The Slanted Door: Modern Vietnamese Food

"Charles Phan’s latest has a few of those recipes that are the gold standard for any adventurous cook — things like Roasted Mushroom And Yuba Salad, that despite mercifully short instruction lists will still send you to the back of your local Chinese market to search unmarked plastic bags for an ingredient you’ve never seen or heard of. Nonchefs will also enjoy Phan’s gently self-effacing stories of the restaurant business — one dish, the Hainan Chicken, barely sells, but Phan is determined to keep it on the menu because he thinks it’s the “purest [way] to enjoy a chicken’s natural flavor and texture.” (Which, by the way, is “rubbery.”)"