Latest read in the Civilizr kitchen is The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches. They had me at crazy, but delicious is always a good thing too. Our neighborhood is full of good banh mi joints, so we felt our experience with these little Vietnamese and French-fused confections well qualified us to put this book to the test.
Author Andrea Nguyen has covered everything from bread (soooooo critical in making or breaking a good banh mi) to meats to fillings, including quite a few vegetarian-friendly recipes. Like all of Ten Speed Press’ cookbooks, it’s great fun visually and a good read overall, even if you just like to nosh on banh mi and won’t ever get around to making your own. There are lots of little inspirations in here, recipes you can riff on to create standalone entrees like the crispy drunken chicken, or delicious shrimpy concoctions to wrap up into spring rolls – making the book very versatile.
Also, fair warning, if you know me you are probably getting a bottle of Maggi seasoning in your stocking from me this year. I am now addicted.
Get The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches here.
nb: We received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. Opinions on its general tastiness are, however, our own.
