herbandlime 
Food safety first: this is a refrigerator pickle recipe. It is NOT a canning recipe and must never be treated as shelf-stable. Keep refrigerated at all times. Do chua is the sweet-sour crunch that goes on banh mi, alongside grilled meats, and inside spring rolls. Carrots and daikon are cut into matchsticks, salted briefly, then … Read more
Baby bok choy is one of the easiest green vegetables to stir-fry: it needs almost no prep, cooks in minutes, and takes on garlic and hot oil well. The trick is heat management — a hot pan and dry greens give you lightly charred stems and wilted leaves; a crowded or wet pan gives you … Read more
These are the Vietnamese-style pork chops: thick, bone-in chops marinated in lemongrass, garlic, and fish sauce with enough sugar to caramelize, then grilled or pan-seared until the surface chars at the edges. Serve them over rice with quick pickles and nuoc cham on the side. Ingredients Serves 4. 4 bone-in pork chops, about 3/4 inch … Read more
This is the creamy peanut sauce that goes with fresh spring rolls: peanut butter loosened with warm water, deepened with hoisin, brightened with lime. The target is thick-but-pourable — heavy-cream-like, coating the back of a spoon — and the recipe gets you there by adding the water one tablespoon at a time. Ingredients Makes about … Read more
Bun thit nuong is the Vietnamese noodle bowl built on contrast: hot, caramelized lemongrass pork over cool rice vermicelli, with shredded lettuce, cucumber, quick pickles, and fresh herbs — and a measured nuoc cham dressing served on the side so each person dresses their own bowl and the crunch stays intact. Ingredients Serves 4. Lemongrass … Read more
Goi cuon are the fresh, unfried Vietnamese spring rolls: translucent rice paper wrapped around shrimp, vermicelli, lettuce, and a tangle of fresh herbs. They are cool, light, and entirely about texture — the soft wrapper, the snappy herbs, the pink spiral of shrimp visible through the skin. Rolling takes a little practice, but the technique … Read more
Prik nam pla is the Thai table condiment: fish sauce sharpened with lime juice, studded with sliced bird’s eye chiles and garlic coins, rested until everything infuses. It sits on the table in a small dish with a spoon, and diners add it to their own plates a spoonful at a time. It is not … Read more
Scallion pancakes (cong you bing) are a savory wheat flatbread, not a breakfast pancake: a hot-water dough rolled thin, brushed with an oil-and-flour paste, scattered with scallions, then rolled and coiled so the layers separate into flakes when fried. They are pan-fried in oil — crisp outside, chewy inside. The ingredient list is short; the … Read more
Goi ga is the Vietnamese chicken salad: shredded cabbage, tender poached chicken, and a big handful of fresh herbs, all tossed in a lime-and-fish-sauce dressing and finished with crunchy peanuts and fried shallots. It is bright, crunchy, and refreshing — the kind of salad that eats like a meal. Two things decide whether it works: … Read more
Tom kha gai is the creamy Thai coconut soup: galangal, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves infused gently into coconut milk, with chicken and mushrooms, seasoned with fish sauce and a little sugar, and finished with lime juice off the heat. It is rich but not heavy, sour but not sharp. Ingredients Serves 4. 2 cans … Read more