I've loved Vietnamese food ever since tasting it at restaurants in San Francisco, in the United States, and my first trip to Vietnam opened my eyes to the variety and complexity of the cuisine. It didn't consist only of fertilised duck eggs and spring rolls and the selection of noodles and banh mi (sandwiches) were more varied than I had ever suspected.
Author and cooking instructor Andrea Nguyen gives us a taste of Vietnamese food on her blog (vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/blog). She gives tips on cooking and ingredients, writes about table manners, recommends Vietnamese-focused markets and restaurants (mostly in the US) and gives recipes for popular dishes, including grilled shrimp on sugarcane (above); grilled lemongrass pork; and pho bo (beef noodle soup; left) and less well-known ones such as crispy shrimp coated with green rice and goat curry with coriander and lemongrass.