitchens with ease.
Vietnam: The Cookbook is so much more than a collection of recipes. It is a definitive, deeply human portrait of one of the world’s most diverse and dynamic food cultures. For anyone seeking to understand Vietnam beyond the familiar bowl of soup or sandwich, this book is essential reading and, of course, cooking.