What do you need to get going? Very little as it turns out. Vietnamese refugees to America started with little in their kitchens to recreate the flavors of their homeland. You don't need to stretch too far either. To make delicious Vietnamese food, you should first understand and acquire these fundamental components:
Fish Sauce (nuoc mam)
Rice (gao)
Below is practical information on finding and purchasing these essentials.
Fish
Sauce: A cornerstone of Vietnamese cooking
To stock your kitchen with the bare minimum for preparing Vietnamese food, start with good quality fish sauce (nuoc mam). Though soy sauce is used in the Vietnamese kitchen, fish sauce is king. Good fish sauce is fragrant, not stinky. The name sounds horrid but the literal translation is liquid from fermented sea products. Okay, not that great either.
Many people through the ages, including the Romans and Chinese, relied upon fermented liquids similar to fish sauce to flavor their foods. Fish sauce provides wonderful savory depth -- umami, in other words, to Vietnamese foods. If the name and smell offends you in theory, sniff a container of dried porcini mushrooms and then get a whiff of good fish sauce, say a bottle of Three Crabs made by Viet Huong company. The two are remarkably similar! Still unconvinced? Realize that Vietnamese people don't drink fish sauce from the bottle. We blend it with other ingredients, such as lime, chiles, sugar, and water and cook with it in a delicate fashion so as to not overwhelm foods.
It's hard to cook Vietnamese food without fish sauce so I encourage you
to purchase a bottle. Check the fish sauce buying guide for details.
Most Chinese and Vietnamese markets carry several
brands at one time, reflecting their shoppers’ preferences—which is fickle and
finicky; this is because many producers of Asian food ingredients have yet to
get a handle on quality assurance, not to mention that environmental factors
may vary rice production from season to season. Years ago, everyone bought "Big
Buddha" but nowadays, we’re pledging our allegiances to other brands. If
you find yourself standing clueless in front of a wall of rice bags, ask another
shopper or someone who works at the market for their opinion.
Equipment: Chinese steamer and sharp knives
Steamers come with two compartments and are sold in Asian markets. I prefer a steamer made from stainless steel, which lasts longer; some come with a handy see-through glass lid for you to monitor the cooking process.
Whatever you settle on, please select a steamer with at least one compartment
that has holes about one centimeter in diameter. If the holes are bigger, your
food may fall through. If the holes are
smaller (about 1/2 centimeter wide, not enough steam will reach your food. The
middle width is the most practical to have. Often I’m lured by the beauty of
traditional bamboo steamer trays, but stop short of buying them as I remember
that they are not as easy to clean as aluminum or stainless steel.
Going a Step Further: Mortar and pestle, mandolin, and
electric rice cooker
You can buy large ones
inexpensively at Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai markets. However, I’ve found that most often, I reach
for my small marble mortar (4½ inches wide at the top) to take care of my needs;
these are widely available at cookware stores.
Mandolin
Another piece of equipment that you may consider purchasing is a mandolin,
which has razor sharp blades to beautifully shred and slice vegetables for Vietnamese
salads and pickles. You can purchase the true
French mandolin, an expensive but impressive hunk of metal (about $150).
Or, do like I do, and go for the less expensive Japanese plastic version, the Benriner (about $30), at some cookware stores, Asian restaurant
supply stores, Japanese markets (e.g., Mitsuwa markets
If rice is a major part of your diet, an electric rice cooker is wonderful to
have. It cooks rice to perfection, occupies
little counter space, and frees up a burner on your stove.
Like other modern appliances, rice cookers are now available in different
colors to match you kitchen, and can perform miraculous tasks like keeping your
rice warm for hours. Their high prices reflect these improvements
too! Note that my mother used her basic
black and white National brand rice cooker daily for over 15 years before having
to replace it when it finally broke down. Rice cookers are sold at Asian supermarkets
and home/kitchen appliance stores. There
are online sources too.
On the other hand, a reliable heavy bottomed saucepan also makes cooking rice a snap! For our family of two adults, I regularly use a trusty 1 1/2-quart saucepan. I know how to gauge the rice and water levels in that pot. For more people, I select a bigger pan, avoiding ones that have low sides as steamed rice just doesn't cook evenly in them. If you don't want to invest in an electric rice cooker, select a saucepan (with lid) that can accommodate your regular rice cooking needs. The amount of rice that your generally eat should fill about 1/3 of the saucepan. This ensures the right balance of space needed to cook the rice to fluffy perfection. (If you cram too much rice into a pot, the grains don't expand properly because there's not enough space!)