Behind every family recipe is a revelatory story. Helene An's involves a privileged upbringing in Vietnam before the war, the hardship and sacrifice she experienced as a refugee settling in San Francisco, her work as an accountant by day and running her mother-in-law's Italian deli by night. Slowly, An made her mark on the deli, tossing in a favorite dish from her beloved Vietnam here and there until the Italian deli became Thanh Long, and a restaurant empire transformed An into the grand dame of Vietnamese fine dining.
In Vietnamese, Ăn means "to eat," and the joy and love of eating permeates the pages of this cookbook. Co-authored by An's daughter Jacqueline, it includes classic Vietnamese comfort foods like homemade beef pho, bánh mi and lemongrass beef vermicelli. They add fusion twists to turn an ordinary dish into something otherworldly--mouth-watering pork chops, for instance, with caramel marmalade, or Mongolian fried chicken. Tidbits of Vietnamese history and culture, too, provide context for recipes. While the lengthy ingredient lists, multi-step preparations and slightly unwieldy organization (recipes for pho appear near the beginning, but the recipe for broth is in the appendix) may prove challenging for the novice cook, the reward for those willing to follow through is a delightful explosion of flavors. A friendly primer of herbs, pantry ingredients, tools and methods helps steer home cooks through the more involved processes.
At its very heart, Vietnamese cuisine is sensual and elegant, and who better to present its seductive powers than the first ladies of Vietnamese fine dining? --Nancy Powell, freelance writer and technical consultant